The word aloha has always had a certain mystique about it. Its most common usage today is as a greeting, similar to hello and goodbye. Originating from proto-Polynesian language, the word, in fact, is far more encompassing than a simple greeting. It literally means the presence of breath, or the breath of life, but symbolises the friendly, hospitable and harmonious spirit of the Hawaiian people.
Very much of that Hawaiian spirit exists in director Alexander Payne's drama The Descendants. The film, which is generating a lot of Oscars chatter, is based on Hawaii native Kaui Hart Hemmings' debut novel of the same name. The book expanded on one of her short stories, The Minor Wars, from a collection entitled House of Thieves.
Hemmings initially thought of writing from the perspective of the 10-year-old girl Scottie. She soon decided against it, instead allowing the story to unfold through the voice of Scottie's middle-aged father, Matt.
'As soon as I switched into Matt's voice, the story found its rhythm,' recalls Hemmings. 'There was so much at stake for him.'
George Clooney plays Matt King, a man of mixed Hawaiian and white descent. Matt has inherited a parcel of undeveloped land from his royal Hawaiian ancestors.
Just as he's about to sell the land and make millions, his wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) is involved in a boating accident, leaving her in a coma with severe head trauma.