Hawaii Sons
Lilia Wahinemaika'i "Mama" Hale shared her stories
with filmmaker Eddie Kamae in "Hawaiian Voices."
Voices
Eddie and Myrna Kamae present
By Burl Burlingame
their latest sonata of storytelling
Star-BulletinThe Hawaii International Film Festival is overrun with people who grew up worshiping film, studying its language, memorizing its hidden tricks, entranced by the magic flickering of light. It's a densely insular world and more than a little technique-incestuous.
Which is why the films of Eddie Kamae are like no other. Kamae's only subject is his subject, not a demonstration of style. Direct, heartfelt, uncluttered, pure, Kamae's effect is one of wry precision.
His background is in music, both in performing and preserving, which helps explain the backbone structure of his films, which are more like the arc of a sonata than the proscribed curve of traditional storytelling.
This year's film, "Hawaiian Voices, Bridging Past to Present," is the sixth in Kamae's "Hawaiian Legacy" series. "It's a rare insight into the lives and places of three kupuna, of philosophy and messages of three respectful Hawaiian elders, through the generations of today and tomorrow -- something like that," Kamae reads dutifully over a lunch of fried noodles at Zippy's, and then he unleashes that famous Kamae smile, part pride, part humility.
Essentially, the film is vintage Kamae. He focuses on three interesting people and gets them to talk about the tides of their lives, with a bit of occasional filigree to illuminate the topic; aerial photography, musical sequences, a recreated dance remembered from the past.
The subjects are crusty survivor Ruth Makaila Kaholoa'a, 93 ("Whoo-ee, she got a mouth on her!"), cheerful and unstoppable Hawaiian-language evangelist Lilia Wahinemaika'i "Mama" Hale, 85, and the wisely pious Rev. David "Kawika" Ka'alakea, 78.
The opening scene of the film shows the three old folks sitting around talking in Hawaiian, the vowels flowing like bubbly water. There's none of the grave, ponderous recitation that usually accompanies the speaking of Hawaiian.
"You don't hear Hawaiian much like this anymore, just folks talking," said Kamae.
But the subtitles reveal that the three are arguing, passionately, about whether younger generations will care to preserve the language and lifestyle. They're really going at it.
"Sound like an OHA meeting?" laughs Kamae.
Part of the subtext of the film is the way in which language shapes personality and style. Speaking Hawaiian fluently changes the speaker, in the way that German or Latin makes a speaker more precise, or French or Japanese makes the speaker more aware to nuance.
"The Hawaiian experience isn't identical, but their presence, the way they conduct their lives, shows what it means to be Hawaiian. It's our collective responsibility to safeguard Hawaii's Hawaiian heritage. Film is one way to do it."
Hawaii Sons
Ruth Makaila Kaholoa'a speaks of life
in Waimanu Valley in "Hawaiian Voices."
Kamae's film crew is getting as set as Woody's Allen's or Ingmar Bergman's. Once again, Kamae acts as director and host, Myrna Kamae produces, James D. Houston scripts, Rodney A. Ohtani co-produces and shoots, and Kaupena Wong narrates. The film will be used, once again, primarily as a teaching tool, and Kamae will present the film to student groups for the rest of the school year."Myrna really handles everything that's difficult," said Kamae of his wife. "I just go out and shoot, I come and go. She handles the planes and vans and the crews, a lot of responsibility."
Kamae heads into a shoot with no preconceived ideas. "Whatever happens, happens," says he. "I don't worry. It's come out all right. They say, 'Hey! It's raining!' And I say, 'Not while I'm shooting.' And it doesn't. It's amazing how people come out when you need them. All I do is make it possible for things to happen.
"The only preparation is, if we're going to be shooting in Hawaiian, then I have to be prepared to ask questions in Hawaiian. So I start thinking ahead in Hawaiian, so there will be no confusion.
"The folks in this film have had hard lives, but they're good role models. The storyline is, it's about 'life.' If you're not lazy, you survive. The old folks had to have aloha for one another because they had no money. My mother said that in the olden days, if a fellow was wearing a felt hat and he saw a lady, he always doffed his hat. Basic respect.
"These folks come from that era. They have total respect for one another and all nationalities. In Hawaii, all the nationalities came together into a village of brown people; we all celebrate our cultures, socialize, mingle, marry -- that's Hawaii.
"It's good to have kupuna like this to learn from, so we know where we came from, so we can see where we're going. My own master, my teacher, was the idea that it's out there. It's ALL out there. Seek it out. Seek it out."
Eddie and Myrna Kamae figure they've got four or five more films left in them, probably enough, eventually, to open their own cable channel. "Then we'll get our ukuleles and fishing poles, and I'll play songs for the fish while we watch the sun go down."
Hawaiian Voices
Premiere: 7 p.m. Sunday
