The descendants

The descendants (in English, The Descendants ) is a dramatic film of 2011 directed, produced and written by Alexander Payne , based on the novel of Kaui Hart Hemmings . ² It was presented at the Film Festival in Toronto , Canada , on 10 September 2011. ³ Winner of the Golden Globe in the categories of best drama and best dramatic actor, played by George Clooney . ⁴

Argument

Matt King ( George Clooney ) is a lawyer who lives in Honolulu and is the only fiduciary to control 25,000 acres of virgin land on the island of Kauai . He has been able to manage his money; Most of Matt’s cousins ​​squandered their share of the estate. The trust will expire in seven years because of the perpetual rule, so the King family has decided to sell the land to the native Kauai Don Holitzer for development. Just before family members are willing to formally approve the agreement, a navigation accident near Waikiki leaves Matt’s wife, Elizabeth ( Patricia Hastie ), in a coma.

Matt and Elizabeth have two daughters, Scottie ( Amara Miller ), 10, and Alex ( Shailene Woodley ), 17. Matt does not have a close relationship with his daughters and refers to himself as the “father in reserve”. With Elizabeth in a coma at Queen’s Hospital, she is forced to confront Scottie’s inappropriate behavior with other children and the destructive ways of Alex.

Matt learns that Elizabeth will never wake up from her coma, which means that, under the terms of her living will , she must be disconnected from life support. He tells Alex, but not Scottie, that Elizabeth will not recover and should be allowed to die. To Matt’s dismay, Alex initially refuses to see his mother. She reveals to her father that Elizabeth had an affair at the time of the accident, which caused a significant estrangement between the mother and her daughter. Matt confronts two family friends, Kai ( Mary Birdsong ) and Mark ( Rob Huebel ). After hearing the news of Elizabeth’s impending death, Kai tells Matt that Elizabeth was thinking of leaving him for another man, and tells him that Elizabeth’s lover is named Brian Speer ( Matthew Lillard ).

Matt decides to find Brian and tells Alex that Elizabeth will soon be dead and that he has the opportunity to visit her while she is still alive. He discovers that Brian is a real estate agent currently on vacation in Kauai . After informing the family of Elizabeth’s terminal prediction, Matt, along with the girls and Alex’s vacant friend Sid ( Nick Krause ), travels to Kauai to find Brian.

Matt is going to run along the beach and passes next to a man, who recognizes like Brian. He follows him and sees him enter a vacation home, owned by Matt’s cousin, Hugh ( Beau Bridges ). Hugh tells him that Brian is Don Holitzer’s brother-in-law, and if Matt and his family sell the land to Holitzer, Brian will earn a lot of commission money when the land is urbanized.

Matt goes to the beach vacation home and introduces himself as Elizabeth’s husband. He tells Brian that he is there to let her know that Elizabeth is going to die in a few days and she wants to give Brian a chance to say goodbye. Brian tells him that while Elizabeth loved him, it was just an adventure for him, and he loves his wife and family. He tells Matt that he is sorry for the pain he caused.

Matt meets with his many cousins ​​to vote on the fate of the 25,000-hectare family. The majority vote is for Don Holitzer, but Matt has changed his mind and decides to stay with the land and find a different solution. Shocked, Hugh tells Matt that he and the other cousins ​​can take legal action, but Matt is not intimidated.

At the Queen’s Hospital, Elizabeth is offline. His father, Scott ( Robert Forster ), visits, and tells Matt that he should have been a more generous and loving husband to Elizabeth, whom he describes as a good, faithful woman. Matt agrees with him, but decides not to reveal the details of Elizabeth’s story to her father. Later, Julie Speer ( Judy Greer ) arrives, saying that Matt is now aware of the relationship between Elizabeth and her husband. Julie forgives Elizabeth, despite the fact that she holds a deep grudge against the destruction of her family. Alex and Scottie say their final farewell. He finally comes to an agreement with his wife in an act of betrayal, Matt kisses her tenderly and says goodbye. Later, Matt, Alex and Scottie scatter Elizabeth’s ashes into the ocean near Waikiki. The film ends with the three huddled on the sofa in the living room, eating ice cream and watching La marche de l’empereur , sharing the bedspread that was on the bed where Elizabeth died.

Cast

• George Clooney as Matt King .
• Shailene Woodley as Alexandra King .
• Amara Miller as Scottie .
• Matthew Lillard as Brian Speer .
• Kurt Russel as Hugh .
• Judy Greer as Julie Speer .
• Robert Forster as Scott Thorson .
• Patricia Hastie as Elizabeth .

Production

It began filming on March 15, 2011. ⁵ It was filmed entirely in the state of Hawaii , in the cities of Honolulu and Kaua’i . ⁶ During the process of creating the deal, Amanda Seyfried auditioned to play the character of the eldest daughter of Matt King , played by Clooney. ⁷ Alexander Payne and George Clooney were about to work together on the drama Sideways (2004) when the actor expressed his desire to give life to Jack , a character that finally fell to Thomas Haden Church . The director did not agree that Clooney was part of the cast of that film claiming that he wanted someone less known to play it. ⁷

The poster of the film was presented on March 23, 2011, ⁸ and the first trailer was released by Fox Searchlight two days later, on May 25, 2011. ⁹ The film was considered as one of the potential candidates to compete in the Cannes Film Festival , France , in 2011. ¹⁰

Reception

Critical response

According to the website Rotten Tomatoes , he got 90% positive comments, coming to the conclusion: “funny, moving and very well interpreted, The Descendants captures the unpredictable disorder of life with eloquence and a rare grace.” ¹¹ Peter Travers wrote for Rolling Stone that ” The Descendants is practically perfect. Director Alexander Payne is a master of the human comedy and George Clooney has never been exposed to the camera so openly.” ¹² AO Scott pointed out to The New York Times that “to call The Descendants perfect could be a kind of insult, a betrayal of their commitment, of their celebration of human imperfection.It is impossible to distinguish their faults from their pleasures.” ¹³ According to the website Metacritic , it obtained positive reviews, with 84%, based on 33 comments, of which 28 are positive. ¹⁴

Awards

Oscar awards

Year	Category	Person	Result
2011	Best film		Candidate
	Best director	Alexander Payne	Candidate
	best Actor	George Clooney	Candidate
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Nat Faxon Alexander Payne Jim Rash	Winners
	Best mount	Kevin Tent	Candidate

Golden Globes

Year	Category	Person	Result
2011	Best Picture - Drama		Winner
	Best director	Alexander Payne	Candidate
	Best Actor - Drama	George Clooney	Winner
	Best Supporting Actress	Shailene Woodley	Candidate
	Best screenplay	Alexander Payne Nat Faxon Jim Rash	Candidates

BAFTA Awards

Year	Category	Person	Result
2011	Best film		Candidate
	best Actor	George Clooney	Candidate
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Alexander Payne Nat Faxon Jim Rash	Candidates

Actors Guild Awards

Year	Category	Person	Result
2011	best Actor	George Clooney	Candidate
	Best cast		Candidates

Independent Spirit Awards

Year	Category	Person	Result
2011	Best film		Candidate
	Best director	Alexander Payne	Candidate
	Best Supporting Actress	Shailene Woodley	Winner
	Best screenplay	Alexander Payne Nat Faxon Jim Rash	Winners

George Clooney and Shailene Woodley were honored for their performances at the Hollywood Film Festival . ¹⁵ Candidate as “best film” at the London Film Festival , where George Clooney and Alexander Payne presented the film. ¹⁶ Clooney and Woodley won in the categories of “best actor” and “best supporting actress”, respectively, in the National Board of Review . She also received the “Best Adapted Screenplay” and was nominated for the “Best Picture” in the awards. ¹⁷ It was nominated for seven awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association , “Best Film”, “Best Director” (Payne), “Best Actor” (Clooney), “Best Supporting Actress” (Woodley), “Best Young Actress” ( Woodley), “best adapted screenplay” and “best cast”. ¹⁸ Won in the category of “best actor”. ¹⁹

Box office

Released in 29 US cinemas, it debuted in tenth place with a million dollars , with an average per room of 41,038 dollars - being the highest average of all the films on display -, ahead of Paranormal Activity 3 and behind In Time . ²⁰ In the United States, it raised 82 million. Adding international revenues, the figure amounts to 171 million. It is unknown what was the budget invested in production. ¹ The following table shows the top ten countries where the highest numbers were obtained:

country	Levy (in USD) 21
U.S	82,584,160
Australia	15,947,488
United Kingdom	12,908,681
Spain	11,293,549
Germany	6,049,147
France	5,747,561
Italy	4,283,049
Brazil	3,767,380
Netherlands	2,510,197
Mexico	2,365,365

References