Princess Kaiulani

I really enjoyed Princess Ka`iulani. I was lucky enough to see it at the premiere in Honolulu. This movie is based on a true story of a real person. It is not a documentary, so not perfectly true to history, but tells the story in an interesting, compelling way. The images - both Hawaii and England - are beautiful, the scenery lush. The acting is superb - Q'orianka Kilcher put in a stunning performance as the princess. She is so real, so believable, she made the role come to life for me. Barry Pepper as Thurston comes off as a villain and Will Patton as Dole is a peacemaker between both factions, the Queen and the landowners. Jimmy Yuill as the father of the Princess is so believable. He seems to truly want what is best for his daughter. The banquet scene, where the Princess asks for the vote for the Hawaiian people, I found to be very powerful. Women didn't even have the vote in the late 1800's, yet this young woman was able to get the vote for her people. Amazing! Princess Ka`iulani was a truly amazing person. This film gives us a glimpse of her life - and entertains us as well. This film had only a limited run in theaters. It should be seen by more people and viewing it on DVD it could get a wider audience - it deserves a bigger audience! I've ordered several copies, for myself and as gifts for family and friends.

I've been waiting to see a movie on the life of Princess Kaiulani and this film did not disappoint. The story was well thought out and rich with meaning, and in all the places where creative license was taken it was done with the utmost care and taste. The music and emotion of the film were so easy to get caught up in. It truly made me feel as if I were there observing the life of the princess as she grew into womanhood and discovered her own inner strength. The role of Hawaii's last queen was also well done and I would now love to see a film done by the same director and crew on her life (well one can dream). Overall an excellent film, and one that I feel honored to have in my collection.

Gave the copy to my sister as part of her birthday present - she liked the movie!

I did not know the director but purchased this because of Q'orianka and my interest in Hawaii. I thought the film concentrated too much on the princess' romantic life. Her story is such a poignant one that it should have been more concerned with The Hawaiian politics and the US annex. It felt to me that the film had been cut so that the story line was not always clear. It will be interesting to see if the leading lady will be able to have a career that demands a little more than her exotic looks. My local library has no books on the annex so I need to order one from Amazon to research this disreputable chapter in American history.

The focus of this movie is the life of Princess Kaiulani during the time when amoral and greedy American businessmen stole the nation of Hawaii from its people. The story is well told, finely crafted and shows off the beauty of Hawaii and her people. I am very pleased with my purchase, and plan to show it to others who love Hawaii. It really is a dual love story: that of a young, vibrant woman in love with a gentle, kind Englishman, and also in love with her country and people. I think that anyone would enjoy watching it. My only issue is with the choice of actress for the roll of the Princess. Q'orianka Kilcher looks like she could be half Hawaiian and half White, but she is not. I find it hard to believe that the producers could not find a skilled Hawaiian actress to play the part. Perhaps there are few Hawaiian women actresses that appear to be a teenager for the part, but I certainly hope the filmmakers tried to find a actress with Hawaiian blood to play the part. Nonetheless, Q'orianka Kilcher did an excellent job in the role of Princess Kaiulani.

I loved this movie and its story. Sad how the annexation of this beautiful island to the US came to be, greed! President McKinley should never have gone ahead and voted to end the monarchy. Hawaii had its own culture. Their people were gentle and educated; therefore, American companies, Dole being the largest back then, and others could have worked along with their government had they not want to take over all their land for money! I am sure this sad young woman was heartbroken that despite trying, she could not convince the US government to let her be the queen of her country in the similar way the English kept their Queen. She has no real power but is the figurehead of her government and a constitutional monarch. This should have been the same for Princess Kaiulani. The acting was excellent, the scenery beautiful both in Hawaii and England. Having to both countries years ago brought back lovely memories!

The historical aspects of this movie are fascinating. While I was watching I dove into Wikipedia to find out more about the end of the Hawaiian monarchy because the story is so compelling. Sadly, I found the Wikipedia page to be more interesting than the movie itself. The film, while lovingly produced chose to spend an excessive amount of time on the love story, which is the least interesting aspect of Kaiulani's life (in fact the romance featured in the film never even happened), instead of really focusing on what made her such a memorable character to begin with. The pacing of the movie is all over the place, and they set up a series of "speeches" for Kaiulani to deliver but I never felt the emotion or the passion behind them. The story itself is a powerful lesson in what happens when you interfere in other cultures and take something that doesn't belong to you, and overall the performances are fine but not especially memorable. I think the filmmakers also squandered an opportunity to showcase what actually happened to Kaiulani at the end of her short lived life, and the physical stress and sickness she endured trying to save the monarchy. It was a lost opportunity to really showcase a woman who drove herself to an early grave fighting for what she believed in. All in all, by no means a terrible movie, but really a lost opportunity to showcase a side of Hawaiian history that most people aren't familiar with.

I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews for this movie. I understand that it wasn't exactly and perfectly historically accurate and that they compressed part of the history of Hawai'i in 1hr 30mns, but I really enjoyed this film. Q'orianka's acting was excellent, I thought it was well written, I loved when they spoke Hawaiian, such a beautiful language. This is not a history lesson, it's a heartwarming movie. The actors playing King Kalakaua and Queen Lili'uokalani were spot on. I think it's pretty good, I recommend it.

This is a sleeper, a surprisingly good, moving and insightful look into the true history of Hawai'i which left me feeling sad for the original peoples of that beautiful Country, now a State of course. It's all woven around a tender love story when love for her country prevails over all else. I sincerely hope that the culture and heritage of the native Hawaiians will be nurtured and preserved for future generations. Princess Ka'iulani in reality died at the tender age of 23, no doubt of a broken heart. This movie helps explain why.

1月4日に購入し時間がなくやっと見ようとしたのですがパソコン、DVDデッキでも再生不可能と出てきます。 DVD交換は可能でしょうか。

A very interesting film, with historical detail I was unaware of previously.

Excellent but a dumb down version of how it really happened ...I'm sure the making of this video was monitored very closely but still good if you read between the linez

Great