Chasing Shakespeare

I fell in love with "Chasing Shakespeare" more than once during the 2013 Big Island Film Festival at The Fairmont Orchid, Hawai'i. Director Norry Niven flew in from Cannes where he'd just won an AFI Award, and added to it BIFF's Best Feature and Audience Choice.

It's an interracial love story of Venus and William, a Native American woman of the lightning clan and an African American man destined to run his father's farm. But to stop there would be a disservice.

The film tells of many kinds of love - love of family, of tradition and culture, of Shakespeare and horses and laughter, as well as romantic love between the two. It crosses boundaries of time and race, even spirit.

At times it speaks in symbols we call "ho'ailona" in Hawai'i - natural phenomenon that communicate to us in very special moments - a sudden gust of wind, a butterfly that lands on your hand. Venus' affinity with the lightning, which charges important points through the story, is a great example.

One night after an outdoor screening of CS, I was driving home to a breathtaking lightning display over the mountain. I had to email Norry right away, and he said something to the effect, that it happens pretty often. I would love to know if other viewers experience something similar!

Awful, painful acting with a pathetic storyline. Watched this during a storm on a cruise and would have rather sat in the storm.

FROM ABOVE is a wonderful love story. Danny Glover is fantastic as his character lovingly looks back on his life with his love, Venus. Norry Niven does a great job directing and the production quality is excellent. This film also addresses the challenges of an interracial couple and shows how love can overcome those challenges. This is a great film that people of all ages are sure to enjoy! I would recommend for families as well. It is truly a love story that spans across generations. FROM ABOVE is a film that teens and adolescents will find interesting, and that parents will find appropriate. I highly recommend it for everyone.

This movie is very romantic and beautifully filmed. Adriana Mather is stunning as Betty. I wish we could see her in an expanded role. James Bird is an exceptional screen writer. Norry Niven did an excellent job with the directing and production. This is also true of Anya Remizova. Danny Glover is talented, as usual. Tantoo Cardinal is beautiful. Overall, this is a heart-wrenching love story that has it all. It exposes the state of race relations in this country without actually focusing too strongly on this. It exposes the cultural 'myth' of meritocracy. It is up-lifting and leaves the viewer with hope for the future. This movie compares to "The Notebook" in terms of its general mood. The inclusion of Shakespeare lends an air of sophistication to the film.

It's 1972 Arkansas. Venus (Chelsea Ricketts) faces discrimination when auditioning for Romeo and Juliet. A black boy named William Ward is completely taken with her. Mr. Mountain (Graham Greene) is her father and they are part of the Lightning Clan. Separately, an old man (Danny Glover) struggles after a lost.

The starting racism is a little over the top but it's at least memorable. The problem may be that she is not so outrageously talented that she deserves a Tony right on the spot. A montage of inferior auditions would help a lot for the comparison. The young romance is relatively bland. The meet cute isn't much although the two young leads are charming enough. Quite frankly, they're more good looking than powerful. Graham Greene is way too stoic which limits his emotional range. There is a magicalism which isn't that well explained. The dividing between the past and present day doesn't add much of anything. Glover feels stranded on his own island and could have played William's father giving it more power. It should stay mostly as a period piece with the two young leads and two powerful veteran actors as their dads.