The documentary Black Harvest, which showed some events from life of the white explorer’s descendant Joe Leahy and the Ganiga tribe in Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea, made me to take a side of the man. Leahy looked like a true victim in this movie. The man worked hard to improve and enlarge his coffee plantation. Leahy wanted to share his profits with Ganiga people. He offered them the smaller part, but this decision was reasonable, because the man charged himself with the whole financial responsibility. It was not Leahy’s fault that coffee prices decreased. Ganiga people could help plantation to survive in these difficult conditions, but they did not show enough responsibility. The tribe was angry because of the reduction of wages and preferred to help its ally in the war conflict than continue to gather coffee beans. I think Leahy tried to become closer to the tribe that did not fully accept him after many years of neighboring. The mixed-race man parentage made him an alien for both cultures. But his wish to bring prosperity to the Ganiga tribe had an opposite effect. Leahy lost his plantation and could not immigrate to Australia because of debts. His relations with the tribe also were damaged. Leahy and Ganiga’s leader Popina Mai were quite good friends. The situation changed during described events. “The once ideal friendship between Joe Leahy and Popina Mai became irreconcilably damaged and Popina sought help from the bank to dissolve the partnership” (“The Highlands Trilogy”). This decision worsened Leahy’s financial situation because he was the guarantor of the business loan. I am on the man’s side, because he was a true victim of circumstances. External economical factors combined with Ganiga’s behavior and ruined Leahy’s lifetime project. The former successful businessman turned into a debtor with unknown future, while he did not do anything to deserve this fate.
The movie helped me to know more about the Ganiga culture. It showed the tribe continued to use many of its old traditions in spite of the fact it was in contact with white men since 1933. Ganiga people started to wear common clothes and use goods like the pack of sugar Popina gave to Leahy during the funeral. However, they continued to live in big groups and build simple, safe-made buildings. Leahy and his uncle lived in typical houses. Ganiga people, as I think, used some sort of huts made from improvised materials. The tribe also fought with self-made weapons and some of them wore costumes from leaves during battles. It was strange to see a man in traditional aboriginal vestment who smoked a cigarette. I think the documentary showed several aspects of Ganiga’s funeral rituals. These events demonstrated unity of tribe’s members. It looked like all Ganiga people visited funerals. Their decision to help allies in the prejudice of plantation’s conditions can be a sign of the respect of the old bonds. It is possible Ganiga people were allies with this tribe for more time than with Leahy.
The documentary finishes the Highland Trilogy – the set of three documentaries, which tells the story of the relationship between Leahy’s family and Ganiga people from the discovery of the tribe. It can be viewed as a part of the trilogy or as an autonomous film. The Black Harvest starts and ends with funerals. At the beginning of the film there is a real obituary ceremony of Popina Mai’s father. The end of the movie shows the “funeral” of Leahy’s business, his hopes for better future and decent life in Australia. The movie makes me feel really sorry for the man’s fate. Leahy wanted to do something good for his half-native tribe, but lost everything and remained guilty as a result. Sympathy to him increases even more after scenes where the man visits his ill uncle. The movie includes several scenes, which make it more emotional. Rotten coffee beans are one of them. These scenes gave mane to the movie and illustrated the destruction of the plantation and Leahy’s dreams.
Works Cited
“The Highlands Trilogy (1984)”. Michaeldvd.com.au. 1 Sep. 2005. 27 Feb. 2016.
Momo, Fabi. “Black Harvest (Français complet)”. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
