Princess Ka'iulani

This film tells the story of Victoria Cleghorn, aka Princess Ka'iulani, the last heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was the daughter of a Scottish financier and a Hawaiian princess, and became heiress presumptive to the throne on the death of her uncle King Kalākaua. She never, however, inherited the crown because her aunt, Queen Liliuokalani, provoked the wrath of the kingdom's white minority by attempting to reverse the Bayonet Constitution, which concentrated power in the hands of that minority, and to restore the rights of the native Hawaiians.

This led to the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, and the country's subsequent annexation by the USA, one of the murkier episodes in American history and one which still sometimes causes modern Americans to have a guilty conscience. Admittedly, their treatment of the Hawaiians was no more ruthless than their treatment of various Native American peoples over the previous hundred years or so, but they could always justify their behaviour on the mainland by reference to the "manifest destiny" ideology. Supporting the overthrow of an internationally recognised sovereign government by a racist clique of white businessmen and then annexing the country at the behest of that clique was a bit too close for comfort to the European-style imperialism which many nineteenth-century Americans affected to deplore.

The film tells Kaʻiulani's story from a viewpoint sympathetic to her and to the Hawaiian cause, but was nevertheless controversial in Hawaii, particularly among native Hawaiians. Part of the reason was its original title "Barbarian Princess", which was deemed particularly offensive, even though it was intended in an ironic way to highlight 19th-century American and European prejudices. Also controversial was the fact that the Princess was not played by a Hawaiian actress; Q'orianka Kilcher is of mixed native Peruvian and European descent and (pace Thor Heyerdahl's eccentric theories to the contrary) the Hawaiians and other Polynesian peoples are not Native Americans but originated in Asia. Q'orianka may, however, have won the role because, to judge from photographs, she bears a certain physical resemblance to Kaʻiulani, despite their different ethnic origins.

"Princess Kaʻiulani" is notable as a rare example of a movie which defies normal Hollywood conventions by making the Americans the bad guys and a group of foreigners the good guys; the principal villain is Lorrin Thurston, one of the organisers of the coup which overthrew Liliuokalani and depicted here as an arrogant white racist who despised the Hawaiian people. That apart, however, there is little else which makes the movie stand out from the ordinary. Much of the plot is given over to Kaʻiulani's supposed love affair with a handsome young Englishman named Clive and, apart from being totally fictitious, this development is of little interest compared to the dramatic events which were unfolding in the princess's homeland. None of the acting contributions stand out and, despite its potentially interesting subject, the film rarely rises above the level of a run-of-the-mill biopic.

The film ends with by noting that in 1993, one hundred years after the overthrow of Liliuokalani, President Clinton and the United States Congress apologised to the Hawaiian people for America's role in these events, although they did not, of course, follow up their apology by recognising that the annexation had been illegal under international law and that it was therefore incumbent upon America to restore the independence of Hawaii. Bill Clinton must be kicking himself about that missed opportunity. With one stroke of his pen he could have turned the Hawaii-born Barack Obama into a foreign national, Hillary could have gone on to win the 2008 election and Bill could be back in the White House as America's first First Gentleman. 5/10

PRINCESS KA'IULANI feels like a made for TV movie, a film that will inform the viewer about a bit of history few know, but also a rather static and amateurish production - pretty to look at, embarrassing to hear. Marc Dorby directed this his first directorial outing based on his story written with the assistance of Robert Payne. The facts presented are apparently true and since few know the background history of Hawaii it is at least informative.

Without much historical background about the Islands before the Americans inserted themselves to feast on the beauty and agricultural goods of that paradise, the film begins with a conflict between the anti-Royalists lead by Thurston (Barry Pepper in muttonchops) and the Royal reign of King Kalalaua (Ocean Kaowili), Queen Liliu'okalan (Leo Anderson Akana). Princess Ka'iulani (Q'orianka Kilcher, a half Peruvian actress remembered for her role as Pocahontas in THE NEW WORLD with Colin Farrell and Christian Bale) is the niece who is in line for the throne, a royal personage who understands kindness in regards to the people of her nation (she is only half Hawaiian - her father is a Scotsman). To protect the princess she is sent to England where she gradually grows accustomed to British snobbery and overcomes it through her inner strength, living in the home of the Davies - Mr. Davies (Julian Glover, Alice Davies (Tazmin Merchant, from THE TUDORS) and Clive Davies (Shaun Evans). The family presents her to society, nurtures her, and the princess falls in love with Clive, who is juts ready to enter university, and they become engaged. Back home in Honolulu things disintegrate: Thurston gathers rebels to take over the Royal rule, alters the constitution to forbid voting by the natives, the King dies, and the Queen is under house arrest. Princess Ka'iulani travels to the United States to plead her case with President Cleveland, receives a grand reception and then returns home to Hawaii, raises her dignity to cope with Thurston and the anti-Royalists and with the assistance of Sanford B. Dole (Will Patton) she is able to alter the new constitution to allow voting rights to her people.

If that all sounds a bit short on story then the viewer can understand why so much time is spent with the princess, Julie and Clive skipping along the beach and finding other moments of diversion to fill the 90 minutes of the film. The cast is competent and delivers the piecemeal scraps of script given them well. In the end there jut isn't much story here that isn't fairly obvious from the first 15 minutes of the film. It is a good lesson about the US annexation of Hawaii and the tension between the native Hawaiians and the 'invaders'......

Grady Harp

This movie was disappointing. As a native Hawai'ian, I was excited to see and support a historical movie detailing a significant period in our history filled with issues that still weigh heavy on us until this day. Most of the movie seemed amateurish and poorly put together but it tells a story so I guess thats what mattered. There are several scenes which serve merely to develop the viewer's sympathy for Ka'iulani in love, begging us to be overly sensitive towards our heroine and an interest in love while in England ..instead of building her character around more important issues that were her life. Characters like Alice, Archie, Miss Barnes are shallow and rather dull. They exist solely to enhance Ka'iulani and funnel the plot towards her own turmoils in romance.

Though the dialog has its moments (like the lovely conversation at dinner in regards to food and politics), the whole movie gets sidetracked by just another fated love story... the same one we've seen a million times: Girl and boy from different situations, finances, countries, and dispositions are supposed to hate each other, but end up falling madly in love. There were also many significant events in Ka'iulani's life that are not portrayed in the movie.

I went in this movie looking forward to see Q'Orianka Kilcher's performance after having the pleasure of watching her acting in The New World (2005). Unfortunately for me, this movie failed to live up to my expectations. Before I talk about the negative aspects of this movie, I should talk about the few good things: the cinematography and costumes are breathtakingly beautiful, but they can't make up for the blandly delivered dialogue, the emotionless, awkward romance, and some atrocious pieces of acting. Now, the actors themselves have proved they can act in other movies; thus I find fault with the director and the script. I wasn't connected at all to the love story and I found myself not believing anything they said or felt for each other. Except for some sensual kissing scenes, the romance was poorly done. Aside from that, the movie is full of historical inaccuracies, although I've come to expect that when watching a period drama film. My verdict is to skip this movie and go read or watch a documentary if you want to know more about the real Princess Kaiulani.

While this film is very well done stylistically, the scrip took far to many liberties with the history of the truly tragic story of how the peaceful kingdom was literally stolen by American businessmen with the aid of the US government. The romantic elements were pure fiction.