OMOO - A Lost Soul in the South Seas - A Film Script - 6. Omoo Appendices and Text Notes

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Omoo Appendices

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Omoo Script Notes

 

1) Setting: August to November, 1842 (on the Dolly and in Tahiti): February and March 1843 (on the Arcturion, in the longboat, and on the Parki. ^[8]

 

2) Character and Costume Notes:

 

The Arcturion crew

 

CAPTAIN VANG: A New Englander; early-50s. A neat and tidy dresser.

 

FIRST MATE: American; mid-30s. A neat and tidy dresser.

 

MARK: American; early-20s. A neat and tidy dresser.

 

JARL: (aka Viking; Skyeman) From the Isle of Skye, Scotland, mid-30s. His accent is almost totally subsumed into the international sailor vernacular, but it comes out in moments of stress, or intimacy. He has long blond hair, which he wears in a ponytail, except when he and Redburn are alone. He has a large tattoo on his left shoulder and bicep of Christ crucified on an anchor. It is monotone, except for several bright red drops of holy blood that look like Jarl’s own blood. ^[9]

 

CLOTHES: He gives his tarpaulin hat to Redburn, thereafter he wears a Guayaquil (or a panama hat). He shifts between white duck, and navy-blue wool, trousers. He has a couple of light and dark frocks (or sailor jerseys), and several shirts, some red, some white. He has several long bandanas that he wears under the flap of his frocks, and sailorly tied under the “V” of his collar. He has an indigo monkey jacket. He is fastidious about his appearance and dress. He makes sure Redburn is also presentable. On the Parki, Redburn gives him a yellow silk scarf, and he wears it along will several strings of chunky beads.

 

REDBURN: (aka Tommo) From the Hudson River Valley; 23 years old. He has longish brunette hair which he sometimes wears tied back.

 

CLOTHES: On the Julia, he has hand-me-downs, and no hat. On the Arcturion and in the longboat he is dressed well, thanks to Jarl. He wears clothes like Jarl, and borrows his bandannas for his head. He has a dark red monkey jacket with big brass buttons – flashy. On the Parki, he wears a purple silk scarf that is heavily fringed around his waist. He too finds beads, and other adornments, to his liking.

The Julia crew

 

CAPTAIN GUY: A London East Ender who immigrated to Australia at thirteen; 27 years old. He speaks with the “cultivated” Australian accent, but with a faint cockney tinge. He is pale and slender and suffers from on-again-off-again bouts of fever. He is a landsman and has no cachet among the crew, but he is disposed of a ‘still, timid cunning’ with which he governs through Jarman and Pisco (cheap South American grappa).

 

CLOTHES: He prefers the flashy clothes that, when seen from his working-class background, denote status. In addition to frilly silk scarves and cravats around his neck, he has jackets cut in Chinese-style that are loose fitting and have high and stiff collars. These jackets are in different colors and fabrics, but when he meets Redburn, he is wearing his Nankeen (or pale yellow) jacket of cotton chintz. He is generally vain and fastidious about his appearance. ^[10]

 

JARMAN: (aka First Mate; John) A rough and tumble Englishman, 46 years old. He is a functioning alcoholic who is respected to the point of adoration by his crew. However, this affection does not translate into a desire to please him, because he is an ineffectual leader. He is unable to persuade Guy to let him guide the ship to the best whaling grounds, and he allows himself to be scapegoated by the crew for a disorderly and dilapidated ship. Jarman’s attempts at gaining control are thwarted by his lack of focus attributable to his alcohol-dependence, and the knowledge that his chance to raise himself up to captain on another vessel is waning by the day. Long Ghost is a thorn in his side; Bembo a comfort, because he listens to him. He is unconcerned about his appearance, except for its projection of authority, which is often forgotten when he has had too much to drink. Jarman has perfect teeth, a sharky smile, and one eye that squints harder than the other. He has gray hair that curls into ringlets on his forehead beneath the brim of his hat. The same color hair “mosses” his chest and arms, which are both tattooed.

 

CLOTHES: He wears a typical array of worn and soiled merchant marine sailor clothes, and a broad-brimmed panama hat.

 

LONG GHOST: (aka Jonathan) An Australian-born man from an affluent family; late-30s. As a young physician, his propensity for mischief resulted in several young ladies with babies trying to blackmail his family. He was cut off, and has subsequently made his way in the world on wits alone. He is an intellectual match for Redburn, which attracts the younger man to him. He is addicted to self-medicating himself with opiates, and has no scruples about plying others with them to get what he wants, which is usually sexual in nature. He is over six-foot-tall, thin, with a fair complexion, light hair, and wolf-gray eyes. Long Ghost has poor teeth, due to his addiction, and the common use of mercury as a preservative of medicinal compounds. He has a fine, deep and soulful singing voice, which is untouched by the applied glibness with which he usually presents himself. When he sings, he is himself, complete with all his pain and regrets. He speaks with the “cultivated” Australian accent, but vacillates it with the posh “standard” British accent to heighten his points of rhetoric.

 

CLOTHES: He mainly wears a dark burgundy waistcoat. This sleeveless ‘vest’ is double-breasted with broad lapels and a high standing collar. It comes down to about wrist-length on his thighs. With this he wears an array of trousers, and white shirts. On board ship, he could not care less about his appearance; there being no ladies to impress. On land, he cleans up nicely. He has a broad-brimmed woven hat. ^[11]

 

BEMBO: A New Zealand-born Māori; 25 years old. De facto second officer, he is the last harpooner on board. As Jarman lost his other officers to ship-jumping, he relies on Bembo to manage the ship with him. He has a withdrawn disposition, but a commanding courage and knowledge of seamanship. The crew, except for Chips, have a grudging admiration for his self-reliant nature. Bembo has brown eyes, and wavy-to-curly hair. He wears his long hair in a bun on top of his head, which is usually hidden beneath his hat. He tries to repay Jarman’s trust in him with efforts to clean up Jarman’s addiction and behavior.

 

CLOTHES: He wears a typical array of merchant marine sailor clothes, which he keeps orderly, in marked contrast to the rest of his crewmates. He wears a panama hat.

 

CHIPS: (aka the carpenter) An Englishman; mid-30s. A scrappy, tough man who is a fit match for Jarman’s fists and authority. He has a short temper, but a way of slowing down and concentrating his speech in the midst of anger that positively frightens his opponents. He is a functioning alcoholic, who stopped giving a damn a long time ago. He relies on Bungs to temper his worst impulses. He hates Bembo because he sees success and youth in a man who had to overcome much more than Chips ever did, and is thus a constant reminder of Chips’ stagnation. He hates Ropy because he sees youth and potential, and worse yet, a genuine devotion to Salem.

 

CLOTHES: He wears a typical array of worn and soiled merchant marine sailor clothes.

 

BUNGS: (aka the cooper) An Australian; early-30s. He is a man fast on his way to sliding into the hopelessness of Chips’ path, but he occasionally gets shaken up by the displays of Chips’ negativity, with a desire to never be ‘that bad.’ He often lets the bottle substitute for thinking about the future. He knows Chips need him to survive.

 

CLOTHES: He wears a typical array of worn and soiled merchant marine sailor clothes.

 

THE FINN: (aka Van) A Finnish-born sailor; late-30s. He is detached from the others, and uses the aura of second-sight to keep the mercenary interests of the others out of his private affairs. When alone, he mostly broods upon the condition of his many wives in various ports. He does not drink, and saves his money. He has short blond hair.

 

CLOTHES: He wears a typical array of worn and soiled merchant marine sailor clothes, but he is better kept than most of the other men. He has a sealskin hat, and tobacco pouch. ^[12]

SALEM: A New England-born scrapper; 24 years old. His upbringing prepared him for a life of hard work, but his Yankee soul expects this work to be thought about, and doled out rationally. He can’t stand the typical English way of equivocation and scapegoating, and this has sharpened his general, and brooding anger. He has vast capacities to persevere and be faithful, but his temper is short, and his fists well-used. He loves Ropy, how and why, he doesn’t reflect upon, but true is that love for all times. He prides himself on his chummie duty to protect Ropy in person, and when his partner is slammed by discouraging words behind Ropy’s back. He secretly relies on Ropy’s calming influence to maintain his hope for a future life built with him off ship.

 

CLOTHES: He and Ropy share their merchant marine sailor clothes. He prefers light colored shirts, indigo trousers, striped shirts, etc. He has a penchant for bright-colored scarves. He wears and shares with Ropy several Scotch caps (the precursor of the baseball cap) of different colors. He keeps their wardrobe orderly, in marked contrast to the rest of his crewmates.

 

ROPY: A Cockney youth; 20 years old. He is slightly clumsy, which as steward is a disadvantage. He refuses to sleep in the cabin due to the former advances by Long Ghost. He thanks his lucky stars that he was driven to sleep in the forecastle, and that Salem and he were put together on this ship only months ago. Salem has quickly grown to be his everything. He tries to protect Salem from Salem’s own worst impulses to think with his fists. He is in the process of toning down his accent. One, so that Salem can better understand him, and two, because the pressure to adopt the vernacular sailor lingo is too great to resist.

 

CLOTHES: When on duty in the cabin, he wears a hand-me-down swallowtail cut jacket from Guy. He borrows Salem’s scarves, and wears them as cravats in imitation of Guy’s neckwear. Out of the cabin, he wears what Salem wears.

 

The Parki crew:

 

SAMOA: (aka Upolu) An Upolu-born pearl diver; 28 years old. A sailor since 18, he landed on Maui and decided to stay. He learned pearl diving, and relishes the work. An honest and content man, he took on the challenge of An’natu’s rehabilitation because he fell in love with her, despite all warning that she was uncontrollable. He took great personal risk in insisting that he ship with his wife, because he would never leave her behind. His value to the expedition secured his wife a place with the native crew. Nevertheless, by the time he meets up with Jarl and Redburn, he is fed up with her shenanigans.

 

CLOTHES: After the attack by the lascars, he dresses comfortably in several kilts he fashioned from the trade-good calico on board. He wears chunky beads, and converted a long red silk scarf into a head covering. He has long hair, which is mostly tied into a bun under his turban, except when he is getting ready to bed down, or just rising. He has set his sailor clothes aside.

 

AN’NATU: A Tawara-born teenager from the Gilbert Islands; 18 years old. Kidnapped at age 12 or 13, she was sexually assaulted and sold from sea captain to sea captain until Samoa purchased her freedom on Maui. At first she was wary of Samoa’s interest in her, but as the weeks went by and he made no bodily demands of her, she grew to know what love could be.

 

CLOTHES: She wears calico skirts from waist to mid-thigh. For her upper body, she ties an array of silk scarves; sometimes knotted in front, sometimes behind. She wears various strings of coral and of pearls. Her hair is unusually short and boyish; just down to cover her ears, and she sometimes ties it back when working.

People on Tahiti and Mo’orea

 

WILSON: (aka Acting British Consul; ‘counselor’) A Tahitian-born, and agnostic son of a British missionary; mid-30s. A toady that nobody locally respects or likes, the French settled upon him for just these ineffectual qualities. His accent is a bit odd – a mishmash of the American English prevalent among the majority of local missionaries, the “standard” posh English accent of his imported tutors, and the working-class Australian cadence he picked up from him many trips there. He has never sailed to Britain, America, or anyplace ‘civilized.’ He is ‘friends’ with Guy, meaning they encountered each other in the same Sydney social circles. A rather nondescript fellow, he is average height and build, but with spindly legs and a slightly porcine nose, nevertheless he is intolerably vain about his appearance and dress.

 

CLOTHES: He dresses in the stultified old fashions of his father’s generation to impress an air of authority. He wears a low tapering top hat, a long, but square cut, snuff-colored jacket with white shirt and scarf tie, a sky-blue silk waistcoat over buff breeches and stockings and black pumps. He pointlessly carries around a riding crop. ^[13]

 

DOCTOR JOHNSON: A British-born bottom-of-his-class physician who is a big fish in the little pond of English speakers on Tahiti; mid-40s. He wears spectacles.

 

CLOTHES: He, for one, dresses appropriately for the endless tropical summer in white linen suites and a big floppy round-top canvas hat.

 

CAPTAIN BOB: (aka Capin Bob; the Jailor) A jolly Saint Nicholas-type Tahiti-born landowner; mid-50s. He procured an arrangement from Pritchard, the British Consul under house arrest, to build a detention house on his land. In exchange for a quarterly fee, he maintains the structure and any guests the British may have for the calabooza. Tahitian to the core, he can never look on an unfortunate as anything but that, and always treats his ‘prisoners’ like family. He firmly dislikes Wilson, and allows his new guests freer range, as long as they assemble by sunset for rollcall. All the produce of his land is available to the crew of the Julia, as long as they are respectful. Under his guardianship, all the sick men quickly recover. He is portly, and shaves his head.

 

CLOTHES: He wears rolls and rolls of tapa from his waist to his mid-calf in the old school manner. He wears no shirt, but does protect his bare pate with a floppy-brimmed coconut fiber hat.

 

KULU: A carefree Tahitian-born teenage gadabout; 18 years old. He knows he is hot, and to whom his particular brand of hotness appeals the most. His gaydar is impeccable, and he usually sticks with sailors who both appeal, and have something to offer him in return. Redburn is the exception. For although drawn to his looks and self-contained nature, Kulu knows Redburn has nothing to transact materially or monetarily with him, but Kulu can’t help the way he feels about the young sailor.

 

CLOTHES: He is a dandy, or as Melville says at various points: a “blade,” a “comely youth,” and “quite a buck.” He loves all sailor cuts, and arrays himself in outfits both complete and different for every day of the week. He always wears his shirts untucked, and has several ‘Hawaiian shirts’ in subtle calico prints. He wears striped French sailor jerseys, and switches between trousers: white duck, navy-blue wool, and indigo cotton. He goes hatless, and prefers his hair relatively short and slicked back with coconut oil in the traditional way. He wears a gold chain and Saint Michael the Archangel medallion on his smooth chest; a gift from a particularly well-loved young Russian sailor who still dreams of Kulu from afar. ^[14]

 

ANU: Kulu’s younger sister; 16 years old. She is unattached and free to explore her options. She is envious of her brother’s popularity and the material benefits it brings him, and will carefully explore his path for herself.

 

CLOTHES: She wears a red, large-print skirt that comes halfway down her calves, and a sleeveless, frilly, white linen French chemise with no collar. Her long hair is tied back, and she has a prominent hibiscus bloom tucked by her left ear.

 

ZEKE and SHORTY: Both former sailors in their 20s. After pooling their savings, they arrived on Mo’orea two years ago to plantation farm. They have been successful due to determined hard work. They are unquestionably settled and only think of returning ‘home’ after having made a fortune to quiet the wagging puritanical tongues that grow well in their native soil. Melville says of them they are: “both whole-souled fellows” who share a “nuptial” hammock, and hints they have found that place apart that all 19th century writers of same-sex relationships dreamed about.

 

CLOTHES: They wear a mishmash of well-kept sailor trousers and loose fitting work shirts. They have straw headgear for the fields. On Sunday, they wear their sailor-best and no hats, but slicked-back hair.

 

ZEKE: Maine backwoods-born Yankee; 28 years old. Tall and dark, he has relatively short straight hair and a clean-shaven face. He is generally taciturn and devoted to Shorty’s wellbeing. He keeps things running when Shorty’s imagination gets the better of him. But he lets Shorty have his space so they can remain as close as they are. Zeke is an recovering alcoholic who loves Shorty more than the bottle, and chooses one over the other every day of his life. Zeke has no temper to speak of, but is a mean drunk.

 

SHORTY: Georgia-born young man; 25 years old. Shorty is surprisingly not short; perhaps as viewed from Zeke’s eyelevel, he is. He is the same approximate height and build of Toby and Redburn. His Southern accent is much faded except when he’s under duress or making love. He has rosy cheeks, blue eyes, and lots of fine and fair-colored curly hair. He has some youthful face hair in the form of a short-cropped beard and mustache. Shorty is mild-mannered and makes a good match for Zeke’s temperament, but he can get riled when he feels threatened, cornered or coerced, which is why Zeke is cautious with Shorty’s ‘me space.’ He loves Zeke as himself, and respects his staying away from drink for Shorty’s sake, although Shorty sometimes feels he misses the opportunity ‘to cut loose.’

 

POPO: An affluent Mo’orea-born community leader in Talu; late-30s. He is Christian, but also a conservative holder of Tahitian culture. He formed a family unit in the best of Polynesian tradition with his wife and an older husband in unity and mutual love. He sees no conflict in this with the words, and actual lifestyle that Christ exampled to aspire to. He reads to the family from the New Testament every night before they retire. His family and Popo are true Christians: if he has two coats, and meets someone with none, he gives him one; he never tries to remove the splinter from his neighbor’s eye without first being mindful of the plank stuck in his own eye. He has relatively short straight hair, which he does not smooth with coconut oil.

 

CLOTHES: He favors loose clothing, bare feet, high-hemmed linen trousers, billowy white cotton shirts and a flash of color in the form of silk sash belts tied around his waist in Chilean-fashion. He wears a panama hat when out on the road.

 

MONEE: Popo’s husband; early-50s. A withdrawn man who spends as much time as possible looking after their children outdoors where he thinks they belong. He lets Popo represent the family as a whole in the social / political sphere. He is a traditionalist who does not go to church with the rest of the family, but spends his time teaching their children about the great natural Tahitian spiritualism all around them. He shaves his head.

 

CLOTHES: He dresses in the traditional Tahitian tapa kilt, but wears loose white shirts too.

 

ARFRETEE: Popo and Monee’s wife; late-30s. Motherly in the extreme, she looks forward to the occasional stray to put up and look after for a few days. She enjoys her affluence and has trunks of clothes for herself, her husbands, her children, and hordes of various sailor kit for those who might have none to go to sea with. On a Sunday, she hurries home after church to change before dragging Popo off on social calls and leaving Monee and the children to go exploring the great outdoors. She has long wavy hair, which she does not wear up.

 

CLOTHES: A fashion plate, she has several house dresses of a nightshirt / muumuu cut. Some are sky-blue, some pink, some purple; all with delicate embroidery along the neckline.

 

MAIMENTU: Family son; 19 years old. A posh boy secure in his family standing, he enjoys both church with Popo and outdoor instruction from Monee. He is used to coming home to a houseful of roving strangers and has come to be cavalier about their presence. He rightly feels it is a good way to learn firsthand about the world. He has wavy hair like his mother, but wears it like Popo.

 

CLOTHES: He dresses like Monee, but in short calico kilts and loose, but patterned, tops. He loves the straw hat that one sailor guest gave to him, and has adorned it with three ribbons: black, green and pink. These trail down all the way to his lower back in extravagant sailor-fashion.

 

LOO: Family daughter; 13 years old. A posh girl who does not like the in-flow of strangers because they bore her. She has beautiful long hair like her mother, and large hazel eyes.

 

CLOTHES: She dresses like her mother, but her outfits are more youthful, more French, and better fitted at the waist. She wears a blossom at her left ear.

3) As part of a photo montage for The Secret Melville No. 5, several of the sailor couples in Omoo should have formal, early 19th century-style pictures taken and mounted in gutta percha cases with gilt frames. For this screenplay, the couples are: Chips and Bungs; Jarman and Bembo; Zeke and Shorty; Salem and Ropy. See Moby-Dick Text Endnote No. 20 (Volume 2, page 348) for a gallery of authentic sailor wedding-type portraits for staging inspiration.

 

Omoo Text Endnotes

 

[1] Jarl’s love theme: Niccolò Piccinni’s Ah! Prends pitie de ma faiblesse (transcription for viola and orchestra), from the opera Didon:

https://youtu.be/u76thxrytOE

 

[2] The Parki at full sail music: Pachelbel’s Canon in D (transcribed for guitar):

https://youtu.be/Bo4tvON4XTQ

 

[3] “A narree ta fow” etc.: the translation is verbatim from Melville’s text, Chapter 49.

 

[4] Long Ghost’s song: “Carrickfergus” traditional / folk song:

https://youtu.be/bsd4xzCQhVc

 

[5] Queer boy: An’natu’s word choice is aikane, or some derivation thereof; the term is either neutral or celebratory in Polynesian culture and can be simply translated as Gay, so her use of it here is a bit tongue-in-cheek, although Jarl takes it very seriously.

 

[6] ”Into the love of equals, we are bound,” etc.: this is a traditional (meaning, ancient) same-sex love song from Hawai’i. In Polynesian it is: Polena pa’a ‘ia iho ke aloha i kuleana like ai kaua. See:

http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2010/09/polynesias-ancient-same-sex-acceptance.html

 

[7] Possesh: means a young man that an older one with power influences to keep his sexual thrall.

 

[8] The Parki is a type of vessel known as a brigantine:

http://www.keyshistory.org/ASS-Brigantine.jpg

 

[9] Jarl’s crucifix anchor tattoo:

 

http://tattooviewer.com/Content/Images/anchor/6736p.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a6/0f/39/a60f39a7ee1dd00bab9e07148a736ce8.jpg

 

[10] Captain Guy’s jackets:

https://gevy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/O1CN01rxUG1f1XiLfRT6lFj_887102957.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a1/bc/f4/a1bcf4435795915bac8016d39c2b637c.jpg

 

Nankeen fabric color:

https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.1179219634.8819/pp,504x498-pad,600x600,f8f8f8.jpg

 

[11] Long Ghost’s waistcoat:

https://www.deviantart.com/opergeist/art/Sweeney-Todd-Waistcoat-73434289

 

[12] The Finn’s sealskin cap:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0514/9801/products/s4536.jpg?v=1408466037

 

[13] Wilson’s outdated manner:

 

https://www.pictorem.com/19787/A%20domestic%20affliction.html

 

[14] Kulu’s sailor-gifted promissory St. Michael medal – the boy’s example is in gold:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DjYAAOSwwJ5eMdLF/s-l1600.jpg

 

 

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