The Wind & The Reckoning

“There is a season for the gentle breezes. There is a season for the blustery winds. There is a season for the rains to drench. There is a season for all the seasons,” says Pi’ilani (Lindsay Marie Anuhea Watson) as we swoop in over the island of Kauai at the start of David L Cunningham’s historical epic. It’s an immediate reference point for the indigenous Hawaiian culture in which we will be immersed for most of the running time, and it’s a statement which we know she will return to.

Between 1886 and 1969, some 8,000 Hawaiian natives infected with leprosy were separated from their families and quarantined on the remote Kalaupapa peninsula, on the island of Molokai. Some remain to this day, though as leprosy is now treatable with antibiotics, they are there voluntarily. That was not the case for previous residents. The quarantine law was passed just after the overthrow of the islands’ queen and the imposition of a Western government. Though its official purpose was to contain the infection, which was then very difficult to treat, it was done without consultation with the local people, who were aware of the risks and had their own methods of managing them. Its effect was to break down family structures which were the backbone of political resistance, and to clear land for colonisation.

Focused on the real life story of one family which resisted being sent to quarantine, gaining heroic status in the process, The Wind & The Reckoning is adapted from the memoirs of the real Pi’ilani. When we first encounter the fictional version, she’s working in her garden, with husband Ko’olau (Jason Scott Lee) beside her. He’s infected, as is their son Kalei (Kahiau Perreira). Physical contact is limited as Ko’olau is afraid of affecting her, and they try to be discreet about the situation, but Kalei doesn’t really understand why, and when one day he invites a white friend to take a short cut home past their home, the friend sees too much. Before long, the family is visited by the authorities. Pi’ilau is told that because she’s healthy, she won’t be allowed to go with the others, plunging the family into crisis. On top of everything else, were Ko’olau to go to the colony without her, they would legally be considered divorced, which is culturally unacceptable.

Following the family’s escape with the help of an older white friend, the film follows them as they traverse the island, hiding in lava tubes which run for miles and getting food and weapons from assorted people they meet. Pursued by an obsessive marshal (Johnathon Schaech) with a large detachment of armed men, they make no secret of their willingness to defend themselves, but Ko’olau is careful to discourage his son from becoming hateful or from blaming white people more generally for their predicament. They pin their hopes on being able to get medicine brought from India (probably chaulmoogra, with the active ingredient hydnocarpic acid, which was the only treatment available for many centuries), but can they get hold of it before they are caught?

An epic tale weighted with meaning for Hawaiian viewers, The Wind & The Reckoning may not hit the spot quite as well for those who don’t have that initial investment. Structurally, it aims to draw on existing emotion rather than building it up from scratch, with a a score which consequently feels a bit overwhelming early on. Nevertheless, there’s plenty to hold the interest, with some strong action set pieces and stunning use of aspects of the Kauaian landscape not often seen on film. The acting is decent and, in places, tension is built very effectively around the pursuit. The complicated character of the marshal adds depth and enables the film to address the (documented) casual violence of the colonial forces against the colonised without the risk of it seeming too absurd to take seriously.

The film will no doubt resonate with many viewers because of their experiences in the Covid pandemic, and it presents a welcome opportunity for nuanced conversation, whilst providing a bit of perspective for anti-vaxxers who imagine themselves to be persecuted. The Hawaiian leprosy epidemic was a unique experience, however, and given how little it has been discussed elsewhere in the world, this film makes an important contribution to raising awareness of how it was handled. If you find yourself moved by it, you may wish to visit kalaupapaohana.org, where funds are being raised for a monument to all those who died without being given the dignity of proper graves.