The Orator

Watched for the Anti-Criterion Challenge 2025:letterboxd.com/that1oboist/list/the-anti-criterion-challenge-2025/

42/52: A film whose primary spoken language is the primary language for less than 1,000 other films

Watched for the Anti-Criterion Challenge 2025:letterboxd.com/that1oboist/list/the-anti-criterion-challenge-2025/

42/52: A film whose primary spoken language is the primary language for less than 1,000 other films

this was my watch for samoa while watching a film from every country, this is very slow but the ending 20 minuets are good enough to make up for the rest of the film

this was my watch for samoa while watching a film from every country, this is very slow but the ending 20 minuets are good enough to make up for the rest of the film

“Aumaia e tanu i le vā o la’u fatu ma lo’u māmā”

Ese le malosi o le ata lenei. Fa’afetai lava Tusi mo lou lototoa i le tapenaina o le ala o ata Samoa. O le ata lenei, e musumusuga ia te a’u. Fa’amagalo mai, e leaga lo’u gagana Samoa. Ou te alofa tele mea uma o lenei ata. Ou te fa’amoemoe e fai se mea fa’aleaganu’u malosi e pei o lenei.

“Aumaia e tanu i le vā o la’u fatu ma lo’u māmā”

Ese le malosi o le ata lenei. Fa’afetai lava Tusi mo lou lototoa i le tapenaina o le ala o ata Samoa. O le ata lenei, e musumusuga ia te a’u. Fa’amagalo mai, e leaga lo’u gagana Samoa. Ou te alofa tele mea uma o lenei ata. Ou te fa’amoemoe e fai se mea fa’aleaganu’u malosi e pei o lenei.

A small introspective film about death and responsibility. I do recommend it if you seek something meditative or to observe the Samoan culture

A small introspective film about death and responsibility. I do recommend it if you seek something meditative or to observe the Samoan culture

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Day 361 of 365 of my year long challenge

Week 52: Around the World
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Tusi Tamasese's debut is a quiet, contemplative, moody affair that does so much with so little (no pun intended). It becomes a showcase of Samoan culture but triumphs as a story of human weakness and power. In all, The Orator is a film that moves without overpowering.

Fa'afiaula Sagote is Saili, is a taro farmer, dwarf, and son of the now deceased village chief. Struggling with self-esteem issues, Saili lacks the courage to take up his father's mantle and has since let his parent's graves go without proper care. Meanwhile, his wife, Vaagia (Tausili Pushparaj) is deathly ill, her brother Poto (Ioata Tanielu) wants her to return from banishment, and her daughter Litia (Salamasina Mataia) wants nothing to do with him. In order to keep his family together and honour them properly, Saili must find courage and love enough to take up his title and speak up when everyone else speaks down to him.

The power in this slice of life kind of film comes from its unflinching determination and patience to show life at its own pace. No one rushes here, the film never builds tempo, everything just chugs along. There is a palpable tension building in the background as various elements in Saili's life come into conflict or become unstable but this never overwhelms the rest of the film. Instead, like ordinary stresses we each feel every day, it just sits in the background and raises its ugly head intermittently.

Alongside that patient pace, The Orator also comes without frills. Music is almost entirely absent and once spotted, is impossible not to notice. This is Samoa at its most drab, listless and mundane. In the place of music, The Orator is filled with the locals sounds of insects and wildlife to create a subtle buzzing in the background. Soon enough, though, this absence becomes familiar and we trek back and forward across the island lost in our own contemplation.

Similarly, the film indulges in silence as Saili struggles to confront or even interact with the world around him. An essentially broken man, Saili says little for the majority of the film and retreats into his own shell when those around him push back. To his credit, Sagote manages to convey himself well without ever fully expressing himself. In contrast, Pushparaj is a strong presence who from the outset offers a bastion and protection for the quiet man. He appears to give little in return but she stands by him all the same. In her weakness, though, This quiet world is flipped and Saili finds himself again.

Visually stunning, The Orator is a simply shot film. It relies on a steady camera to compliment its patient demeanour as it captures the world walk by. Often at or Saili's level, this Samoa is often seen from a distance and quite flatly. It makes the lush surroundings seem mammoth in their size which only compounds how small Saili, and by extension, we, feel.

As drab and mundane as the film seems to be, the world itself is bright and filled with a strange, controlled sort of life. There is a hierarchy here controlled from the fore- and backgrounds by various different threads. Men take centre stage as the literal voices of their villages while women quietly work to present gifts and bribes to those is "opposition". When diplomacy fails, violence is met with reckless abandon yet all is accomplished once pride has been injured. In actuality, that seems to be more damaging than anything physical and goes a long way to explaining this quiet world and its people.

The Orator really is a slow and quiet film that demands as much patience as it seems to exert. Little happens for long stretches of time and few, if any characters here seem to be worthy of sympathy, pity or vilification. These are fragile, prideful, ignorant people who, despite being entirely alien to most of us, are all too familiar once they become familiar. Stunning, thoughtful and moody, this is a surprising debut that moves with little effort.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 361 of 365 of my year long challenge

Week 52: Around the World
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tusi Tamasese's debut is a quiet, contemplative, moody affair that does so much with so little (no pun intended). It becomes a showcase of Samoan culture but triumphs as a story of human weakness and power. In all, The Orator is a film that moves without overpowering.

Fa'afiaula Sagote is Saili, is a taro farmer, dwarf, and son of the now deceased village chief. Struggling with self-esteem issues, Saili lacks the courage to take up his father's mantle and has since let his parent's graves go without proper care. Meanwhile, his wife, Vaagia (Tausili Pushparaj) is deathly ill, her brother Poto (Ioata Tanielu) wants her to return from banishment, and her daughter Litia (Salamasina Mataia) wants nothing to do with him. In order to keep his family together and honour them properly, Saili must find courage and love enough to take up his title and speak up when everyone else speaks down to him.

The power in this slice of life kind of film comes from its unflinching determination and patience to show life at its own pace. No one rushes here, the film never builds tempo, everything just chugs along. There is a palpable tension building in the background as various elements in Saili's life come into conflict or become unstable but this never overwhelms the rest of the film. Instead, like ordinary stresses we each feel every day, it just sits in the background and raises its ugly head intermittently.

Alongside that patient pace, The Orator also comes without frills. Music is almost entirely absent and once spotted, is impossible not to notice. This is Samoa at its most drab, listless and mundane. In the place of music, The Orator is filled with the locals sounds of insects and wildlife to create a subtle buzzing in the background. Soon enough, though, this absence becomes familiar and we trek back and forward across the island lost in our own contemplation.

Similarly, the film indulges in silence as Saili struggles to confront or even interact with the world around him. An essentially broken man, Saili says little for the majority of the film and retreats into his own shell when those around him push back. To his credit, Sagote manages to convey himself well without ever fully expressing himself. In contrast, Pushparaj is a strong presence who from the outset offers a bastion and protection for the quiet man. He appears to give little in return but she stands by him all the same. In her weakness, though, This quiet world is flipped and Saili finds himself again.

Visually stunning, The Orator is a simply shot film. It relies on a steady camera to compliment its patient demeanour as it captures the world walk by. Often at or Saili's level, this Samoa is often seen from a distance and quite flatly. It makes the lush surroundings seem mammoth in their size which only compounds how small Saili, and by extension, we, feel.

As drab and mundane as the film seems to be, the world itself is bright and filled with a strange, controlled sort of life. There is a hierarchy here controlled from the fore- and backgrounds by various different threads. Men take centre stage as the literal voices of their villages while women quietly work to present gifts and bribes to those is "opposition". When diplomacy fails, violence is met with reckless abandon yet all is accomplished once pride has been injured. In actuality, that seems to be more damaging than anything physical and goes a long way to explaining this quiet world and its people.

The Orator really is a slow and quiet film that demands as much patience as it seems to exert. Little happens for long stretches of time and few, if any characters here seem to be worthy of sympathy, pity or vilification. These are fragile, prideful, ignorant people who, despite being entirely alien to most of us, are all too familiar once they become familiar. Stunning, thoughtful and moody, this is a surprising debut that moves with little effort.