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The Land Has Eyes is a film by a Rotuman filmmaker who is also an anthropologist at the University of Hawaii. The film begins with a scene that describes the founding of the island where a group of people comprised of seven brothers and one sister is shown arriving at the island of Rotuma. One of the brothers has raped the sister and she is abandoned on the island with very little in the way of provisions although she does have a couple of breadfruit trees and a suckling pig. The brothers then leave the island and state that they are heading for Fiji. The story continues and this sister who we now know as a Warrior Woman, ruler of the land and the sea, is pregnant with the child resulting from the earlier rape between her and her brother. The film notes that future generations of women on Rotuma will carry her mana and spirit.
After this first scene, the film shifts the focus back to the present day lives of a family that lives on the island. The main character is a young girl named Viki and the film intensely reveals the everyday lives of Viki and her family. The family seems to be working mainly as wage laborers collecting coconuts and then using the copra meat inside to sell for funds upon which to live. It also seemed apparent that there was also an aspect where the father also may have been a tenant farmer because the neighbor made mention of 'how do you get rid of a neighbor you don't like? You take him to court for filching coconuts!' This actually happens in the movie and the father is found guilty of taking the coconuts by the colonial administrator due to the erroneous translation provided by the friend or cousin of the neighbor who accused Viki's father. This then results in the father and the family being disgraced in the eyes of the community with a conviction ending up with a rather heavy fine of ten pounds. The remainder of the movie shows what happens to Viki after her father dies and she wins a scholarship to go to school in Fiji as a result of her hard work in studying at the local school.
This film has a fairly substantial number of instances where the cultural traditions of the island of Rotuma are the focus of the film. In one scene, I believe the father states that our ancestor says 'The land has eyes and teeth, and knows the truth.' By this statement, it appears that the father is referring to the fact that even if the rest of the community believes that he is guilty of the transgression of stealing the coconuts, the land knows what really happened and will in a way protect him and his family from this unsubstantiated accusation. In the end, the land will take action to revenge the illicit actions of his neighbor who is attempting to get him off his land by making him unable to pay the fine which will result in the loss of the land.
The character of Viki fairly often seems to channel or talk to the Warrior Woman as a way in which to deal with the various trials and tribulations of daily life that she has to deal with both within and without her family ranging from her relationships with the teacher at school, her friends around the neighborhood, her siblings and family, as well as the problems of a young girl who is maturing and becoming a woman. This sort of communion or prayerful communication with the Warrior Woman spirit is a way of responding to the troubles that Viki finds both herself and her family in as the result of other's actions in the film.
Another example of cultural traditions as shown in the film arises when the girl Viki tries to talk to her father about appealing the court's or rather, the Administrator's order of a fine of ten pounds because she knows that the translator, Poto, has lied and feels that the father needs to take action to retrieve his good name in the community. The father responds that 'I've been shamed enough!! We'll deal with this the Rotuman way!' By this, it seems to mean that the father will rely on the cultural traditions or the spirits of the ancestors to resolve this situation of his unjust accusation of having stolen the coconuts.
One more instance of cultural traditions being shown in the film seemed to be the importance of the relationship between the brother and Viki. They seemed to have a special relationship where the brother-sister bond was very special as has been demonstrated in class when discussing these types of relationships in the cultures of the Pacific. The brother always seemed to be looking out for Viki and when he got in a fight over the false accusation where he was defending his father, Viki was right there to help him both by trying to pull the other guy off the brother but also by consoling him after the fight was concluded.
Just prior to the wedding scene and during it, there were also several occasions where you could observe cultural traditions at work. One of these involved the old woman coming to the father to borrow money and the staff for the wedding. She needed money for a costume and the father readily gave her quite a sum which the wife objected to somewhat strenuously. The old woman also made note of the importance of the staff by saying 'The staff is the last one on the island' and you could tell its importance to the old woman and the high level of desire she had to have its use at the wedding. The father, more or less, tells the wife that it is his obligation to help his relative by letting her borrow the money and staff and he does not seem disturbed, as the wife is, that he will be giving a small sum to the church. At the wedding itself, there are some cultural traditions that are shown including the scene where both the bride and groom are being bound in the preparations for the wedding. Also, there is an occasion at the wedding where the old woman makes the chief kneel down in front of her which is supposed to be a reference to remind the Chief to the link to the Warrior Woman who is the founding spirit of the island.
One final use of cultural traditions in the film was shown where the mother was training one of the daughters to do the traditional duties of a woman in the domestic area while the other daughter, Viki, who was good at school was being prepared to go away to Fiji so that perhaps she could one day be a high wage earner and help to support the parents after they reached old age. However, the early death of the father seemingly negated this aspect of the planning. Although it must be said, the mother herself would still need to be supported once she became an old woman and Viki's schooling would certainly help with this necessity.
Overall, there are many instances in this film that disclose the cultural traditions of the island of Rotuma. These range from the wedding ceremony antics, the brother-sister relationship, the calling upon the Warrior Woman in times of need, and the ceremonies that were used during the scene at the gravesite when the father was buried.
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