Apple TV+ television series “Chief of War” is not only Appleʻs blockbuster response to HBOʻs “Game of Thrones,” the celebrated artistic milestone for the Hawaiian language revitalization movement (known in Hawaiʻi as the Aukahi) now in its 47th year since Hawaiian gained official status in Hawaiʻi and 40 years since the ban on teaching public education in the stateʻs indigenous language was repealed. While the storyline is based on actual historical events and figures, the production achieves a world first by portraying Hawaiian history from an indigenous perspective.
This highly rated and internationally acclaimed docudrama is performed using mostly Hawaiian language with English subtitles. Nevertheless it has amazingly held first or second position viewership on AppleTV+ since the seriesʻ debut in August. Rotten Tomatoes has awarded the series with scores of 93% and 81%, earning it critical acclaim, summarizing the series as “Hawaii’s four kingdoms are divided by war; to prevent further bloodshed, a Hawaiian war chief embarks on a mission to unite his people as an existential threat approaches their shores.
True to Hollywoodʻs century-long obsession with Hawaiian Paradise, get ready for a rich and fascinating yet anaesthetized for PG-13 audiences visual feast portraying precontact Hawaiian culture centered on the historic figure of Kaʻiana played by the series’ producer and main character, “Aquaman” Jason Momoa during the late 18th century wars leading to Kamehamehaʻs victory as the new leader bringing peace to the newly unified nation. Its release also signals an historic moral and technical achievement for speakers of languages indigenous to the United States, enchanting a global audience and establishing his artistic leadership in the filmmaking industry. Not only is the acting world class, but the feathered costumes, neolithic Hawaiian environments and amazing array of indigenous cultural practices ranging from lua martial arts, hula, and heʻe holua (mountain sled riding) achieve a compelling level of authenticity.
Apple has long been a partner in the Aukahi, as they were the first to provide the contemporary Hawaiian alphabet keyboard that enabled me and many thousands of other people to use cyberspace as a learning (even immersion) environment. Caution: violence is a major theme graphically depicted with authentic neolithic weapons to dramatize the need for the peace promised by Kamehameha’s unification of the 8-island nation.
