I have not read the books, so I have no idea how true the movie is to them. I also haven't seen "Hawaii", to which this is apparently a stand-alone sequel, so I can't make any comparisons. I did live in Hawaii during high school, and had quite a few lessons in state and native Hawaiian history - much more than the writers had, apparently.
The Chinese casting was very good, and mostly Chinese. Unfortunately there were few if any Hawaiians involved, except a few extras. Queen Liliuokalani, for example, is played by a Jewish woman doing an accent that could best be described as "aristocratic Italian". There's a couple of white women with impressive spray tans at different points in the movie, both playing mixed racial characters as far as I could tell. The wife of the main character is played by a very white woman, yet is supposed to be one-quarter Hawaiian.
The native Hawaiian movement to keep Hawaii as an independent monarchy is illustrated by the insanity of the main character's wife. Her desire to get in touch with her roots is intermingled with her portrayed hysteria and tenuous grip on reality. The natives she lives among for a while are apparently just as nuts, since they never appear to notice that she's unhinged. There's a brief condemnation of exploitative white businessmen by the Queen, which is itself immediately undercut when she irately orders the execution of one. This seems to be aimed at dismissing the lingering modern opposition to the forceful overthrowing of the Hawaiian government by the US government.
So the general impression is of successful white American businessmen building the future state, versus various savage ethnic groups engaging in violence and spreading disease. The Chinese woman and her son gain some success and respect by embracing the American way, starting a business, and going to law school. And even that success is marred by the Chinese businesswoman promising to overcome by out-breeding the whites.
The acting and scenery were excellent, but this movie is a eurocentric relic which should stayed buried.
The Chinese casting was very good, and mostly Chinese. Unfortunately there were few if any Hawaiians involved, except a few extras. Queen Liliuokalani, for example, is played by a Jewish woman doing an accent that could best be described as "aristocratic Italian". There's a couple of white women with impressive spray tans at different points in the movie, both playing mixed racial characters as far as I could tell. The wife of the main character is played by a very white woman, yet is supposed to be one-quarter Hawaiian.
The native Hawaiian movement to keep Hawaii as an independent monarchy is illustrated by the insanity of the main character's wife. Her desire to get in touch with her roots is intermingled with her portrayed hysteria and tenuous grip on reality. The natives she lives among for a while are apparently just as nuts, since they never appear to notice that she's unhinged. There's a brief condemnation of exploitative white businessmen by the Queen, which is itself immediately undercut when she irately orders the execution of one. This seems to be aimed at dismissing the lingering modern opposition to the forceful overthrowing of the Hawaiian government by the US government.
So the general impression is of successful white American businessmen building the future state, versus various savage ethnic groups engaging in violence and spreading disease. The Chinese woman and her son gain some success and respect by embracing the American way, starting a business, and going to law school. And even that success is marred by the Chinese businesswoman promising to overcome by out-breeding the whites.
The acting and scenery were excellent, but this movie is a eurocentric relic which should stayed buried.