Posts
2011, 11-16; completed 11-27:
Review of film: “THE DESCENDANTS” + INFO on what put the “5-0” in HAWAII...
INFO on what put the “5-0” in HAWAII...
Have you ever wondered what put the “5-0” in HAWAII?...
... Sometime in the unrecorded past, POLYNESIANS (probably from the islands of Marquesas & Tahiti) came to the Hawaiian islands in canoes & formed settlements...
... Based on some signed maps, it’s postulated by some that SPANISH explorers came to the islands between 1551 & 1555 (but they made no settlements)...
... While seeking the Northwest Passage between the Pacific & Atlantic Oceans, English captain JAMES COOK visited the area by “accident” on January 18, 1778, & named the place the SANDWICH Islands (after the Earl of Sandwich)...
... Various other Europeans & Americans visited the area after that...
... In 1810, the various islands were UNITED under one ruler for the first time by King Kamehameha...
... There was a financial dispute on the island of KAUAI in 1815, & that disagreement resulted in that island becoming a temporary protectorate of RUSSIA (until around 1853)...
... The FRENCH (who controlled the Tahitian islands) complained to the Hawaiian King about the treatment of CATHOLICS in Hawaii in 1839, & forced the King to issue a decree of TOLERANCE concerning them...
... In 1843, a BRITISH Lord named Paulet tried to take over the islands by forcing the King to abdicate; but, around 5 months later, Paulet’s commanding officer REPUDIATED his actions, & the King was restored to power on July 31st of that year...
... Further disputes arose between the FRENCH & the Hawaiian King in 1849, but they left after an invasion that lasted around one month...
... After King Kamehameha V died in 1872, Princess KA’IULANI (of the House of Kalakaua] ascended to the throne, & worked hard to try to keep the country from being taken over by AMERICA...
... In 1875, Hawaii was in-effect forced to conclude the “RECIPROCITY Treaty”, wherein the U.S. allowed sugar to be imported duty-free from Hawaii-- but demanded that America be granted control of Oahu island’s PEARL HARBOR and Ford Island + shore lands there..
... The U.S. declared Hawaii to be a “SOVEREIGN nation” in that Treaty...
... But, -- typical of its treaties with indigenous people like the Native American Indians --, it soon IGNORED the agreement, &, after local “Rebellions” in 1887 & 1893, a U.S. government minister declared an “imminent threat to American lives and property", called in U.S. TROOPS, & forced then-Queen Lili’uokalani to ABDICATE...
... After disagreements between various U.S. government people (-- sound FAMILIAR?!--), on July 4, 1894, there was a declaration of a “REPUBLIC of Hawaii”...
... Still more “disagreements” arose, &, on July 7, 1898, U.S. President McKinley ILLEGALLY ANNEXED the islands & declared Hawaii to be a TERRITORY of the United States (an act some have called the 1st major incident of American IMPERIALISM)...
... On August 21, 1959, Hawaii was officially admitted as the 50th STATE in the United States-- which is where the “5-0” comes from...
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Review of film: “THE DESCENDANTS”
Now that you have the “background”, that brings us to the new MOVIE:
... This 115-minute R-rated (mainly due to language) dramedy was directed & co-written by ALEXANDER PAYNE (who directed “ELECTION” in 1999, “ABOUT SCHMIDT” in 2002, & “SIDEWAYS” in 2004)...
... Matt King (GEORGE CLOONEY) is a DESCENDANT of a member of the onetime-ROYAL family in Hawaii... He deals in REAL ESTATE, & that’s kept him extremely busy thru the years...
... He’s been particularly active lately, because he’d been chosen by his family as the one to make a major determination about a huge chunk of their beachfront PROPERTY in Kauai that had been passed down from an old Royal ownership...
... It seems that continuing new laws in Hawaii had made things so that the family must in some way DISPOSE of the highly-valuable undeveloped property within the next 7 years, or else they’d owe huge TAXES on it and / or would be forced to relinquish the property (possibly to the State)...
... As George comments at one point, most people seem to think of Hawaiians as living in one big “PARADISE”-- but he feels that’s NOT ACCURATE:
... Yes, there are some very NICE areas to be found in the 8 main islands...
... But, some places -- like Honolulu -- are overly CROWDED, hectic & UNPLEASANT to deal with on a daily basis...
... Furthermore, he’s upset that people seem to think that everything is “PERFECT” in Hawaii-- but he feels (& says), their families are “just as SCREWED-UP” as in OTHER places...
... There’s a number of reasons he feels the way he does:
... He’d been happily married for like 17 years, & he & his wife Elizabeth (PATRICIA HASTIE) had had two daughters...
... But, Patricia had gone off to go water-skiing recently. She was supposed to just drive the boat rather than ski herself-- but some family friend had in-effect allowed her to SKI, & she’d fallen in the water & severely INJURED herself & was in the HOSPITAL...
... George had mainly left the raising of his kids to Patricia... As he says, he has always been “the ‘BACKUP’ parent”...
... George at times wants to take his youngest (9-ish) daughter, Scotti (AMARA MILLER) to see comatose Patricia... But, Amara is very DIFFICULT to deal with, doing things like angrily throwing a chair in the family POOL & the like...
... As maddening as Scotti is, the 16-ish older daughter, Alexandra (SHAILENE WOODLEY) is even MORE troublesome to deal with:
... For some unknown reason, she’d grown extremely antagonistic towards Patricia, to the point that she’d been sent away to a sort of BOARDING school on another island... But, she’d gotten involved in DRUGS & drinking, & had become increasingly INCORRIGIBLE there...
... His “outer” family members (who owned a “share” of the Kauai property) were “pushing” George to SELL the property, so they would have something to “show” for all the years the family had held onto it...
... George had been considering the bids of two groups, both of whom wanted to DEVELOP the “untouched” property, to add more “value” to it...
... But, there were a lot of things George was trying to “mull over” before coming to a soon-to-be-made decision on the planned disposition of the land...
... At one point, Patricia’s doctor Johnston (MILT KOGAN) has a very serious discussion with George at the hospital. It seemed that she, before her accident, had signed a document that, if she was terminally ill, NO “special” efforts were to be made to keep her ALIVE...
... The doctors had determined that there was no way Patricia would be likely to RECOVER from her injury, & thus -- per her prior decision --, they soon would be turning-off the LIFE SUPPORT she was on, meaning, she’d likely die within around a WEEK...
... George, naturally, feels at a “LOSS” of just what to “do” next... Trying to be thoughtful to all concerned, he wanted to give Patricia’s FRIENDS a chance to come & say their “GOODBYES” to her...
... But, before he did that, he wanted to tell his KIDS what was going on... He thus goes to another island to retrieve Shailene... Typically, she’d run away from the school & was on a “BENDER” with another girl at the time he’d arrived...
... George eventually tells her she needs to come HOME because of the condition of her mom Patricia-- but, she said she wouldn’t be there unless she’s able to bring along a guy friend named Sid (NICK KRAUSE)...
... Reluctantly, George agrees to have Nick WITH Shailene, & they return to Oahu...
... He tries talking seriously to Shailene about AMARA, saying, “Help me with her. I don't know what to DO with her...”
... At one point, he TELLS Shailene about Patricia’s hopeless condition, & wonders just WHY she’d acted so ANGRY towards her mom recently...
... Somewhat amazed at his words & lack of understanding, Shailene replies, didn’t he know that Patricia had been having an AFFAIR with some guy for quite some time (& THAT’S what she was angry about)?!...
... George is stunned at the news, & quickly runs to talk to some nearby family FRIENDS, Mark Mitchell (ROB HUEBEL) & his wife Kai (MARY BIRDSONG)...
... Grudgingly, they admit that Shailene’s words were TRUE, & they didn’t feel right bringing the situation “UP” to him...
... George becomes obsessed with trying to FIND the guy Patricia had the affair with... Shailene makes clear, she feels such a thing would be a WASTE of time at this stage...
... With all the things going on, George feels obligated to inform Patricia’s immediate FAMILY about her hopeless condition... Her brother, Barry (SCOTT MICHAEL MORGAN), appreciates the gesture...
... But George finds it very difficult to deal with her mother, Alice “Tutu” (BARBARA L. SOUTHERN), who has a medical condition that makes it hard for her to “UNDERSTAND” the situation with Patricia...
... And, it’s extremely hard for George to put up with her hostile father, Scott (ROBERT FORSTER), who clearly didn’t know of her affair & keeps berating HIM for how he’d TREATED her in life...
... George eventually learns WHO the guy is who Patricia had been having the affair with— Brian Speer (MATTHEW LILLARD)...
... George keeps “obsessing” about Matthew, & wants to try to find him on the island of KAUAI where he’s learned Matt is vacationing...
... Since that island is where the family’s main PROPERTY is, he takes the KIDS along WITH him to go there, in part to “clue-them-in” a bit more about their HERITAGE...
... Shailene & Amara (& Nick) are amazed at how BEAUTIFUL & untouched the beachfront property is...
... On the island, he meets a number of his RELATIVES, including his cousin Hugh (BEAU BRIDGES), who -- not yet understanding the “depth” of Patricia’s health condition – comments to George on how HARD it must be for him to deal with the property situation at the same time as he’s dealing with PATRICIA’S problems...
... Beau talks to George about how he’s sure George will make the “right” decision as to what to do with the family’s remaining PROPERTY on the island, namely, choosing the BEST OFFER from those who want to buy & develop it...
... How will George deal with the idea of “TRACKING DOWN” MATTHEW, & what will “COME” of that search?...
... What unexpected “TWIST” will arise in the midst of George’s trying to decide what to do regarding the undeveloped PROPERTY?...
... How will the “cousins” group -- including Ralph (MATT CORBOY), Dave (TOM McTIGUE), Milo (MICHAEL ONTKEAN) & others – “RESPOND” to George’s decision?...
... How will Shailene & Amara ultimately “DEAL” with what’s happening to their mom PATRICIA?...
... What will George end up “DOING” with his life?...
... This is an unusually EXCEPTIONAL piece of film-making... The STORY has loads of “heart”, alternating between humorous & sad & touching...
... It’s a finely-written piece, dealing with a bunch of “TRUTHS” people need to handle in life-- the “expected” & the “UNexpected”...
... The acting is EXCELLENT overall, led by GEORGE’S highly-nuanced & sensitive work... I think his characterization -- & the movie ITSELF -- will likely be considered for OSCAR nominations...
... Thus, all things considered, I’m rating this at 9.00 out of 10 stars...
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