Film Analysis Essay on "Cannibal Tours" by Dennis O'Rourke

Introduction

"Cannibal Tours" is a quasi-documentary film by Dennis O'Rourke produced in 1988. The film follows some affluent European and American tourists taking a tour of the Sepik River in Papua, New Guinea. It illustrates the nature of the area and the dominant culture before the native people and the tourists. It is clear from the documentary that there are contrast perspectives of how each group views each other and the realities of this village. This is evident from their personal view, their actions, interaction, images used, and the food they consume. Through this interaction, the western tourists emulate their whiteness and privilege by viewing their values and cultures as superior and view the New Guineans as a primitive group.

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First, we see dominant European tourists over the villagers when they are depicted in a luxurious cruise ship on their tour during the vacation. The picture is entirely different when it comes to the villagers who are shown using the boats as their tools of transport (O'Rourke, min11). The tourists further are painted as an arrogant and intrusive western group with ethnocentric judgment upon the way of life of the Pan-Sepik people. From the style of interaction, Western tourists are embarrassing and uncouth where they get local people to pose and smile for photographs. This in a way indicates how dominant the way of life of the tourists is compared to the villagers. At one point, the tourists seem to insist on bargaining for the lowest prices for the handmade carvings (O'Rourke, min54). The bartering for the lowest price indicates that it is only through the sale of the handmade crafts that the native villagers can afford the materialistic culture which they have brought to these people. However, since the tourists have money, the local people have no option of living outside the cash economy as the tourists only recognize the cash economy.

The act to offer the local people lower prices and have them pose for photographs is what makes tourists perceive this group as primitive and comfortable with the environment that gives them basic life needs. While the villagers appear with no clothes on and using boats with no modernized way of life, we can see a different case with the tourists. The European tourists appear interested in studying the actions, beliefs, and traditions of the villagers as they take pictures of the environment using camera lenses so that they could document the same. Often, the tourists find the way of living of the New Guineans strange from their own which they perceive is the modern way to live. Even when the villagers appear confused, the tourists continue to take the picture in a way that makes them look as if they are part of the museum unlike what we see with the camera in the film focusing on the tourist (O'Rourke, min48). They are dehumanized to appear more superior and human that the rest of the villages carrying all forms of modern tools needed for the tour including food.

The film depicts Eurocentric from the background soundtrack that plays in line with the characters and the context of the situation in which the film is represented. The background music in the film contains occasional shortwave messages that represent a wider world beyond the world the local people live. It comes with a Mozart string quartet at the same time accompanied by the latmul flute concerto. The soundtrack itself is a reflection of the modern played music despite the setting of the film being within the Sepik River in Papua, New Guinea. This was an indicator that the European values and culture even regarding music is superior to the culture of the local Ne Guineas.

Throughout the way of interaction of the interaction between the western tourists and the New Guineans, there is no element of consciousness of tourists to detach from their values. The type of food they eat is different from what the local people eat with modern ingredients. They continued to use modern technological tools including the camera lenses and their expensive clothes (O'Rourke, min51). The incapability of the tourist of a conscious detachment from their values was a feature evident of the local group discourse and images. They often perceived themselves as so modern and that their modernity is a necessary thing that people even in this village need to adopt. On their part, the local people do not see the difference between them and the European tourist if not for the money that the tourists have.

The "primitive other" is portrayed in the film by the local people when in anger and frustrations they deliberately ignore to sell their carvings to the tourists just because they bargained for the lower prices. Evidently, a German tourist accuses the New Guineans as people who do not understand the value of money which should be perceived as a superior mode of exchange. From this context, it is clear that the local people prefer to continue holding their handmade carvings than to sell them at the low prices bartered by tourists. The deliberate bargaining for low prices of these artworks by tourist renders these goods as useless that do not command high prices and that there is no their exact important use in the modern society (O'Rourke, min56). This sends a set of confusion, underprivileged, and a feeling of lack of support from the tourist among the local community. It makes them continue to lack access to food and clothes to live at the same level as the European tourists despite them being equal in all measures as human beings. It is at this time that the concept of superiority of the western tourists comes in in the sense that they can access what the local community cannot get and their resources give them an opportunity to control the local group.

Conclusion

Thus, it is evident that all the events within the film depict an idea of the European tourists perceiving their culture and values as superior to those of the villagers. From the way they talk to villages, the cruise ship they use, the lower prices they offer for handmade carvings, and taking them photographs using the camera lens. The tourists are merely treating the local people as the second-hand human beings whose culture is primitive and backwardness. At some point, tourists claim that the villagers need to be taught some values and behaviors to emulate the modern world and how Westerners live. However, this does not go well with the local community which feels that it only needs financial support and resources. Instead, New Guineans are further convinced that indeed the Europeans only come with the idea of being cultured only to exploit the locals and make them live like them.

Work Cited

O'Rourke, D. (1988). Cannibal Tours: A Film. Tim Litchfield, CameraWork, Australia.