"The Descendants" may seem like a light-hearted family comedy, but it hides a lot of ambition. The story takes place in Hawaii, a tourist resort, which is hailed as a paradise by foreigners. Beaches, seas, and sunshine make up people's consistent impression of Hawaii. However, "Descendants" directly wiped out the beautiful image of Hawaii. In other words, it wants to give Hawaii a meaning beyond the symbol of a "resort". At the beginning of the film, the waves, speedboats and smiling faces, elements that match the audience's feelings about Hawaii, gradually fade away until it is pitch black. After the opening song, there is a long monologue by George Clooney, to the effect that the film is to show the audience the real Hawaii - away from the beach and into the family.
This is the first layer of the film: "Descendants" makes it clear that it wants to be different from the previous scenic tourism films, focusing on the life of the island's aborigines, not foreign tourists. Like all good American comedies, The Descendants has an unusually dramatic conflict. This conflict guides the film's characters on a spiritual journey through which to bridge the family rift. An obsession with love that moved the audience off-screen. Maybe someone clapped their hands and shouted: Clooney Best Actor!
Going down to the next level, we start talking about life. Many places in the film involve land and family property, and then the title of the film is "Descendants". In addition, there is a clue in the film that the land of the ancestors is transferred. Hence the extension of the meaning that while we are guarding our family, we must also cherish the legacy of our ancestors - this is the land where we have lived for generations, and this is the foundation of a family. This is a "big family" and we have to love the land deeply.
Maybe we can go a step further and find that the movie is based on a novel, and the original author is Hawaiian, a real, native native. So from the perspective of the novelist, the love for the land is not the love for Hawaii. As mentioned earlier, Hawaii, as a symbol of tourism and vacation, has been separated from its real history for a long time. The film consciously outlines the history of Hawaii, such as the portraits on the walls and the origin of the land. From this point of view, the film hides a kind of nostalgia and pursuit of the past. To sum it up in one word, it is "rooting". Hawaii may have long since sunk in the Pacific Ocean, and today's Hawaii is just an oasis in the age of consumption. This is a kind of helplessness (the opening remarks of Clooney in the opening credits). In fact, it is difficult to find anything about the characteristics of the original residents in the film. If I have to say it, it is the last sea burial (the priest is finally gone).
But the director isn't Hawaiian, he's from the continental United States (I'm not biased against director Alexander Payne, whose Life with a Glass of Wine is a good movie). This is an interesting angle. We can look at the poster for The Descendants, with Clooney looking back at the two children. Clooney's figure is clearly visible, but the two children are completely blurred. Because Clooney was close, and the two kids were far away—two Hawaiian kids. It's fair to say that Clooney is an image of America, and the two kids are Hawaii -- a gesture of looking at each other from afar. This is exactly the role of the director of this film, and Payne wants to describe Hawaii from his perspective. This also shows that this is the mainstream consciousness of the United States, a kind of "care" for islands far away. And how "wishful thinking" this "care" is, Hawaii is still vague, and Hawaii is like a portrait.
It’s worth recalling the history of Hawaii:
around the 4th century AD, a group of Polynesians arrived in canoes to break the waves and settled here, giving the island the name “Hawaii,” which means “primitive home.”
In 1795, Kamehameha I conquered other Hawaiian tribes and established the Hawaiian Kingdom.
In 1893, a group of politicians and businessmen staged a coup with the help of Americans. The Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii was forced to abdicate under the threat of U.S. troops.
After the U.S.-Spanish War in 1898, the United States annexed Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines. After World War II, the Philippines became independent, while Guam and Puerto Rico continued to be U.S. territories, and Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state in 1959.
In 1993, with the approval of the U.S. Congress, then-President Clinton signed a bill apologizing for overthrowing the Kingdom of Hawaii 100 years ago, recognizing that the Native Hawaiians never directly gave up their claim to Hawaii.
——Baidu Encyclopedia's
"care" is essentially a kind of assimilation. They exported Clooney to Hawaii as a "native". It turns out that this is how the life of the "locals" is. The history of Hawaii is like this. Turns out Hawaii is a comedy. These "original" are based on the director to make a different Hawaii.
In the end, the Clooney family sat there, the scene still. Almost a kind of exhibition, shown to the audience on the other side of the ocean. It's a comedy that feels like a bargain, because they overcame the hardships of life, because they kept their "land".
Where are the descendants of Hawaii?
Finally, let's talk about the reason why this won the best picture. When "The Hurt Locker" and "The King's Speech" won awards, I thought the Oscars were no different from the Golden Rooster. It's just that the former is for the whole world, while the latter is only for mainland China; the former is lively and the latter is deserted. But the same is that both recommend a "good" movie for a specific person.
If the Oscars think the people of the world need to see The Descendants, then The Descendants is the best picture. Indeed, people all over the world really want to see The Descendants. Because it made Hawaii a silent comedy. Because this kind of comedy can make Egypt and Libya yesterday, Afghanistan and Iraq the day before yesterday, and let them see hope in tomorrow. What is more important is to show hope to those on the sidelines and to the people of the United States.
Imperceptibly, this is the strength of Oscar.
As for "The Artist", let's get the best director, after all, it's "flattering" to Hollywood. It can be described as a courtesy. If "Hugo" can come up with a solid story, it may be one of the best picture hits. If the same level of story, nostalgia with high-tech methods will definitely be easier to win awards than "old-fashioned" methods. High technology predicts income, and movies are not personal paintings after all.
(This article is purely fictitious)
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