Weekly Review No. 8 | Vitraya Ramunong
- Rebecca D'Souza
- Mar 20, 2021
- 3 min read
The Tree of Souls, from Avatar the movie (2009)
Avatar (2009) Eywa Tree Scene | (One, 2019)
Review
Believed to be the closest connection to Eywa on Pandora, the Tree of Souls is the greatest medium to communicate with Eywa and their ancestors. Avatar has a whole world of its own through its fandom pages, official website, and Pandorapedia to name a few. In this scene, Jake Sully carries the wounded Dr. Grace, asking to save her by performing the Na’vi healing rite.
On seeing this “circle of healing”, continuous movement, and chanting – I tagged it with possibly African or Native American spiritual, tribal rituals. Though it is true that connecting to spirits and their ancestors through ritual practices are a part of the before mentioned, the Tree of Souls in Avatar derives its origin from the World Tree. Yggdrasil is an immense cosmic ash tree home to the Nine Worlds in Norse Mythology. Eternally green, but not immortal, it is a sacred tree that sustains life.
Coming back to this scene, it’s the part I was quite moved by in the movie. Not only because Dr. Grace’s life is slowly leaving her body as Jake hopes that Eywa can bring her back. But the ritual in itself represents the healing power of belief and the collectivity of the tribe. Plus, the bioluminescence of the scene is incredible, especially on a large screen. There’s something calming about it, even amidst a critical and emotional situation.
On reading a letter about Yggdrasil from a Benedictine monastery, I wanted to add a quote from the passage which goes, “Meanwhile, we can learn a bit from the old [Norse] myths if we can see in them not only a cosmology but also a description of the human heart. We all carry the tale telling squirrels in all of us and there’s a bit of the Nidhogg in us all. Willfully causing harm and denying life. It’s not that we are bad people, [that is] far from [the point].”
(Ealing Abbey, n.d.)
RAGNORAK: The Novel Series – An illustration by Howard David Johnson (Norse Mythology Artwork, 2014)
…
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
Hávamál, stanza 138, Poetic Edda
…
More snakes lie under the ash Yggdrasil than any old fool imagines.
…
Grímnismál 34, Poetic Edda
(Skjalden, 2020)
The atokirina (or “woodsprites”) are really cool, and remind me of little floating jellyfish. I like their description on Avatar Wiki stating, “they float on the wind like dandelion seeds” (FANDOM, n.d.) What a cute and accurate description.
To us, Pandora is beautifully peculiar and different. There is a fantastic imagery of creatures, flora, and fauna. It features an untouched, but threatened wonder world. Screenwriter and film director James Cameron, along with his production team used CG (computer graphics) to create a photo-realistic realm seeping with detail.
Avatar took an estimated $237 million to produce, excluding the promotional material. Over the weekend, the Chinese relished the amazingness of its re-release which mounted to an outstanding $2.8 billion in sales to its box office gross. This is now an all-time global record. Hats off to you Mr. Cameron.
Film score
Composer, the late James Horner used newly invented, programmed instruments to create the movie’s score. It has a native and modern feel, which is a great feat of originality and research. The score is extremely original, wherein it embodies the sounds and emotions that the lead characters themselves hear and feel. Taking vocal sounds from various places that Horner digitally manipulated (Ashton, 2020) like flutes from South America and Finland, and gamelan-sounding instruments (traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sudanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia (Wikipedia, 2021). It is also something that is experimental and new, extraterrestrial to say the least. Avatar is a cinematic and musical win, no doubt. We just can’t help but marvel.
Bibliography
Ashton, W. (2020, July 5). Avatar: 11 Cool Behind-The-Scenes Facts About James Cameron's Movie. Retrieved from Cinema Blend: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2549432/avatar-cool-behind-the-scenes-facts-about-james-camerons-movie
Ealing Abbey. (n.d.). Yggdrasil and the Nidhogg - Norse myths. Retrieved from Ealing Abbey: https://ealingmonks.org.uk/community/abbot/yggdrasil/
Skjalden. (2020, September 19). Yggdrasil. Retrieved from Nordic Culture: https://skjalden.com/yggdrasil/
Wikipedia. (2021, March 15). Gamelan. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan
Video
One, S. (2019, August 13). YouTube. Retrieved from Avatar (2009) Eywa Tree Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6-_4dYk2ew
Image Sources
Link to Howard David Johnson’s website
Norse Mythology Artwork. (2014). Retrieved from RAGNAROK: The Novel Series: https://ragnaroknovelseries.wordpress.com/norse-mythology-artwork/
FANDOM. (n.d.). Woodsprite. Retrieved from FANDOM: https://james-camerons-avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Woodsprite
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