PRINCESS KA‘IULANI DRAMATIZES THE FALL OF THE HAWAIIAN MONARCHY
After years of research at the Bishop Museum, Marc Forby directs Princess Ka‘iulani as a tribute to the sad history of the fall of the Hawaiian monarchy. The drama picks up steam when King Kalākaua (played by Ocean Kaowili) is forced in 1887 to sign the “Bayonet Constitution,” which imposed property qualifications for voting, thereby disfranchising one-third of Native Hawaiians. As the Crown Princess, next in line to the throne after Lili‘uokalani (played by Leo Anderson Akana), her father O`ahu Governor Archibald Cleghorn (played by Jimmy Yuill) escorts Victoria Ka‘iulani on a journey in 1889 to school in England (the filming is in Norfolk) at the age of 13 to prepare for her eventual elevation to become queen. Then the film departs from the historical account with a love story between the princess and Clive Davies (played by Shaun Evans), the son of Cleghorn’s friend Theo H. Davies (played by Julian Glover), who provides accommodations for her. When the monarchy is overthrown in 1893, she leaves her boyfriend in England, goes to the United States, speaks out against annexation and eventually meets President Grover Cleveland (played by Peter Banks) for a meal in the White House. (Cleveland had already declared annexation unacceptable because a violation of international law.) But President William McKinley was of a different mind. Lacking the votes to adopt a treaty of annexation, both houses pass a resolution of annexation in 1898, and the Princess returns to her homeland. At Ka‘ilani’s urging Sanford Dole (played by Will Patton), outgoing president of the Republic of Hawai‘i established after the 1893 coup, proposes that citizens of the former Kingdom of Hawai‘i should be accepted as citizens of the United States, a provision that was included in the Organic Act of 1900 that established the Territory of Hawai‘i. A title at the end points out that Ka‘iulani died in 1899 at the age of 23, presumably of a broken heart over the passing of the Kingdom, which the film points out had the highest literacy rate in the world. A second title notes that President Bill Clinton signed a Congressional resolution apologizing to Native Hawaiians for the loss of sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. The final title informs filmviewers that Native Hawaiians, one of whom is married to the director, still struggle for their culture and their lost sovereignty. The Political Film Society has nominated Princess Ka‘iulani as best film exposé of 2010 as well as best film on democracy and best film on human rights. Princess Ka‘iulani also has been nominated for best film on Hawai‘i, a category for which there have been no nominees since 1995, when Picture Bride received the honors. MH