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Following in the footsteps
of the great 19th Century naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace, the Blair
Brothers embark with the piratical Bugis tribe on a 2000 mile journey through
the Spice Islands in search of the golden-tailed Bird of Paradise, the
symbol of Eternal Life. Aboard a black-sailed schooner they encounter storms
and doldrums, sultans and transvestite priests, pearl-divers and python-hunters,
before finally reaching the Aru Islands, close to New Guinea. Their odyssey
with the Bugis tribe (who gave the word 'boogyman' to the English language)
starts the Blairs on the inner journey which leads them ever deeper into
the forgotten wisdom of the island peoples.
For eight-hundred
miles, through untamed and uncharted rainforest, the Blairs seek the last
of the nomadic Punan Dyaks, the free-roving masters of the interior, the
"dream wandering" tribe believed to no longer exist. The brothers struggle
inwards, plagued by torrential rain, quicksand, leaches and virulent insects.
Eventually, they find and live with the Punan Dyaks where they are initiated
into the spiritual mysteries of the "dream wanderers." Lorne and Lawrence
join the dance of the hornbill and get tattooed with the symbol of "Aping"
- the Tree of All Life. This, their shaman explains to them, they will
now bear, wherever they may get to amongst the tribes of man, as a reminder
that all life forms are part of a single tree.
In the shadow of Java's
constantly erupting volcanos, the Blairs descend from the crater of the
newly erupted "Child of Krakatoa" and encounter a world of medieval courts,
mystical shadow puppet plays, forgers of magical swords, healers with supernatural
powers and whole communities ruled by the powerful "Spirit of the South
Seas." Back in Bali, they meet such sages as the master artist Nyoman Lempad,
who was to die a conscious death on the day of his choosing at the age
of 116. And among the Toraja people of the Celebes highlands, they share
in the massive funeral rites of the last king of the tribe which believes
its ancestors came from the stars in skyships.
The Blairs sail to
Komodo and film the giant, carnivorous lizards of the island whose tiny
human population is descended from the people banished by the neighboring
sultans of Bima to eke out their living on "Dragon Island." On the island
of Sumba, they witness a veiled form of human sacrifice by equestrian warriors.
Master weavers of magical textiles, the Sumbanese still live by ancient
beliefs, ritually keeping the balance between the "Merapu" gods of the
sky above and "Nyali," the Sea Goddess of the world below. The brothers
journey 50,000 years into the past to live with Asmat headhunters in New
Guinea. They eventually reach Bali where they build a home in a village
of farmers, artists and mystics.
In
a village situated in the fertile central hills of Bali, the island's greatest
artist died at the age of 116. The film, co-directed by Lorne Blair, tells
the story of Lempad against the background of the islands' changing fortunes
over the past 100 years. It follows the elaborate preparations for his
cremation and the consequent release by fire of his spirit into the next
world. A wide selection of Lempad's work is shown, including the drawings,
paintings, sculpture and architecture which have enriched the cultural
life of Bali.
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