Honoka'a Boy, 2nd Screening

OK, we're back.

First of all, would cellphone users PLEASE turn off your phones in a theater! Good grief! And worse, would you please not answer and talk! Sheesh!

OK, now that I've got that off my chest...


When the movie started out and people were laughing at all the cute scenes I found I was actually enjoying the film and could go with the flow. Maybe I'd desensitized myself from feeling angry at the depiction of Bea. (Art has echoed my observations.) I was surprised that I picked up quite a few things that I missed at our first viewing on our home TV. Hmmm... maybe I need a bigger screen TV?


My mother says she thought the scenery in the film was very beautiful and fun to see. We could all see why there is a sudden influx of Japanese tourists to Honoka'a. There were also some gently humorous scenes that we could appreciate.

However, my mother says they certainly changed what was in the book when they put it on the screen. She also said Bea's character was definitely altered from the book. Another website said the movie was loosely based on the book. So there you have it. Loosely...

We spent the ride home critiquing the inadequate script writing, the bad editing, etc. but then again, a lot of people seemed to be enjoying the movie and there was applause at the end. And to cap it all, my mother says she enjoyed the movie. Now I know how Siskel and Ebert (Chicago movie critics) must have felt.

Honoka'a Boy, the Movie

We're going to see the movie, Honoka'a Boy today at the Hawaii Film Festival. We've actually already seen the video because our wonderful Tokyo friend mailed it to us knowing we were waiting to see it. Would you believe the day before the DVD arrived, we bought non refundable tickets on line to see the movie at the (HFF) Hawaii Film Festival?

My mother had already read and translated the Japanese language book for us chapter by chapter. She told us how the book emphasized the beauty and loving community of Honoka'a, Art's hometown.

The two central characters (based on real life experiences) are Leo, a Japanese student who goes to Honoka'a to recover from a bruised heart and Bea (a kind, older lady) who takes pity on him. The whole book focuses on the beauty of this small country town and is a journal of the epicurean delights Bea prepared for him.

Art and I couldn't wait to watch the film in the theater. We plunked ourselves down and watched the DVD figuring if we read the subtitles ahead of time we could just enjoy the beauty of the movie at the large screen theater.

What a surprise! A shock?

The movie moves very slowly. Perhaps the director wanted to show the slow moving pace of a Hawaiian country town. They infer that Honoka'a is known for moonbows. Hunh? Since when? An amazing array of characters speak fluent Japanese. OK... this is a Japanese movie, I understand that. But puhleeease.

But the worst insult for us is the way Bea is portrayed. They incorrectly spelled her name Bee in the subtitles. Bea is the mother of Art's childhood classmate and good friend. We felt she was pictured as a rather foolish, eccentric lady attracted to this young student. We sat through the movie upset at what the director had done and what Leo (the author) had allowed. Bea had been kind and generous to him during his stay in Honoka'a and this is how she has been repaid.

A few other people have seen the movie and felt it was touching and beautiful. Perhaps the problem in all this is that Art knew the real Bea and is extra sensitive to her legacy. Perhaps I am just reacting to his feeling of dismay. I don't know. I'll be interested to hear what my mother thinks when we take her to see the movie today.

Honoka'a Boy

Art grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii in a small town called Honokaa. He was a Honokaa boy who grew up with friends and relatives always around. His mom and dad owned the Sweet Shoppe Restaurant. Art says he's washed more dishes than I'll ever see which is probably why he's forever finding what I missed when I wash the dishes. His father also ran the theater which is featured in this book by Leo Yoshida. Art says he helped to operate the projectors as well.

A broken hearted Japanese college student apparently went to live in Honokaa some years ago after Art left and formed a beautiful friendship with an older woman who was the mother of Art's classmate. This fellow then left Honokaa and wrote a book and that book was made into a movie (called Honokaa Boy) in Japan. My mother has read the book and says she's surprised that actual names are in there.

Isn't it amazing that you think your town and your lives were just ordinary stuff of life and suddenly it's made into a movie.

I guess all our lives are really books that could be written. I guess that's why I love reading the chapters of your lives.