Hawaii

In 1820 a divinity student at Yale wants to be sent to Hawaii as a missionary; one of the conditions is that he be married. He marries in haste and sets out with his wife on a voyage of many months. Arriving, he sets about destroying the local religion, clothing and customs. The diseases he brings devastate the population. The subject is not religion but a man convinced of his own goodness producing ruin. Abner is never ill-intentioned, which is exactly why he cannot be stopped. The film does not vindicate him and uses his wife's gaze as its conscience. The form is large-scale period production. The voyage was shot with real sailing ships and the storm is its most ambitious sequence. It is long and proceeds in chapters. The source is part of James Michener's multi-part novel; the whole book could not fit one film, so only the missionary section was adapted. Julie Andrews plays the wife, Max von Sydow plays Abner and Richard Harris a sailor. Bette Midler appears in a small background role, her first appearance on film. George Roy Hill directs. Who it is for: viewers interested in broad historical drama and criticism of colonialism. Who it is not for: anyone sensitive about length; the film runs past three hours and its middle is slow.