Kuleana is a 2018 drama about a disabled Vietnam vet who rediscovers the Hawaiian warrior within to protect his family, defend their land, and clear his father’s name.
The knee jerk reaction to nearly any film set in Hawaii is to marvel at the tropical setting, these unique islands home to some of the most recognizable and exotic landscapes on the planet, and while Brian Kohne‘s newest film Kuleana certainly takes advantage of these breathtaking vistas, that beauty is soon lost to the darkness of a troubling story linked by decades. A cautionary tale at heart, this is a throwback to timeless gumshoe-esque mysteries with an island mentality that works far more than it doesn’t.
In 1971, disabled Vietnam vet Nohea (Moronai Kanekoa) is loaded with problems. With an artificial leg, he’s forced to use a cane, but more worrisome is his dying grandmother and the enormous gambling debts owed to local crime lord Sheldon Zhang (Mel Cabang), money he’s tried to win to help save his family’s land. Nohea is an honest man but burdened by his past. As a child (Ryan Ursula) in 1959, while Hawaii is in the midst of a seismic shift, earning US statehood, Nohea learns much from his father Bill Kanekoa (Kainoa Horcajo), including ‘kuleana,’ one’s sense of responsibility. His closest friend is Kim (Kealani Warner), and the two play in the lush forests and pristine waters. However, when Kim mysteriously disappears, and questions arise about Nohea’s own father, his future is haunted, made all the more so when, back in 1971, Kim’s mother Rose Coyle (Kristina Anapau) seems to have commited suicide by jumping off a balcony. Or did she?
It’s a dense story travelling along two constantly intertwining timelines, one that soon puts local detective Tulba (Augie Tulba) on the case of Rose’s death, stuck in the middle of a sort of classic crime noir-ish thriller. It’s no spoiler to say that Kim returns early in the story, now as an adult (played by the beguiling Sonya Balmores). She’s strictly native while Nohea, who doesn’t recognize her at first, has lost touch with much of his culture, working at the hotel where Rose died. There, he caters to rich white people from the mainland who are spooked by the US Navy’s use of the islands as a testing ground for low yield bombs and complain when local kids take a dip in the pool.
Taking us on a tour of the island’s history through some of its more turbulent years, Kohne, who wrote the screenplay, uses much of those trying times as symbolic imagery to shape the destinies of these few characters. Populated by a cast of Hawaiian actors and clearly working to be as respectful to its past and present, Kuleana is much less a thriller than a dialogue-driven mystery, loaded with island philosophies and historical intrigue, detailing the corruption of landowners looking to exploit the land for profit, leaving many locals with no choice but to bend. It’s definitely not fast paced, far from it, adopting a kind of laid back attitude that sort of feels well-adapted for the setting, making this is a mostly easy-to-follow pulpy story that mixes Hawaiian lore with a conventional crime drama.
While there are flaws, including attempts at humor that don’t always hit, there are moments that work better, especially when the cast switches to speaking their native language and their passions somehow feel much more authentic. Kohne is limited by his budget and there are times when momentum is dulled by a few less than inspiring performances, including writer/director turned actor Stefan C. Schaefer as Victor Coyle, who works hard to be cold but feels all too obvious. Still, Kuleana is rich with metaphor and since Hawaiian Cinema is barely a thing, this is a welcome entry that should satisfy.
Kuleana releases March 30