Harthaven resident Sam Low will present his updated 1983 documentary, “The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific,” at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on Sunday, April 24, at 4 pm. Also playing this week at the Film Center is Atom Egoyan’s Holocaust-related thriller, “Remember.”
Co-sponsored by Sail Martha’s Vineyard, and co-directed by Boyd Estus, “The Navigators” explores the long history of Polynesian sailing. Without the benefits of modern navigation tools, these remarkable seafarers explored and settled the entire Pacific over the course of a thousand years. The film employs a narrative by the late Mau Piailug, last of a generation of Polynesian mariners, and the 35-day, 2,500-mile voyage he made in 1976 from Hawaii to Tahiti with a native crew.
“The Navigators” opens by expertly exploring the culture and traditions that have produced these voyagers. Mau explains how they have relied on wind, stars, and ocean currents to travel through 10 million square miles of the Pacific. Using only local materials, a replica of the original 60-foot, twin-hulled canoes named Hokule’a is prepared by hand for a new voyage. A simple, star-based coral compass guides the navigators, and Mau explains how the film will help his culture’s young people understand the importance of acquiring traditional navigation skills.
Also the subject of Dr. Low’s book, “Hawaiki Rising: Sailing in the Wake of our Ancestors,” the ocean canoe Hokule’a will make port on Martha’s Vineyard this summer. Dr. Low will speak about her visit and her “Malama Honua” voyage around the world to care for the planet. An anthropologist, photographer, writer, and award-winning filmmaker, Dr. Low has Polynesian roots dating back to 1850, when his family first settled in Hawaii. “The Navigators” was originally aired on PBS, and Edgartown Elementary School students have mapped the route of Hokule’a up the East Coast to the Vineyard. Among the filmmaker’s many other accomplishments, he has produced “Wreck of the Columbus,” the story of a famous shipwreck off the Island, also aired on PBS.
‘Remember’: A tale of retribution
Canadian director Atom Egoyan has fashioned a tale about Holocaust survivors finding justice for the murder of loved ones in “Remember.” Starring Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau, the film opens in a nursing home where 90-year-old Zev (Plummer), who has dementia, is grieving for his recently expired wife. Wheelchair-bound Max (Landau) enlists him to seek out and kill the Auschwitz Nazi responsible for their relatives’ deaths. One of Zev’s first stops is a gun store, where he purchases a Glock pistol with ease despite his age and condition. Zev begins a cross-country trek in search of his target, a former prison guard in hiding. With four possible candidates, all named Rudy, Zev travels from one to the next until he finally reaches the right one. Confrontations and killing take place, and the final outcome of the story will shock.
Without the skillful performance of Plummer, “Remember” might merely seem exploitive and unrealistic. This Canadian actor brings nuances of grief, dementia, and aging to his role in a way that enriches the film.
For screening times, tickets, and information on these and other films, visit mvfilmsociety.com, entertainmentcinemas.com/locations/Edgartown, or go to MV Times event listings.
