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Molokai: The Story of Father Damien.

Posted by free.ranger on June 16, 2014 at 21:53:38:
A beautiful biopic made in 1999 on Molokai, this is the story of Damien, the islands of the day, the lepers and their colony -- and fittingly, true to the haole government of David Kalakaua and Princess Liliokaulani. A beautiful film, but difficult to watch. It pulls no punches regarding leprosy, the haole administation of Prime Minister Walter Gibson, or the Catholic church which refused to support or acknowledge Damien and his work.

David Wenham gave a rocky steady portrayal of Damien, a Belgian man who did much and suffered much for nearly 50 years at the colony. He eventually wore down the government and church, forcing them to start supporting the colony. He died of leprosy in 1889.

Sam Neill plays Gibson as a guy to not like very much. Those latter days of the Kingdom were controlled by the haole merchant class which included the likes of Gibson, Wilcox, Thurston, and other self-interested whites. Princess (later, Queen) Liliokaulani gave about the only non-diseased face of a Hawaiian in this film. And it was a good one. If you have read any Hawaiian history, you'll know that the Queen was a humanitarian and a fierce defender of Hawaiian rights.

No guns or car chases; this film still manages to hit hard. It not only gives the sense of horror that was leprosy, but also the loss of humanity it brought to victims. It shows equally well the other debilitating disease of the islands -- the gradually but steady loss of the islands themselves to the Kingdom of Hawaii. You'll sense it happening throughout this film.

All summed, I can't recommend this highly enough. Especially if you have been to the islands, this hits where it hurts. Damien was eventually sainted by the church, I think in 2005. but not sure about that date.