Original subtitles

Some 1,500 years ago,

a small band of Polynesian voyagers

discovered one of the most remote islands

on the face of the earth

and gave birth to a mystery that still endures.

The voyagers and their chief, Hotu Motu'a,

settled the lush little oasis

and were lost to the rest of the world

for the next thousand years.

Then, on Easter Sunday 1722,

European sailors rediscovered the island

and named it Easter Island.

The Europeans found a barren, treeless place

inhabited by thousands of people divided into warring clans

and the gigantic stone statues they had built

over hundreds of years as a form of ancestor worship.

The descendants of Hotu Motu'a called their island

the navel of the world, Rapa Nui,

and centuries of total isolation had convinced them

they were the only people left on Earth.

To this day, no one knows

exactly why the statues were so large

or why the work on them had suddenly ceased,

but island legend speaks of a terrible conflict

between the clans

a few decades before the Europeans arrived.

Noro! Noro!

Noro, the ariki-mau wants to see you.

Well?

It's hard to say.

Tell me the truth.

I would if I could, my ariki,

but the signs are neither good nor bad.

We should look again later, perhaps.

I must know when, Tupa.

Try something else. Try the smoke again.

I think we were doing something with that.

Yes, Ariki.

Matua Tane.

Your cousin Epe by my wife Auareipua

has fallen while training for the birdman competition.

That's his body lying there before the ah

You must take his place.

Me?

That's what the signs command, according to Tupa.

But I'm not ready.

I know, but there's no one else.

They're all gone or dead, except you.

So, Noroinia,

the priests of the Miru clan invite you to compete for

for The first egg.

the first egg at Orongo

when Hotu Matu'a sends his birds in the spring.

Will you swim for me the ariki-mau

the reigning birdman?

Yes.

Tell the other Long Ears

they're wasting their time selecting swimmers

because Noroinia will prevail,

making me birdman for the 20th year.

It's finished, Ariki-Mau.

Will you give your approval?

Ah.

Build another one.

Take the rest of the day off, Heke.

Ariki, please, may I ask,

how does this moai displease the gods?

It's too small.

Take the ropes. Take the ropes.

Bring it down.

Come on, Heke. Get up.

Ramana!

Ramana!

Koreto, have you seen Ramana?

Look what I've brought her.

I think you know where she is.

Stop it, Noro.

I'm trying to tell you something.

What is it?

What is it?

When the morning star is two hands above the horizon

in midsummer, that's due west.

And they could read the currents far out at sea?

Yes.

They'd strip off, jump into the water,

and feel it with their balls.

My father's descended from the navigator

in Hotu Matu'a's canoe.

He should know.

How come no one else knows this?

It's not important to them anymore.

All they think about are the moai.

Marry me.

They'll never allow it. Why not?

They won't allow it.

Grandfather has to give me something if I swim for him.

Noro, I'm Short Ear.

I love you.

You do now, but in a year, when people talk?

They already talk.

They say I just want to be Long Ear.

They say I just want you for this.

Is that true?

I want you for my wife.

Have you told Make?

Not yet.

Get up, Short Ear.

You have six moons.

Priest, that's impossible.

The last moai took six moons, and it wasn't half as big.

Stop work on all other moai. Focus only on this one.

Yes, but even then I c--

Should I find another master carver?

The ariki wants it finished

before the birdman competition in the spring.

What for?

What was wrong with the last one?

What are you trying to do, kill us?

How can we move it?

Old man.

Old man.

What is this fish?

This fish is taboo.

It's the ariki-mau's fish, isn't it, until the next moon?

No one's allowed to catch it until then.

It's too rare.

These rules are made for everyone's benefit.

Aren't they?

Aren't they?

It was in the net with the -- the other fish.

It -it was drowned.

I was bringing it to the ariki-mau, knowing it was his.

We'd never eat taboo fish, Priest.

Why, surely it would kill us.

That's right. We know that!

You broke a taboo.

Six moons.

So, news from the quarry? You gave them the plan?

Yes, Ariki. They loved the idea.

Oh, wonderful.

Good man, that Heke. Have him spare no effort.

They've got plenty of food and whatever out there.

All taken care of. Good, good.

Oh, the clouds are quite fast for this time of the year.

Odd.

Did I tell you? I've lost three more teeth.

Do you think it means anything?

Never know. I think it does. I really do.

He's this close to sending for us, Tupa.

If we can just get one of these right.

Matua Tane, I need to ask you something.

Ask.

Uh, I was thinking, Matua Tane, after the birdman competition

Mm-hmm? I thought

I'd like to get married.

Ah! Of course. Good.

Who's the girl?

She's a Short Ear.

What?

She's Short Ear.

Put me down!

Are you turning out like your father?

Huh? No. I just --

Are you trying to provoke the gods, as he did?

No. I -- Here am I, giving you a chance

to make up for what he did,

and now you're acting exactly like him!

I'm not like him, Matua Tane.

Then what is this talk? A Short Ear!

You want me not to swim for you?

No.

The bones say it has to be you.

No one else can atone for your father's sin.

That's why the white canoe hasn't been sent.

After 19 springs, 19 winters

what else could it possibly be except the statues?

What's her name?

Ramana.

Haoa's daughter?

Haoa the canoe builder, the one I banished?

Yes.

Oh.

Why do you have to marry this girl?

Can't you just take her and be done with it?

I love her, Matua Tane.

All right.

Let me talk to the priest. No!

There is a way.

Tupa will explain.

This is most unusual and taboo, as you well know,

but if you win, the gods should be placated

if this woman has been purified first.

Purified how?

By entering the Cave of the White Virgins.

Her skin is far too dark. For how long?

Until the birdman race. That's six moons!

Yes, it is.

She could die in there.

Possibly.

Matua Tane, I can't let her do that.

I can't risk angering Hotu Matu'a,

not when we're this close.

How badly does she want to be your wife?

Good! Then it's settled.

Do you know what I've been thinking, Tupa?

The ariki's grandson shouldn't steal chickens, especially mine.

Don't the old stories say that Hotu Matu'a wore a hat?

Hat?!

Yes. They must be red, the royal color.

And we want them immediately.

Think you're too good for us, huh?

Hey. Hey.

Hello, Uka, Koreto, Hitirenga.

Traitor!

Well?

He said yes.

If I win

and if you stay in the Virgin Cave until the race.

I said no.

Ramana, it doesn't matter.

You and I can just go on the way we have.

It doesn't matter if we live Short Ear or Long Ear.

We'll just keep to ourselves.

I'll do it.

Ramana it's completely dark in the cave.

You can't stand up. You can't move.

You --

I'll do it if you'll swim.

I don't want us to be forbidden or secret anymore.

They don't think we love each other enough to go through this.

But they're wrong about me.

Wait.

I'm sure her skin will grow as pure as a baby's,

but I doubt that her virginity will.

It'll be our little secret.

Finished for the day!

Stop work!

What's this? The ration.

The ariki-mau promised we could keep 30% of the crop

from now on. That is 30%.

Well, why don't you grow some more?

Why don't you quit having so many brats?

I'll have as many as I please, you long-eared --

Would you like to take it up with Tupa?

Huh?

That's a good lad, Atta.

Anyone else?

Don't tell me he wouldn't. Get over here.

I've seen him do it. Hey, what's on your head?

Let me see that. That Koreto,

she'll get us all in trouble with Tupa and the gods.

She's broken so many tapus,

Makemake will surely eat her soul when she dies.

At least he'll have something to eat.

Don't blaspheme. Hey!

Hey! Hey!

Give it back! That's right. Give it up.

You hungry? Come on.

Wa-hoo!

Who'd you steal it from?

Tupa.

Again.

Go ahead. I'm not that hungry.

You remember when we were little?

You and me and Ramana

used to come up here and climb this thing.

Back when there were more trees.

Things change.

They say all this land was covered with trees once.

I guess Hotu Matu'a will send for us before they're all gone.

At least that's what Grandfather says.

You really believe all that?

Don't you?

I only believe in what I can see

and what I can feel and what I don't have.

What'd you bring me up here for?

Talk.

See who you think I'm gonna have to beat in the race.

Ngaara and Kahumea.

What about Makita?

Can't swim.

You want to help me train?

Just some pointers, you know?

Thought you might like to, for old times' sake.

Why?

So your grandfather can be birdman another year

and work us all to death?

I have to win, Make.

They're gonna let us marry if I win.

Where is she?

In the White Virgin Cave until the race.

You let them put her in that hole?

She wanted to!

It's the only way, otherwise, the gods never --

The gods?!

There are no gods except the ones we make up!

There's no spirit land!

There's no Hotu Matu'a coming back for us.

There's nothing out there but sea!

This is all there ever was!

It's all there ever will be,

no matter how many idiot statues we build.

You love her, too.

That's it, isn't it?

You're as blind as your grandfather.

And even dumber than your crazy father.

At least I know who my father was.

I don't need your Long Ear handouts anymore.

And we were never friends!

Will you swim for me, the ariki-mau,

the reigning birdman?

Haoa!

Haoa!

Haoa, will you train me to compete for the birdman?

My daughter sits in a cave because of you.

They say you know the cliffs and currents better than anyone.

Do they? And you trained my father.

Crazy Long Ear.

He won. Yes, he did.

And one day, he got in a canoe, one of my canoes,

sailed over the horizon, and never came back.

Got me banished to this place.

I'm not like him.

I can see that.

I'll give you what you want.

Will you?

Then make the forest grow back so I have wood to work.

And explain why Ramana's skin is not good enough

for a Long Ear.

Will you train me?

No. You're too ignorant.

Who's there?

It's me. Noro?

No. Make.

Oh.

How are you?

I'd love to stand up

to move my legs.

Did they feed you today?

A little, yes.

I brought you something.

Here.

A sweet potato.

I'm sorry there's not more.

It's all I have.

I'm not rich and Long Ear, like him.

Make, you must stop this.

Ramana, you're Short Ear.

I'm Short Ear.

Why can't you love your own kind?

You cannot choose who you love, Make,

only whose love to accept.

I can wait.

I've waited all my life.

He was here again, wasn't he?

Yes.

Are you cold?

I brought you something warm.

No. I'm fine.

Ramana

you think I've been ignorant?

I think you've just been a boy.

Is it night or day, my love?

It's night.

Your 45th.

Who will climb the cliffs at Orongo in the spring

and swim with the sharks to Motu Nui

for the first manutara egg?

And if you win who will be your birdman?

Let each clan announce their choice now.

Kahumea for Mokoi of the Marama clan.

Pountatea for Ataranga of the Haumoana clan.

Hinaioio for Teaue of the Hamea clan.

Makita for Hira of the Kotuu clan.

Ngaara for Tiko of the Ngatimo clan.

Noroinia of the royal Miru clan

for the ariki-mau of all you see.

Ariki-paka.

Matua Tane something's worrying me.

The training?

Too many mouths having too many children.

Good land turning to dust.

It's the moai, Matua Tane.

They're eating everything

and no one's thinking beyond that.

I said to myself if you, the ariki-mau,

knew this was happening it would stop.

Anyhow, this is what I see.

You worry about the race.

All clear!

Rollers ready!

But I don't understand. Replaced?

Effective immediately.

It's taken four and a half moons to get this far.

You're well behind schedule, Heke.

But we've had to do hats as well, Priest,

and there's not enough rope.

Riro's in charge now.

But this is not possible.

I've been master carver for 27 years.

This is all I have.

You're old, Heke. Now join the crew.

Move it!

Sorry, Heke.

Try and forget about it.

Go dump this.

Lines ready!

Ready!

Pit ready!

Ready!

Cut the keel.

Cut the keel!

Again.

Come on!

Hold. Hold.

Pull the rope!

Pull the rope!

More men!

Do as I say! Quickly!

Move! Move!

Move!

Move! Move!

What for?

Heke! Heke!

[ Rumbling, men shouting

Heke!

Heke!

We want more.

More what? More of everything.

There used to be plenty for everyone.

Yes.

Well, that was before there were so many of you, wasn't it?

There's more Long Ears now, too.

But there's a lot more of you!

We like it that way.

It's good to have lots of children.

It honors the ancestors.

Why aren't you in the quarry?

Heke's dead.

I heard.

Terrible thing. Terrible.

We were just discussing, Ariki,

how the Short Ears want more of everything.

And it's been pointed out that since there's more of everyone,

especially them, there is, unfortunately, less.

And we want more of what's left.

Or what?

Or we're not building any more moai.

Including the big one.

But Tupa said you loved the project.

Huh! Tupa.

Apparently I was misled.

Not finish the moai? Are you mad?

Have you lost your minds? Everything depends on that.

Then we want half the crops, Ariki.

Half!

Half the wood for fuel. What?

And no more hats. That's ridiculous!

So is your stupid statue.

And one more thing.

What?

We want to compete for the birdman.

Kill them!

Then who will build the moai?

None of us remember how.

A word, please, Tupa.

I don't need this, Priest.

I've got chicken entrails to read.

Let me slay these troublemakers, sire, and make your day serene.

Just give them something, Matua Tane --

a little food and fuel.

They'll get what they want, and so will you.

Short Ears competing for the birdman.

This is unheard of.

You know I'll win, Matua Tane.

They're too tired from working to climb and swim,

but you've got to let them think that they've got something!

Forgive me, Ariki-Paka,

but I don't recall your opinion having been sought.

Then recall me not caring, Priest.

T-This is unheard of, Ariki. It's bad precedent.

Just give them something!

Why?

Because I see real danger in all this.

Why has everything got to be so difficult?

Here he comes.

You have broken so many tapu today

that Makemake should eat your souls in hell for all eternity!

But I will grant these requests on one condition.

For the Short Ears to enter the birdman race,

the great moai must be finished, with a hat,

by the time the sunbirds arrive at Motu Nui.

But if he loses the race

the Short Ear competitor will be sacrificed

to honor the reign of the new birdman

because of your insolence today!

Now

who would swim for the Short Ears?

I will.

Make?

And if you win, who'll be your birdman?

Myself.

Fine. Back to work now.

I make one last condition, Ariki-Mau.

What?

If the great moai is finished in time

and if I swim for and win the birdman,

then the girl in the Virgin Cave is my bride.

That seems fair.

Agreed.

Remember, just finish the moai in time.

I don't want to hear it. You said you'd win.

Make!

Make! Make! Make!

Make! Make! Make! Make!

Make! Make! Make!

Hold. There. There!

Canoe builder! Join us!

Your future son-in-law invites you to train him

for the birdman.

I can't. Why not?

I already promised someone else.

Come on!

Eat. Sleep.

At first light, we begin.

This is our chance.

We have maybe a moon before the birds come.

You must help me do the impossible.

But if we work all day

when will you train?

Starting now.

One! Two!

Three!

One! Two!

Three!

One! Two!

Three!

One! Two!

Three!

One! Two!

Three! Three!

One! Two

How bad do you want to win?

More than anything.

Enough to see him sacrificed?

I guess.

No more guessing!

If you win, Make dies.

Accept that.

Believe me, he has.

Your future.

From now on, you wear it whenever you climb or swim.

It must never break, no matter what happens.

If it does, you lose.

Now get back in the water.

How come you changed your mind?

I saw something

I think.

Ready?

Let's go.

Ready?

One! Two!

Three!

Pull!

One, two, three!

Pull!

One, two, three! Pull!

One, two, three!

Pull! Come on.

Reach up! Up on the left there! Above you!

Faster. And stop crossing your feet.

Pull!

Ready?!

Pull! Pull!

No resting!

You plan to rest in the race?

And stop fighting the surge. You'll never win.

When it's not pulling, you swim!

Good! Now get back out there!

Make. We're running out of logs.

The weight breaks them,

and the friction grinds them to dust.

Then grease them.

With what? We have nothing left.

Use these.

Cut the ration.

Nothing else matters.

Pretty soon we'll have nothing to eat but each other.

Cover the egg. Come on!

The egg! Protect it! Cover it!

That's it! Come on!

Wake up.

Jump! Jump! Jump!

They might just do it, Ariki-Mau.

I've never seen them work like this.

Good.

Yes, it is.

But it also means

we might actually see the Short Ear compete.

This Make, he's quite driven.

They say he never sleeps.

Noroinia will win.

Of course.

But what if something happens and he doesn't?

What if no Long Ear wins?

I shudder to think what changes we'd face

if a Short Ear became the birdman.

Noroinia not win?

Why, that's like saying that these great moai

are nothing but big rocks.

What are they fighting over now?

Food, I imagine.

I don't want to hear any more of this.

We must speak of your grandson, Ariki-Mau.

I think you place too much confidence in him.

Noroinia?

Win or lose, he is the next Miru chief, but

Forgive me, sire --

your grandson is not cut from the same stone as yourself.

He needs a strong hand -- someone trusted, like myself,

to guide his careless ways in strange times like these,

or even to replace him should he suffer, say, some

untimely, tragic death.

Death?

Tell me that I won't be

just another skull under the ahu, Tupa.

Tell me that you won't be making fishhooks from my thighbones.

The white canoe.

That's my destiny isn't it?

Well, the signs are certainly there.

See?! Signs everywhere.

You said so yourself.

That ring around the last moon.

That -That strange taste in my mouth.

And now -- I haven't told anyone this --

but each time I pee there is blood.

What could it possibly mean?

Wondrous things, Ariki-Mau.

Coming soon. I'm sure.

Don't worry, Long Ear boy.

We've only come for the tree.

Are you crazy?

This is the last one! There's no more after this!

Someone's got to cut it down. Why shouldn't it be us?

Just leave it! It's just one!

Get him off. No!

No!

No!

No!

Haoa

why did my father leave?

Was he as crazy as everyone says?

You've seen where the craziness is.

But where was he sailing?

There's no place to go.

All the lands have sunk.

He had to see for himself.

Even if it killed him?

Your father was restless.

And when your mother died having you

everything here stopped making sense to him.

Then one day

in a tide pool

he found this.

Is it made by the gods?

Or some sort of men.

It has to be from the sunken lands.

Doesn't it?

Doesn't it?

Ramana, I'm here.

Ramana?

Ramana?

Noro?

Let me sleep, love.

Don't make me wake to this.

You have to eat.

Here.

I was dreaming you'd won when you woke me.

Yeah?

And of you and I walking in the sun,

walking and just lying together under our tree.

How wonderful.

Where do you come from?

Where do you go?

Finished?

Yes.

Where is it?

The white canoe.

Not enough, I guess.

But you may compete.

Wear this for luck.

It was your father's.

Were you friends you and my father?

Brothers, really.

Then why did you not go with him?

I was afraid.

Good. Good.

More babies.

More everything.

That's what we need.

Isn't it?

Competitors, prepare yourselves

to descend these heights

to swim to Motu Nui

and to find the first manutara egg,

then to swim that egg back, to carry it up the cliffs,

and present it, unbroken,

into your birdman candidate's hand.

That is what you must do to win,

to be God's representative on this navel of the world,

to hold sway over all other clans.

And for two of you there's also this.

Matua Tane

if I win, you retire.

It's time for a new ariki-mau.

Say go.

Go!

Yeah!

Aah!

Aah!

Aah!

The Short Ear, Make.

He's swimming strong.

What was it we promised him?

The girl in the cave.

Shave your head, Ataranga! I have the egg!

Aah!

Aah!

Aah!

Shark.

Shark! Shark!

Come on.

Three left -- red, yellow, black!

This should be interesting.

And what happens if the Short Ear loses?

He dies!

Help me! Help me!

Hit him! Help me!

Hit him!

Hit him!

Make! Make! Make!

Make! Make! Make!

Make! Make! Make!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Make!

Make! Make! Make!

Make! Make!

Noro! Noro! Noro!

Noro! Noro! Noro! Noro!

Noro! Noro! Noro! Noro!

Noro! Noro! Noro! Noro!

I won.

Noro.

Noro. Yes.

The white canoe.

The white canoe!

Aah! Aah! Aah!

The white canoe!

Oh!

Aah!

Ooh!

Oh. Oh.

Ah.

Get hold of his arms.

Aren't you coming?

Ramana is sick, Matua Tane.

I can't leave her.

Priest!

All my life, Ariki-Mau, I've waited for just this day.

But someone must guide the new ariki-mau

until you send for us.

What did you think salvation would look like?

Bye!

Farewell! Remember me!

Bye!

Had to be the hats.

Farewell!

Bye!

You didn't tell me Make was swimming, too

and that he is to die.

You didn't tell me about the child.

He was right.

The ariki-mau, he knew the gods' will.

But now what?

Does this mean Makemake is about to descend on us?

Really, I'm sure I saw the moai on the Hamea ah

They were breathing!

Another Long Ear trick. Stop it!

There!

There!

W-What are you doing here?

He lost. I've come for his head.

And to tell you about the new moai we're starting tomorrow.

New moai? We're through with all that.

We're just getting started.

You saw what happened today.

The gods kept their promise.

The Long Ear mana proved its power.

So

we're gonna build bigger and bigger moai

until the gods favor us again.

But with one little difference.

From now on all moai will have

beards.

Are you with me?

He's a priest. They are -They are Long Ears.

Not anymore.

What?

What?

Noro, what was that?

Something in the village.

Fighting? I'll go see.

Don't.

I have to. I'm the ariki-mau.

Take me with you.

Ramana, you can't see.

I'll come back for you as fast as I can.

I'll be back.

No!

Not yet.

Come on, little boy!

Watch your people die, Ariki-Paka.

Watch them. Don't turn away, Ariki.

Watch them burn.

Watch them.

Kill him, Riro.

Kill him.

Riro!

You've become what you sought to destroy.

We were friends once.

So I'll let you live.

But we rule now!

Move it!

Get him!

Suffer, Ariki-Paka!

Ramana.

Ramana.

Ramana!

Ramana!

Ramana!

Have you seen Ramana?

Ramana!

Ramana!

Ramana!

Atta, have you seen Ramana?

I've been looking every --

What are you doing?

Filling our bellies.

You can't do this.

It's not who we are.

Who's gonna stop us?

Haoa!

Haoa!

Your daughter.

I thought I lost you.

I thought that's what you wanted.

No.

We were both wrong.

I know why my father left, Haoa.

I understand now.

Then you're ready for this.

Your wedding gift.

Come with us.

No.

If I'd have been braver, I'd have gone with your father.

Now I'm too old to go with you.

Hurry.

Don't look back.