The scenery was spectacular, especially the night shots with the volcano in the background. It was well acted by members of a local tribe. It was enjoyable to watch so rates high as a movie. But instead of the standard forbidden love, arranged marriage plot intended by the producers it is about the destruction of an aboriginal culture by Christian intruders. From a social anthropological point of view the tradition of required arranged marriage between neighboring tribes had important functions, it cemented a political bond between neighboring tribes and prevented inbreeding which would destroy the needed diversity of the gene pool. A strange scene in the movie, (English language version on Amazon) has the natives reading a book in English about the royal family in defense of arranged marriage. But the situation is exactly the opposite, arranged marriage among the royals was not intended to to increase diversity in the gene pool but to restrict it, resulting in feeble minded inbred members. The text in the credits seems to celebrate the end of arranged marriage, but the real positive message of the movie was the short scene where the loving couple had the option of joining a Christian tribe which would support their marriage. The male was terrified by what he saw and properly opted for a joint suicide instead.
Review of Tanna
