The Descendants (novel)

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The Descendants
The Descendants (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Kaui Hart Hemmings
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
Publisher Random House
Publication date
May 15, 2007
Media typePrint
Pages304 (First Edition)
ISBN 1-4000-6633-6

The Descendants is a novel written by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The 2011 American film The Descendants , directed by Alexander Payne, with the adapted screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash, [1] is based on this novel. [2]

Contents

Plot summary

Matthew King was once considered one of the most fortunate men in Hawaii. His missionary ancestors were financially and culturally progressiveone even married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and one of the state's largest landowners.

Now his luck has changed. His two daughters are out of control: Ten-year-old Scottie is a disrespectful troublemaker with a desperate need for attention, and seventeen-year-old Alex, a former model, is a recovering drug addict. Matt's wife, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident and will soon be taken off life support. The Kings can hardly picture life without her, but as they come to terms with this tragedy, their sadness is mixed with a sense of freedom that shames themand spurs them into surprising actions.

Before honoring Joanie's living will, Matt must gather her friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation made worse by the sudden discovery that there is one person who has not been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an extramarital affair, quite possibly the one man she ever truly loved. Forced to examine what he owes not only to the living but to the dead, Matt takes to the road with his daughters to find his wife's lover, a memorable journey that leads to both painful revelations and unforeseen humor and growth.

Real world analogue

Bernice Pauahi Bishop was a princess of the Kingdom of Hawaii who married the wealthy mainlander Charles Reed Bishop. Her estate, the Bernice P. Bishop Estate, is now one of America's wealthiest private landholders.

Reception

Film adaptation

The Descendants was adapted into a film in 2011 by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for Fox Searchlight Pictures. It starred George Clooney as Matt, Shailene Woodley as Alex, and Matthew Lillard as Brian Speer. The film was a success both critically and financially and won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as two Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture – Drama and Best Actor – Drama for Clooney. [3]

Related Research Articles

The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, musicals, short stories, TV series, and even other films and film characters. All sequels are also considered adaptations by this standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Payne</span> American film director, producer and screenwriter

Constantine Alexander Payne is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for the films Citizen Ruth (1996), Election (1999), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), Nebraska (2013) and Downsizing (2017). He is noted for his dark humor and satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne is a two-time winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and a three-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director. In 2017, Metacritic ranked Payne 2nd on its list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century.

Hawaiian literature has its origins in Polynesian mythology. It was originally preserved and expanded solely through oral traditions, as the ancient Hawaiians never developed a writing system. Written literature in the Hawaiian language and literary works in other languages by authors resident in Hawaii did not appear until the nineteenth century, when the arrival of American missionaries introduced the English language, the Latin alphabet, and Western notions of composition to the kingdom.

Descendant(s) or descendent(s) may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Rash</span> American actor, comedian, and filmmaker

James Rash is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is widely known for his role as Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2012. In that same year, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and received a Golden Globe nomination as one of the writers of The Descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat Faxon</span> American actor (born 1975)

Nathaniel Faxon is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. A frequent presence on comedic films and TV series, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing The Descendants (2011) and starred in the Fox comedy series Ben and Kate (2012–2013), the FX comedy series Married (2014–2015) and voices Elfo in the Netflix adult animated television series Disenchantment (2018-). He also co-wrote and co-directed The Way, Way Back (2013) and Downhill (2020) with writing partner Jim Rash.

<i>The Descendants</i> 2011 drama film directed by Alexander Payne

The Descendants is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller in her film debut, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, and Robert Forster, and was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in the United States on November 18, 2011, after being screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

The 83rd National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2011.

The 10th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards were given out on December 5, 2011.

The 64th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2011. Winners were announced on February 19, 2012.

The 37th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), honored the best in film for 2011.

The 11th New York Film Critics Online Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2011, were given on 11 December 2011.

The nominees for the 8th St. Louis Film Critics Association Awards were announced on December 12, 2011.

The 15th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2011, were given on December 14, 2011.

The 16th San Diego Film Critics Society Awards were announced on December 14, 2011.

The 17th Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards honoring the best in film for 2011 were announced on December 16, 2011. These awards "recognizing extraordinary accomplishment in film" are presented annually by the Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association (DFWFCA), based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex region of Texas. The organization, founded in 1990, includes 29 film critics for print, radio, television, and internet publications based in north Texas. The Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association began presenting its annual awards list in 1991.

The 24th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2011, were announced on December 19, 2011.

The 32nd London Film Critics Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2011, were announced by the London Film Critics Circle on 19 January 2012.

The 15th Online Film Critics Society Awards, honoring the best in film for 2011, were announced on 2 January 2012.

Kaui Hart Hemmings is an American writer. She is best known for her novel, The Descendants (2007), which was adapted into an award-winning film.

References

  1. "The-Descendants - Cast, Crew, Director and Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2011. Archived from the original on September 15, 2011.
  2. "2011 Films – Descendants". Toronto International Film Festival . 2011. Archived from the original on September 15, 2011.
  3. "Nominees for the 84th Academy Awards". 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.