Rapa Nui (1994) on Netflix
R19941h 47m
Long Ear Noro loves Ramana, a Short Ear. To marry her he must win the Birdman race, which decides which tribe rules the island. Make, a rival, trains against him.
- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.4/105,775 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
On Rapa Nui, two classes live under one king. The Long Ears rule, and the Short Ears carve the giant stone moai that the island king Ariki-mau demands, ever larger, to bring the gods. Ariki-mau has held the title of Birdman for twenty years, and each year young Long Ear men race for the first egg of the sooty tern; the winner's tribe rules for a year. Noro, a Long Ear, and Ramana, a Short Ear, love each other. Noro asks to marry Ramana if he wins, and the king agrees, but the king's advisor sends her to the Virgin's Cave until the contest. Make, a Short Ear and Noro's friend, also loves Ramana. When the Short Ears demand a place in the race, Make becomes their competitor, on the condition that he may marry Ramana if he wins.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Rapa Nui (1994)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
The film's conflict between the Long Ears and the Short Ears comes from the legend of the hanau epe, who are said to have been nearly all killed by the hanau momoko, leaving a sole survivor, as happens in the film.- The story jumbles two separate eras of Easter Island history, the age of the moai statues and the later Birdman Cult; if the Long Ear and Short Ear conflict was real, it ended long before the Birdman Cult began.
