Hurricane (1937)

 
BACKGROUND
 

Hurricane was marketed as a disaster film with state-of-the-art special effects and yet, below the surface lies a damning indictment of French colonialism that serves as a counterpoint to Wee Willie Winkie’s more simplistic approach. In this nature based story, a mystical foreshadowing of the coming hurricane connects the tale to the many ancient flood myths of ancient history. From Gilgamesh to the Brahman Vedas and Aztecs; from the Gun-Yu myth of China to the myth of Ziusudra and the Biblical tale of Noah’s arc.

 

Father Paul played by C. Aubrey Smith, exhibits a seriousness we seldom see from the actor as he stands up to the authoritarian Governor uttering the prescient words: “There are stronger things in this world than governments, Delaag.” As a man intimately acquainted with biblical lore, Father Paul knows the dire consequences humans overstepping their bounds. 

PLOT SUMMARY

A Polynesian sailor is unjustly imprisoned after defending himself against a racist bully only to find that his island's French governor refuses to defend him.

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