Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai'i

An irresistible upbeat tone (with just the slightest undercurrent of prideful defiance) prevails in filmmakers Marlene Booth and Kanalu Young's joyful celebration of the Hawaiian tongue that blends the traditional tribal dialect with the English of the missionaries and plantation masters, along with a bit of Cantonese and Tagalog, and the all-purpose idiom, “da kine.” Despite occasional efforts to purge it from schools—it's long been considered a language of social inferiors and gangs, with the potential to lower school test scores and hamper job seekers—the slang persists in the island state's multiethnic society (showstopper footage includes a look at a multiracial 1930s Honolulu high school football team called “the Fighting Micks,” with just about every group represented except the Irish). Pidgin has its champions—duly interviewed here, with subtitles—such as writer and occasional rapper Lee Tonouchi, author of the seminal literary work Da Word, who stages his wedding in Pidgin (not an easy achievement), as well as a collective of enthusiasts known as, yes, Da Pidgin Coup, and a duo attempting to translate the Bible into Pidgin (the New Testament equals “Da Jesus Book”). Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)