Vivacious Valeran

The Long Awaited Princess Ka’iulani Film Review

Valeran Valenian — Wed, 12 May 2010 23:03:47 +0000

As some of you know from reading a previous blog of mine, I have been beyond excited about the Princess Ka’iulani film for more than four years.

I had been inspired by her story when I was growing up in Hawaii, and was determined to produce a film about her life in the far future after I had completed my education in film school. All that stopped when I found out that Hollywood Producer Mark Forby was set to create a movie about her.

My desire to create the film ended right there, and I devoted the following years constantly tracking the progress of the film.

I read through the casting difficulties, the protests, the filming at Iolani Palace, read the news reports, the excitement, the backlash, the anger, the praise. I made every kama’aina I knew in film school sit through the trailers with me. I spread the word to my former High School classmates, and basically almost melted in anticipation.

After nearly four years, I finally was able to see the film at a special screening last Monday.

All I can say is: I still want first dibbs at a remake!

Now I shall start my formal review of the film, which although was a beautiful picture, it was nothing that I had expected. In a bad way.

In my previous blog, I had stated that I was concerned that Mr. Forby was starting the story around the time when Ka’iulani was 12 or 13, which is shortly before she departs for England. By starting off that late in her life, we would see little of her life in Hawaii.

My fears were realized when I watched the film. Near the start, Kailani was forcibly whisked away to dreary England, where she spends most of the movie kissing face with Clive, the son of her wealthy guardian, and friend of her father, Theo Davies.

The greatest disappointment in this film was the complete lack of ALOHA. It did not feel Hawaiian, if you know what I mean. Princess Ka’iulani was a Princess of Hawaii, a young woman of royal blood from a mighty Polynesian lineage. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew that portions of the picture were filmed in Iolani Palace, I would have honestly thought the entire thing was filmed in Europe!

There was very little in the film to suggest that Hawaii itself was a special place besides the fact that Ka’iulani was from there. When she storms out of the Davies estate in a rage and yells at Clive : “Do you think you mean more to me than my country?” the impact of those words are faint.

How is Hawaii important to her? Why would she care if the whole place did not exist when she sailed back years later? Why would we care?

Advertisers today go through great lengths to make people all over the world interested in Hawaii. The very name today conjures up images of a tropical paradise, a tangible Garden of Eden with gorgeous weather, pleasant atmosphere, an ancient and proud culture. I am quite sure all of that existed back in Ka’iulani’s day, probably moreso.

That is precisely why I think having scenes of Ka’iulani growing up in Hawaii should have been included. Imagine if we had seen Ka’iulani in a garden surrounded by the most beautiful tropical flowers, or surfing in crystal waters (Yes, she surfed) and swimming with colorful fish. Imagine if she had been riding her white pony past taro farms or groups of women stringing leis in the shade of a kou tree? The lack of scenes like that downplay Ka’iulani’s special connection with the islands. Disney’s Lilo and Stich does a better job at bringing out Hawaii’s character, and that’s saying a lot.

Another big disappointment in the film was that everything that made Ka’iulani a beloved Princess of Hawaii was stripped from the movie. How could they do a feature film of Ka’iulani without showing a single peacock? Or her banyan tree? Or her beloved Governess? Or Robert Louis Stevenson? It was like watching a movie about Cinderella without the lost slipper. The magic is gone.

The only special connection to Hawai’i that Ka’iulani has in the movie was the friendship of two twin boys who worked on the palace grounds. A relationship that I felt wasn’t strong at all. She is a princess of Hawai’i. Hawaii should have been her first love.

I have heard the controversy about Ka’iulani falling in love with Clive, and after seeing the movie, I can understand why.

It seemed that Ka’iulani and Clive fall in love far too fast and too easily in the film, it did not feel genuine. At all. Also, when Theo reveals to Ka’iulani that he hid her father’s telegrams from her because “You’re getting married!”, it was like a slap in the face. Did Theo forget that his charge was a Princess, the heir to the throne of an island nation? Beloved by thousands? Did he not think about the political impact that would have made?

The movie also made it seem that Ka’iulani did not miss Hawaii at all when she lived in England. I’m sure many college students in the Mainland and elsewhere who grew up in Hawaii would not believe that. I certainly did not!

There were many things in the film that I felt Ka’iulani would not have done, the least of which was comparing Hawaii and her political situation to a roasted chicken.

However, the film makes it clear that Ka’iulani fought for and won voting rights and US Citizenship for all people in Hawaii. In that case, President Obama should be grateful for the Princess’s efforts that would ultimately make him eligible for the presidency.

Overall, I felt that the film was less about the Princess and more of a political statement at the wrongs that Hawaii has suffered under the US. I understand that the overthrow of the Hawaiian government was a major part in Ka’iulani’s life, but it deserves a movie of its own.

The movie also was very short, which made it feel rushed. Some choices in cuts and camera angles also made it seem awkward. The acting left something to be desired as well. The man who played Koa was very underutilized. He would have been a great character as a rival for the throne as well as a love interest of Ka’iulani.

However, I can honestly say that the one great thing about this movie was Q’orianka Kilcher. She played the part of Ka’iulani wonderfully, and there were several times in the movie where I was just absolutely mesmerized by her. Her grace, her wit, her charm, all made the Princess a beautiful and believable character.

I disagree with all the people who were angry at Forby for using a non-Hawaiian actress. Q’orianka was absolutely perfect for the role! She is also similar to Ka’iulani in many ways. She too is half-indigenous, half-European (Swiss and Quechua), she advocates for the rights of indigenous people around the world, and also has a name that is absolutely gorgeous when pronounced correctly.

Despite Q’orianka’s stellar performance, overall, my impressions of the film are negative. True, I had a lot of high expectations, but I agree with the review of Susan Granger from Rotten Tomatoes, that” Marc Forby drains the inherent drama out of this true story, rendering it a one-dimensional period piece, suitable for the History Channel.”

There is no life in this film, no true deep emotions that make me admire Ka’iulani’s strength and cherish the story of her life. I wanted to cry, to feel, to care about this girl who was once the hope for a nation.

After four years, I got none of that.

In regards to my Ka’iulani film blog

Valeran Valenian — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:26:25 +0000

It has been several long months since that lonely night I typed out The Last Princess film blog. Since it was published, I have seen my blog read, reviewed, replied to, and used in other articles relating to the film that I greatly anticipate. I have even begun to suspect that my blog may have had some influence over the actual film itself, but I have no proof to confirm that.

Needless to say, after moving to Los Angeles, concluding half a year of Film School, and maturing into a young woman from that angsty, cursing teenager who wrote that blog, I will admit that it now has made me cringe and wonder if the world honestly took me seriously with the forceful and rude way I was writing.

Now, as an official student filmmaker, I believe it is my responsibility to redeem myself and write a new article about the Ka’iulani film. There have been many new developments, controversies and new opinions about the film that I wish to address, as well as to assure the world of my newfound maturity.

The new blog will be available here, as well as my website in the coming weeks. For now, I have edited my old blog to make it more User-friendly (which basically meant just deleting all of the curses).

Be sure to check back here soon for my new article.

Mahalo

-Val

The Last Princess aka The Princess Kaiulani film

Valeran Valenian — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:53:02 +0000

October 31st, 2008

It has been several long months since that lonely night I typed out The Last Princess film blog. Since it was published, I have seen my blog read, reviewed, replied to, and used in other articles relating to the film that I greatly anticipate. I have even begun to suspect that my blog may have had some influence over the actual film itself, but I have no proof to confirm that.

Be sure to check back here soon for my new article.

-Mahalo

Any little girl dreams about being a fairytale princess sometime in her life. After that they usually graduate to movie stars, pop idols or Power Rangers. I am not guiltless of this Princess obsession, and I have my share of memories that include dressing up in homemade fantasy gowns and strutting about the house singing the princess theme songs.

These princesses include all of the girls in the current Disney Princess line up except Mulan, who was introduced when I had already long outgrew Power Rangers, and is technically not a Princess anyways and I think was only included as an excuse for cultural diversity. Anastasia came out late as well, a product of Don Bluth rather than Disney. In my opinion, had Don Bluth made more Princess feature films after Anastasia, he would have been more successful and would not have had to throw the white flag at Disney.

Anyways, the point is, all of these Princesses were FICTIONAL, which is why I believe they appeal to younger girls who were more or less forbidden to have a grip on reality until they became preteens. Not many real princesses led lives that would be appealing to little innocent girls, and the few that were based on real girls would never have been so admired had the animators stayed so completely true to their stories. (Anastasia and her family met with a bloody end, and don’t even get me started on Pocahontas)

Since I am American, I had the misfortune of growing up in a country famous for rejecting Royal influence. But jolly lucky me! I didn’t grow up just anywhere in America, I GREW UP IN HAWAII.

Besides all the obvious things that will make you envious at all the things I grew up with (Sand, Sea, Surf, Sun, Summer all year…. green yet?). We had something that the rest of America lacked. A Royal family.

So yes, Hawaii had a royal family. And what would a royal family be without Princesses?

Hawaii had its share of famous Princesses. There is Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who founded the Kamehameha schools and has billions to her name. Miriam Likelike, who the famous highway was named after, and one of the most well known, Princess Victoria Ka’iulani.

I don’t know when I first heard about Princess Ka’iulani, but I knew by the time I landed in Fresno that I was so touched by her story that I was sobbing in the airplane. It must have been sometime in high school when I began doing serious research on the princess. The more I read about her, the more she felt like one of those fairy tale princesses that I had so admired as a child. She was born amidst much celebration, crown princess of an island nation, raised in a tropical paradise with ever blooming flowers, friend to famous poets, writers and royals, owned a garden full of peacocks and her very own white pony.

She was also raised amidst much political turmoil, with outside forces trying dirty tactics to get Hawaii for themselves. She traveled around the United States in an attempt to gain support for her kingdom, but ultimately failed and saw her kingdom overrun by the US. With apparently nothing left to live for, she fell sick and died at the tender age of 23.

Her story really struck a chord with me, and I spent my last few days in Hawaii wandering around Iolani Palace, the State Library and the State Archives dabbling in information about her. I even bought a biography about the princess that kept me occupied and in tears all the way to Fresno.

While being notoriously bored in my new home because the extreme weather kept me indoors, (100+ in the summer then abruptly 30 in the fall and winter?!) I began to formulate plans of making the touching tale of Ka’iulani into a motion picture. I had been a video productions student for years back in Hawaii and was on my way to Film school anyways. So to keep me sane, I began making plans to make a film about her in the far future after I was completed with Film School.

One night I was randomly Googling info to see if any movies were made on her previously

and that’s when I found THIS

I was utterly devastated. Partly because my grand idea was already being undertaken by someone else, but mostly because I was really looking forward to making this and I had lots of grad ideas and research planned, and had such hope for this project that made me happy during those inhospitable months in Armona.

I was so emotional that night that I went on a tirade on one of the internet forums that I frequented.

After I had calmed down and composed myself, I wrote the man-in-charge Marc Forby for additional info, and we exchanged a few e-mails and phone numbers.

I totally abandoned all thought of the Ka’iulani picture after talking with Forby, since I didn’t need any more reminder that he beat me to the punch. But after those few e-mails I somehow was able to convince myself that Forby was an OK man for the job. One of those reasons was his correction on my use of titles for Ka’iulani, something about using Her Royal Highness instead of Her Majesty or some random thing like that. My subsequent Google searches also have shown to me that Forby really did his research and was taking this very seriously, so I felt safe to trust him.

But one thing that really irked me about Forby and the movie was that the announcement and casting call were so clearly published before I left Oahu in Augyst, 2006. You would have thought that I would have heard about it before I decided to make a film about her, but Noooo! I’m like “You’d think I would have heard about it before I left!” Especially since Forby claimed to have done all the following:

1) Published an article in the Star Bulletin in 2005
2) Did an open call at the PK hotel
3) Did an interview over the local radio calling for auditions
4) Auditioned the drama department at Kamehameha schools
5) Used the services of the top two casting directors in Oahu, Ms. Fishburn and Mrs Doversola
6) Auditioned clients of print modelling agencies and Kathy Muller agency (which lead us to Kaimana)
7) Contacted over 20 hula halaus in Oahu
Contacted hula halaus in California
9) Auditioned a Hawaiian athlete who had a great look but no experience
10) Casted a Hawaiian girl in 2005 and announced it in the press, trained her for one year before realizing she could not carry the film.
11) Offered the role in December of 2005 to a Hawaiian actress in Hollywood who later bowed out.
12) I even tried cast a cousin of mine who is Hawaiian but she did think she could act.

Yeah, just looking at that list could make you faint, especially if you had any idea how difficult it is to cast a film (among other things!) But really, if it was really this hyped out, why didn’t I hear about it?

I’m better connected than others, especially since I had contacts with the Hawaii Film Festival, The Hawaii Film Commission, the ‘Olelo Community Television Networks, Searider Productions in Waianae, and lots of actor friends. With my connections I would have at least heard a whisper about the film before I had time to grow such burning desire and passion to create a Ka’iulani picture before Forby beat me to it.

Now that it is clear that Forby will take this thing to fruition, I better stop ranting about it and instead write about what I expect to see in this picture when it comes out.

First off, no title for the Ka’iulani film has been announced, so we can only call it now The Ka’iulani film/picture. I myself had wanted to call my version The Last Princess. I’m sure Forby wouldn’t really agree with this title since Ka’iulani wasn’t the last princess of the Hawaiian monarchy. I thought it would fit since Ka’iulani’s life and death centered around the collapse of the monarchy, and also for audience appeal as well, since titles such as The Last Samurai, The Last Emperor, The Last Mimzy, The Last Unicorn were pretty good. Titles beginning with The Last… also invoke lots of emotions too, from curiosity, to hope, to intrigue about what the story is about and how it will resolve, which is a good audience attractor. Add “Princess” to that, and you double people’s interests. “Ooooh! The Last Princess from where? Who was she? What did she do? “

Another title I had for my film was Island Rose in reference to the poem Robert Louis Stevenson wrote for her. This choice seems far less appealing though, since it sounds too much like a romantic comedy/chick flick or an NC-17 tropical romance title. Anything with a Hawaiian name would confuse the predominantly English speaking world. If it were named simply “Ka’iulani” you could guarantee that 95% of the people who see the movie poster will pronounce it Kai-you-lan-knee, which is absolute torture.

I’ll let Forby handle this one, since by now I know that he wouldn’t resort to a corny title for his prized masterwork.

As for the girls Forby casted to play the Princess, I actually don’t really have a problem with them. Kaimana Pa’aluhi, (the girl to be playing young Ka’iulani from 12-17 years old) looks very pretty and haughty, with a hint of mischief, which is just like the Princess. But IMO she’s a bit thin. I know the Queen had once told Ka’iulani to watch how much she eats, but really, she couldn’t have been *that* thin at that age. It would be better if Kaimana gained a few pounds to get those young plump princess cheeks, but we’ll see if she can pull the acting bit off regardless how big her cheeks are.

Starting Ka’iulani’s story off at 12 years is something that worries me a bit. That was around the time Princess Likelike, her mother, died and the Princess left for England for her formal schooling. I’m wondering how much of her life in Hawaii Forby plans on showing in the film. In my version, I had planned to show a collage of Ka’iulani from her birth at Keoua Hale to when she meets her governess Miss Gardinier, which means casting up to 4 separate girls for Ka’iulani for the entire movie. One as an infant, one as a child from 4-12, another for 12-17 and one other for her as a young woman. Oh well, let’s see what Forby does with it.

Speaking of which: Forby has chosen Q’orianka Kilcher to play Ka’iulani in her later years. Best known for playing Pocahontas in the 2005 film The New World (which I haven’t seen yet, I know, I’m a pathetic excuse for a film major). Apart from also being very pretty and haughty, Q’orianka looks convincingly Hapa Hawaiian. Even better, she’s an indigenous people’s activist, which was exactly what Ka’iulani was when she traveled around the US to try and stop Hawaiian annexation, or something close. The decision to cast her in the role of Ka’iulani has caused some controversy in the Hawaiian community due to her nationality. But I agree with Forby, in that if she looks the part and she can act well, especially in a film as sensitive as this, then she gets the part. Purity of blood has nothing to do with acting skills, so why choose a Hawaiian girl if she can’t act anyways? I would care less about an actress’s blood quality and focus more on her acting skills when I enter a cinema.

For me, I had been eyeing Keisha Castle-Hughes to fill the role of Ka’iulani. Not only is Maori blood closer to Hawaiian that Quechua (Kidding kidding, don’t take me seriously here) but Keisha was already well liked in the islands for her performance in the movie Whale Rider. I honestly thought her acting could have done some more work, but her performance was wonderful and I liked the movie. I’m sure Forby must’ve considered her at one point, and he must have had his reasons for not offering the role to her, or maybe he did and she refused. Or maybe it had something to do with her 16-year-old self plus a big growing belly that by now has turned into a Joy Bundle. I dunno, I’ll have to give him a ring to find out.

All-in-all, I can’t wait to view this film and see what Forby’s version of Ka’iulani’s life story will be. I doubt that Ka’iulani will achieve the same fame and admiration as Disney’s fairytale princesses, but hopefully her story will inform people of the true history of Hawaii and maybe let the world have some respect and pity for the former Island kingdom that has since been degraded to a tourist spot full of primitive beliefs and native girls in grass skirts. It’s so hard to have a decent conversation about Hawaii with Mainlanders who grew up with the notion that Hawaii is a third-world settlement that caters to the thriving tourist market.

But mark my words, Marc Forby! If I am not totally satisfied with what I see, expect both a phone call and a hard time from me. I still have a chance at a remake.

-Val

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Valeran Valenian — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:36:00 +0000

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