It was a bona fide Hollywood star, featured in the 1962 film version of "Mutiny on the Bounty, " which starred Marlon Brando, and more recently in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise that starred Johnny Depp.

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It is widely thought that the unruffled pace of life in Tahiti prompted sailors on the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty to mutiny against their commanding officer, William Bligh, who was accused of mistreating his crew, in April 1789.

BBC: Getting in the Tahitian spirit