Rendering 10 (Cinema)

The article under study is taken from The New York Times and is published under the title “Ja, That Manly Raft Trip, Blond Manes a-Whipping.” it was contributed by Manohla Dargis on April 25, 2013, and contains the review of the new film ‘Kon-Tiki,’ directed by Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg.

As the film is based on real historical events, first of all it’s necessary to provide some facts and to mention that in 1947, a Norwegian zoologist and adventurer, Thor Heyerdahl (Pal Sverre Hagen), set sail for Polynesia from Peru in a balsa-wood raft that he called Kon-Tiki, after a sun god. Through his studies had developed some unorthodox ideas about early migrations to the islands. Unlike other researchers, who embraced the theory that Polynesia had been populated by way of Asia, Heyerdahl argued that the islanders originated in South America. To prove his theory, the scientist built the kind of raft that he believed early South American seafarers might have constructed, and set sail with five other men. After 101 days they landed on the Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago.

The film under discussion, “Kon-Tiki,” is, according to the author, instead a stolidly old-fashioned and manly hair-in-the-wind entertainment of the sort that could have filled out the bottom of a studio double bill. To say specifically, the men are handsome, the sea is pretty and if the sharks look rubbery, at least they add some drama to what otherwise proves a dull affair. In addition, Manohla Dargis adds skeptically that it’s also a distracting affair because, in a misguided move, the filmmakers have the men speak in English; there’s also a Norwegian-language version.

The author concludes by saying that if this movie is to be believed, brave Thor Heyerdahl’s voyage was largely bereft of tension and interesting conversation; besides, Dargis compares this movie quite unfavourably to Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi,” which, however flawed, lyrically conveyed the beauty and madness of a long journey into both the world and the soul. As for me, I’ve by no means heard about the famous Norwegian scientist and seafarer, and it’s a pity there hasn’t been shot any good film about his adventures yet and all we have now are only pitiful attempts to show the significance of his discoveries.