Landmark indie film ‘Goodbye Paradise’ gets encore 35 years after release
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Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that the screening originally planned for Friday, Sept. 25, has been postponed to 6 p.m. Oct. 16 due to anticipated severe weather.
"Goodbye Paradise," the landmark made-in-Hawaii independent feature, is making a comeback. The low-budget drama, filmed in 1991 on Oahu and using local actors, has been out of print for decades and was feared to be lost.
Now, thanks to the late filmmaker Robert Stone, who digitized a rare VHS copy, the film has been preserved and will be screened at 6 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Makawao Public Library.
The screening is co-sponsored by the Hawaii Public Library system and the Hawaii Film Critics Society. Admission and popcorn are free.
While independently financed and produced Hawaii-made films are not as uncommon today as they were 35 years ago, "Goodbye Paradise" is a comedy-drama that depicts the last night for a Honolulu eatery about to go out of business.
KHON news anchor Joe Moore stars as the establishment's caretaker, while James Hong and Pat Morita round out the cast.
The film had a successful run with a limited release in the early 1990s, but "Goodbye Paradise" never expanded beyond videocassette.
With the film serving as a valuable time capsule, The Maui News recently spoke with Moore, the film's lead; Tim Savage, who co-directed the film alongside Dennis Christianson; associate producer Irish Hoʻomaikaʻi Barber, who became the founder and president of the Hawaii Film Alliance; line producer Renee Confair, who has decades of experience as a production manager; and composer Stan Wentzel.
The group of collaborators recalled the challenges of making a "small" film, telling a local story, the film's surprising reception and legacy as a true made-in-Hawaii indie.
On the film's beginnings
Confair: "It was 1991, and a collection of Hawaii filmmakers banded together to make a heartfelt indie movie."
Moore: "Director Dennis Christianson and I wanted to do a made-in-Hawaii film about life in Hawaii, so he and Susan Killeen came up with the idea of the last night for a longtime bar and grill in Chinatown run by a local haole that was forced to close due to urban renewal. I liked the script a lot and thought it was a very touching story. I'd acted in a lot of original 'Hawaii Five-0' episodes, and this was my first starring role in a movie."
Wentzel: "A first on many accounts -- the first feature film starring Joe Moore, the first directed and produced by the team of Tim Savage and Dennis Christianson, and maybe one of the first to tell a Hawaii story from such a local point of view."
On crafting the story
Barber: "When we started the film, I was about five years into the film business, so it was likely my first associate producer position on a feature film.
"As someone who grew up here, the story behind 'Goodbye Paradise' was especially moving and not just another production to me.
"The poignant story about the loss of a beloved gathering place and the changes occurring in Honolulu helped to preserve a visual moment in Hawaiʻi's cultural and filmmaking history, along with the faces and skills of a remarkable and talented local film community."
On fighting inexperience
Savage: "There are low-budget movies, and then there was us. We were what was known as an ultra-low-budget feature, but I don't remember the lack of money being the hardest part of the process. I think our inexperience was the bigger challenge."
Confair: "We were new to moviemaking but very good at making commercials. So, we shot it like it was a long commercial."
Savage: "Dennis and I were getting an education in how to make movies while we were making 'Goodbye Paradise.' With no internet and very little in the way of educational material available, we were making it up as we went along and learning on the job."
Moore: "We shot all the interior scenes of the fictitious Paradise Inn at Diamond Head Theatre. They had no production running at the time, and we built the bar and grill set on their stage and filmed over several days and nights. We filmed the few exterior scenes of the movie in Chinatown."
On DIY filmmaking, local style
Barber: "Growing up in Hawaiʻi's film industry during that time was a lot of fun. We worked hard, helped wherever we were needed and shared a genuine closeness. I remember Graham Driscoll, the (director of photography) saying he needed more people sitting at the bar (backs to the camera) to fill up the seats. We didn’t have enough extras, so you might see the back of my head in one scene."
Moore: "I was also executive producer and broke the first rule of filmmaking. I put up my own money to get the film made, $300,000. This was so we wouldn't lose creative control and could make the film we wanted to make."
On the cast
Confair: "It was truly an honor to work with the wonderful cast and crew, especially Pat Morita, James Hong and the legendary newsman Joe Moore. James Hong ad-libbed and kept us all laughing."
Moore: "I remember having a lot of fun working with the local cast and crew. James Hong was the only mainland actor, but it felt like he was from here in the scenes we shared. It truly was an experience I'll never forget."
Barber: "It was also special to work with such a memorable group of performers, including Pat Morita, James Hong, Danny Kamekona, Dennis Chun, Ray Bumatai, Michael W. Perry and the familiar (at the time) Ben and Gloria Tamashiro, who were "Harry and Myra" from the Bank of Hawaiʻi campaign. Joe Moore was prepared, engaging and easy to work with as the film's lead. He was as professional as an actor as he is as a news anchorman."
On working with Pat Morita
Moore: "Pat and I were friends before the film, mostly from running into each other at restaurants and social gatherings, and we’d shared a couple of dinners together. We laughed a lot on the set when the camera wasn’t rolling, but once it was, he was a real pro -- a very generous actor, great to work with. After the big scene we shared, I remember him saying, 'Eh, you one good actor, Joe! I never knew that.' Nice compliment."
Confair: "I'll never forget one of Pat's lines: 'I thought your children were supposed to take care of you.'"
On adding music
Wentzel: "It was my first feature-film scoring gig as a composer. In any event, it was a welcome and exhilarating exercise for all of the above, and it turned out to be a sweet, intimate movie with some very special moments."
On the big premiere
Savage: "When the film premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival in December 1991, Honolulu Star-Bulletin film critic Burl Burlingame called our film a 'noble experiment' -- the first movie to be written, produced, directed and filmed in Hawaii, with a local cast (with the exception of Pat Morita) and a local crew. My partners, Joe Moore and Dennis Christianson, deserve most of the credit for making the film a reality."
Moore: "I was at the HIFF screening at the old Varsity Theatre, but unfortunately my most vivid memory of that is not a pleasant one. I have allergies to pollen, dust and mold, and had a bad attack just before the film started. Hard to enjoy a movie when your sinuses are swollen, your eyes watery and your nose is running. Do remember the audience reaction to the film was very positive, and a lot of folks shared how much they enjoyed it. Very gratifying."
Savage: "As a young man, I would often go to the Varsity Theatre on University Avenue. It was the most art-house of the theaters in town. I'd go there to see French, Italian and independent films, so premiering 'Goodbye Paradise' at the Varsity meant the world to me. It was a dream come true.
"I remember sitting there and watching the audience watch our movie. I was so moved when they laughed and cried in all the right places. After everything we had gone through to make the film, seeing an audience respond to it was an incredible feeling."
On the theatrical release
Savage: "Although we were unable to secure domestic distribution, our local community really supported the movie. Consolidated Theatres skeptically agreed to run the film for one week, but it did so well that it ended up running for eight weeks.
"Eventually, we sold the foreign film rights to several countries, including Italy, Germany, Turkey, Japan, France and Argentina.
"'Goodbye Paradise' went on to win a Bronze Medal at the 1992 Houston Worldfest, one of the world's major film festivals, and was invited to premiere internationally at the 1992 American Independent Showcase at Cannes."
On the new title for video rentals
Moore: "The distributor for the mainland video release retitled the movie "Moon over Paradise," which I didn't care for, but it was their call under small-print terms of the distribution deal."
On the film's aftermath
Savage: "It was far from a masterpiece, and I'm sure that if I watched it again today, I would cringe at certain places. But we took a leap that hadn't been taken before, and for that I am incredibly proud."
Barber: "'Goodbye Paradise' became an important step in my professional growth. I will always be grateful to Dennis Christianson and Tim Savage for giving me that opportunity."
Wentzel: "'Goodbye Paradise' was just one in a long line of my collaborations with director Tim Savage, with whom I worked on countless commercials and short-form film and video projects over the years. It was very gratifying to be a part of his first feature."
Savage: "Looking back after all these years, I think what I remember most is that we simply took a chance. We were young, we were inexperienced, and we really didn't know what we were doing -- but somehow, we made a movie. And people actually came to see it."
Moore: "I was delighted of course when the film not only made its money back but turned a profit of about $60,000 from a local theatrical run, foreign film sales, and local, national and international video sales. Not bad for a small, locally made film!"
Barry Wurst II is the founder of the Hawaii Film Critics Society and teaches film classes at University of Hawaii Maui College.