August 17, 2008

MOVIES: Smackdown 1966: Jocelyne LaGarde, Hawaii

Hawaii isn't much watched these days, and I can't argue that it deserves to be. It's an overstuffed historical epic -- nearly 3 hours long -- about the arrival of white missionaries in Hawaii in the 1820s. The most interesting about it these days is spotting actors in small roles who would go on to bigger and better things (Carroll O'Connor and Gene Hackman chief among them). But the principals are badly miscast, especially Max von Sydow, who is utterly incapable of handling the comic moments he's given in the early scenes, and far too pompous and self-righteous even for the fire-and-brimstone preacher he becomes later in the movie.

I was surprised (and would imagine that audiences in 1966 must have been even more so) at how bluntly the movie points out that the arrival of white men was not, on the whole, a good thing for the native Hawaiians, and that the missionaries often used their influence and power in hypocritical, un-Christian fashion to line their own pockets.

But we are here primarily to discuss Oscar nominee Jocelyne LaGarde, who plays Malama, queen of Maui. This was the only movie LaGarde ever made; according to the Internet Movie Database, she remains the only actor ever to receive an Oscar nomination for her sole film.

It's an impossible performance to evaluate in conventional terms. LaGarde, a French-speaking Tahitian, spoke neither English nor Hawaiian, and learned all of her lines phonetically. When you're doing nothing but reciting strings of nonsense syllables, there is no room for spontaneity, creativity, discovery of something unexpected in the moment. There is, in short, no room for acting.

LaGarde's performance is an elaborate stunt which turns her into a cross between a life-sized prop and a trained parrot. I admire the relative grace with which the stunt is performed, but it would be both unkind and unfair to compare what LaGarde is doing with real acting.

10 comments:

Greg Wheeler said...

I couldn't disagree more about Lagarde's performance. Just finished watching the movie and she was stunning and, it seems to me, quite aware of the meaning of her lines. "Reciting strings of nonsense syllables…" That's nuts.

She must have had another French or Tahitian speaking coach of some kind available. Watch the scene where she first denies land to von Sydow's character. You can't deny she understood the imperious dismissal the Alii Nui was visiting on the haole. She would have been told the meaning of her lines and brought that understanding to her delivery.

She was the best actor in the movie. Every other actor seemed wooden to me. Almost unwatchable.

It's a horrible movie and a depressing story, but Jocelyn Laporte is fantastic to watch.

Keith said...

Welcome, Greg! Always happy to have a new reader/commenter.

I'm sure you're right that LaGarde had a coach of some kind, and that she was carefully taught what each of her lines meant and what her attitude should be as it was delivered.

But the fact remains that she didn't understand what she was saying; they really were "strings of nonsense syllables" to her, just as equivalent amounts of French (or Chinese, or Welsh...) would be to me.

I could memorize a few strings of, I dunno, Icelandic, and I have a good enough ear for accents and intonation that I might even sound mildly convincing doing it. But if I don't actually understand what I'm saying, word by word, as I say it, it's nothing more than a nifty parlor trick.

CynRussell said...

Why do you assume she didn't have a French translation provided to her so that she would know what she was saying phonetically? It was a big budget film and she was a major character. She would have needed a translator to communicate with the director, etc.

CynRussell said...

Why do you assume she didn't have a French translation provided to her so that she would know what she was saying phonetically? It was a big budget film and she was a major character. She would have needed a translator to communicate with the director, etc.

CynRussell said...


She would have had a translator to communicate with the director, so it would have been natural that same translator would have translated her lines for her so that she would know what the scenes were about and what she was saying.

Keith said...

Well, I wasn't there, so I don't know, but everything I've read about the movie says that LaGarde learned her lines phonetically, as mere collections of sound.

Unknown said...

Watched the movie tonight on public television. I knew nothing about Jocelyne LaGarde and googled her because I was so impressed with her performance. She was perfect. She was charming, comical, immediately likeable and imperious without cruelty. I think it's entirely understandable that her performance had been lauded and that she had been nominated for an Oscar.

Trochu Molecatcher said...

The most miscast person in the movie was Julie Andrews, with her posh English accent no one could even got close to imagine she came fron eastern USA. Max von S. was great, but Jocelyne was the best!

Trochu Molecatcher said...

The most miscast actor in this movie was Julie Andrews. With her posh English accent there is no way she could have originated in eastern USA. Max vo S. was great, but Jocelyne LaGarde was magnificent!

Unknown said...

I remember seeing this film in the theater when I was 5 years old. When Malamna died I cried through the rest of the movie. I thought she and the other islanders were the best.