PAGE 4 (Four panels)
(Note : The panels on this page should be sepia-toned, a visual indicator of the age of the photographic and cinematic material they are meant to represent.)
Panel 1: Two Italian men, ENZO SCELLERATINI (“Enzo”) and GUIDO SCELLERATINI (“Guido”) absurdly overdressed for their environment stand in coats, bow-ties, and bowler hats, posed on a beach with an old-fashioned, crank-operated movie camera. (Note : Both men have somewhat silly handlebar mustaches.)
CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (1): In 1905, Italian brothers Enzo and Guido Scelleratini, following up on sailors’ rumors of a strange native cult on the South Seas island of Motofupo, went there with a movie camera in hopes of finding something unusual.
Translation (1): En 1905, les frères italiens Enzo et Guido Scelleratini, suite à des rumeurs recueillies auprès de marins au sujet d’un culte indigène étrange à Motofupo, une île des Mers du Sud, s’y rendirent armés d’une caméra dans l’espoir de filmer quelque chose d’inhabituel.
Panel 2: A group of attractive young Polynesian-looking women dressed in muumuuu-like garments reaching into a sack together to draw something out.
CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (2): In spite of the fact that their rituals were rumored to include human sacrifice, the indigenous people proved friendly and allowed the Scelleratini brothers to film them and one of those very rituals.
Translation (2): Malgré les soupçons que leurs rituels impliquaient des sacrifices humains, la population autochtone a bien pris le fait que les frères Scelleratini les filment ainsi que l’un de leurs rituels.
Panel 3: Close up of two hands of different young women in the panel. One holds a white stone, another a black stone.
CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (3): The first part of the ritual was a selection process to pick specific young women to be given to a “God of the Deeps” in marriage.
Translation (3): La première partie du rituel était un processus de sélection pour choisir de jeunes femmes destinées à être offertes en mariage à un « Dieu des profondeurs ».
Panel 4: One young woman of the Motofupo people (“the Bride”), cradling a stone, wearing a beatific expression.
CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (4): According to observers and apparent on the film was that the young women so selected did not seem distressed. They instead seemed pleased and honored.
Translation (4): Selon des observateurs, les jeunes femmes choisies ne semblaient pas être inquiètes, ce que confirme également le visionnage du film. Au lieu de cela, elles semblaient heureuses et honorées.
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