Barbarian Princess - Q'Orianka Kilcher - Princess Kaiulani

On Friday, I watched the "world premiere" of Barbarian Princess. I put the term "world premiere" in quotes because I know before the so-called world premiere there was a previous showing to a limited number of people.

At the outset I'll say this, I liked the movie and am contemplating watching it at either its second or third screening. But, I also have to say that I spoke with several other people after the movie who watched it and there are mixed reviews about it. I immediately recognized, that different people will bring different perspectives to the criticisms of the film. I'll get to this later on.

Immediately Before the Film We were seated rather close to the screen. The opening hula performance before the showing of the film was awesome. The kumu hula and who I perceived as one of his alaka'i, began chanting and the dancers began to float from from the floor in front of them. A hydraulic lifted stage really made them look like they were magically floating effortless-ly as they continued their subtle movements.

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi - Hawaiian Language I'll be honest. After watching the film's trailer on YouTube multiple times within the last few months, I thought the film was going to do a hatchet job on 'olelo Hawai'i (Hawaiian language). To my surprise and delight, 'olelo Hawai'i sounded good.

Scenes There were a number of inspiring scenes and statements throughout the film. The first came rather early and was related to the Bayonet constitution. A number of armed insurgent traitors stormed Iolani Palace led by the infamous Lorrin Thurston who threatened the King while holding Walter Murray Gibson hostage. Gibson was called "Premiere Gibson" in the film by Kalakaua. At this moment Thurston threatened the King.

A moment later, you could feel a generally high degree of excitement and gratification from the theatre audience as a revolver was raised and pointed at the head of Lorrin Thurston. Whether this particular scene was historically accurate was probably irrelevant at that point, because although this is something we have generally never before read about or seen with our own eyes, it is perhaps something Native Hawaiians at some point or another in their lives wished happened. Instead, our predecessors are often criticized for and described as "not putting up a fight." The imagery created in that particular scene showed otherwise.

For most of the film, Princess Ka'iulani is in England. While in England and after learning that her love-interest, Clive, kept telegraphs from her that provided updates regarding her country, the Princess said to him something along the lines of, "Do you think I love you more than my country?!" Near the end of the film, Princess Ka'iulani re-inforced that deep-seated love for her country and her people, when she refused to re-unite with Clive in England. As Clive pleads with Ka'iulani and tells her there is nothing left for her here because her country is falling a part, she says something along the lines of, "What would my country be without me here. And what would I be without my country."

The strong political and pro-active sentiment of the Princess resonated with me. Of all things in the film, this is what I have taken away from it and I find it inspiring. Because, in current times we have a lot of very well educated young people who are faced with a somewhat similar situation. Our economy is going down and our political leadership is heavily criticized. It is very easy as well as tempting, to go elsewhere where, jobs are not scarce (early in the film when the Princess is sent away, Kalehua a young Hawaiian boy wrote to her, telling her that jobs were scarce and that after he finishes his studies, he wants to become a lawyer and change that.) There are often far better-paying employment opportunities outside of Hawai'i that makes living easier. Leaving Hawai'i in pursuit of these opportunities are never an easy decision to make. This seems especially so for aboriginal Hawaiians and non-aboriginals whose families have been here for generations.

Historical Accuracy? Others viewers have taken away other things with them from the movie. A German friend of mine who is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at UH Manoa took issue with historical inaccuracies. In particular, he did not like the depiction of Sanford Dole in this film. Interestingly enough, another law school friend had a comment about this before the "world premiere" as he was told that Dole was made out to be one of the good guys.

Upon watching the film myself, I never thought that Dole was "one of the good guys." Rather, I thought that among the "bad guys" he had differing views. I did not have the same issue with the depiction of Dole because I recall reading (6-7) years ago a letter between Dole and Thurston and there being a disagreement on what should happen after the overthrow. Near the films opening, there is a conversation between Dole and Thurston, and later one between Dole and Kalakaua. It is clear that Dole sided with Thurston on what type of government should exist in the islands, but it is also clear later on in the film that Dole disagreed and what should happen afterwards. Near the end of the film and after the "overthrow" Princess Ka'iulani takes on the task of protecting the right to vote for Kanaka 'Oiwi. In the film, Kanaka 'Oiwi suffrage is supported by Dole. My German friend took issue with this because in his research, documents show that Dole supported and urged "Jim Crow" laws in Hawai'i. Because we talked about this when I was leaving the theatre, I did not have an opportunity to discuss this more with him. For some people, this will be an important issue to them. For me, I attended the film to see a story about Princess Ka'iulani

My Own Criticisms I believe it is fair to say that at times this film is slow. I personally believe the film could edit out some of the kissing scenes with the Princess and Clive. The third kissing scene immediately had me thinking, "Again?! Who cares!" The film was rich in dialogue while lacking in "action." I think the battle scenes could have been capitalized more on to bring more action to the film. But, that's just my personal take. This is a film on Ka'iulani, not the battles that took place while she was away. It was not clear to me at certain times why some people were relevant. When Clive was first introduced in the film, I was under the impression that he may have been a cousin to Kaʻiulani on her Scottish side. Also in the beginning, I did not realize that the woman in the flashback was Kaʻiulaniʻs mother Princess Miriam Likelike. It was not until later in the film that I came to that realization.

Post-Premiere Discussion What I may have enjoyed the most about the evening was that after the film ended, Q'Orianka Kilcher, other cast members and the film directors and producers came on stage, said a few words, and entertained questions from the audience.

Director Marc Forby responded to a number of questions that I think helped to explain how and why the film industry is not always able to do certain important things. For example, one young woman questioned Director Marc Forby about not using the site of Ainahau, where Ka'iulani spent most of her time in Hawai'i and where several parts of the film should have taken place for historical accuracy. In summary, production companies have to get permits for sites they intended to use. Sometimes they're unable to get permits, other times, the sites they want to use no longer reflect what that site used to look like before. Ainahua in Waikiki now, no longer resembles what it looked like in the 1890s. In essence, there are certain realities that the film production industry has to deal with. It's generally impossible for any film company to obtain a permit for Waikiki and make it appear like what it used to look like without disrupting the area too much.

The Film Title I personally never had an issue with the film title and after watching the film I would be even more disappointed if the title changed. The first question posed to Marc Forby was in regards to changing the filmʻs title. Marc explained that the filmʻs title actually says more about the western mediaʻs ignorance, racism, and prejudice towards Native Hawaiians at the time. I could not agree more. This is clearly evident in the film. The portrayal of Princess Kaʻiulani in the film is one of grace, beauty, education, poise, wisdom, diplomacy and royal status. Marc Forby, in this film, basically exploited the ignorance of people at that time. By using the current title, in my opinion, Forby makes a mockery of those same people and their prejudices.