Colombian director Sergio Cabrera's film adaptation of the Cuban novel of the same name, "Everyone Left," is similar to "A Farewell" in this regard.
The lens that touches me the most is very similar. That is, both mothers have the visas leading to a free life in the ideal country that they have obtained through untold hardships, but they both choose to watch the visas expire because the two daughters cannot leave.
The mother in "Everyone Leaves" is disappointed with the country and her husband. Because of the appearance of a new lover, she finally has a glimmer of hope for the future. However, because the daughter under the system cannot follow along, the mother finally gives her lover After making a phone call and saying "you forget me", I gently took my daughter's hand and burst into tears.
The mother in "A Farewell" was eager to leave this "environment" with the whole family. She and her husband could not compromise on the issue of leaving or staying. When the husband said you wanted to leave and you could leave, she did not leave in the end. , seeing the visa expired and the door closed, the mother's voluntary and helpless choice, she knew it herself, but she couldn't control it. This seemed to be a weakness that came with her life, and she couldn't let it go. As she said, "You think your daughter is willing to Do I live with you, no, because she knows that if she doesn't go, I won't go either."
Although we have different languages, different cultures, different national conditions, and different "difficulties" we face, We express our love in different ways, but as mothers, mothers all over the world have one thing in common, that is, they will never abandon their children, even if one foot has stepped into new happiness.
2. "A Farewell" is a film without villains. All the characters in the film may have high cognitive level because of the difference in class, but because of the existence of belief, no one is evil. is loss of conscience.
Among the middle-class Nader and Westminster families, Nader's sense of responsibility for his father and daughter, and the challenges of life, are obvious to all. Nader's family should be good, with a big house with a whole floor. Two cars, affordable housekeeping and tutoring. However, he still wiped himself off for his father and tutored his daughter in his studies. He is a gentle and upright man, which can be proved from the mouths of neighbors and governesses. Even his wife sitting in the divorce court gave Nader a "decency and decency" evaluation. When the conflict between Nader and the maid family escalated to the most intense, facing the maid's youngest daughter, Nader still gently helped her pack her schoolbag and told the child, "Don't hurt you because of the struggle of your parents."
Westminster , gentle, kind, and good-hearted. It can be seen from the beginning of the film that it is Westminster's idea to leave the current living environment and go to a better country. On this point, Nader criticized Westminster that "when you encounter problems, you always "Escape" I can't agree, because changing the environment is also another way to solve the problem, and it cannot be equated with escaping. I won't go into details on this, because it involves too much politics. Even after Ximin returned to her parents' house in anger, she still cared about her father-in-law's body and her husband's situation. Westminster's previous father-in-law's care was so considerate, you can see from the day she was leaving, her father-in-law held her wrist tightly. Women are always soft. Westminster left her house, but her heart never left. She even said that what she was waiting for was her husband's "don't go". Because Nader never said this sentence, Westminster's heart was hurt, hurt, but not cold. When Nader was in deep trouble, Westminster silently returned, saying "I, come take the blame". Westminster even used his mother's house as a mortgage to pay bail to her husband. Such a woman, if she doesn't take care of her, how can she bear it?
I always feel that there is love between Westminster and Nader. They are separated not because they don't love, but because they love too much, and you can't come to me.
The maid, Reitz, is also an admirable woman. Even if her job is low, she has a strong sense of responsibility. She couldn't bear to see the old man wet his pants and couldn't change his pants. Reitz called the priest and asked if he had broken the precept. The purpose is to help the elderly even if I take risks, to be worthy of my work and my conscience. The final revelation of the film is even more embarrassing. Reitz's pain of losing his son turned out to be due to saving the life of the old man. And Reitz, a savior who should be regarded as a hero, but at the end of the film, facing the constraints of the "Koran" on his heart, he gave up huge compensation, chose his inner peace, and returned to the life of the poor people at the bottom. .
Reitz's husband, for most of the film, is a rather annoying character, and the hostility, rudeness, inappropriate dress, and ill-considered behavior of the people at the bottom make people unlikable. But when a debtor who has a huge debt and can get the compensation right away, at the last moment, his inner conscience overcomes greed, when facing the "Koran", surrendering to his belief, and hammering his head in pain, All the audience forgave him. A person can be without knowledge, but not without morality.
In addition to these four protagonists, several supporting characters also shine with the beauty of human nature.
Westminster's mother was humorous and generous. In the face of her son-in-law who was divorcing her daughter, she still gave the same care and dedication as her mother. Without any hesitation, she took out her house book and guaranteed her son-in-law.
Tutors are upright and elegant. As a teacher of the people, she has a well-established view of right and wrong and a level of cognition, so she should have a clear conscience in her words and deeds. She went to court to revise her confession to seek her own inner peace.
Mr. Judge, this is a character setting that is either good or evil in various film and television dramas. But in this film, Mr. Judge is true and fair, with his tireless questioning, cold-faced and selfless judgment, and the corresponding convictions and punishments given to the two defendants after the interrogation. There is no selfish desire, no A little biased. He seems to be the representative of the justice of the law that we expect in real life.
3. "A Farewell" is a good film that listens to thunder in a silent place. Stories about conscience, about responsibility, about faith are told in detail. The words at the beginning of the film are touching. Westminster said, "Father doesn't know you, isn't it the same who takes care of him?" Nader said, "Dad doesn't know I'm his son, but I know he's my dad." In just one sentence, the true meaning of fulfilling a sense of responsibility is to be worthy of one's own conscience. "I can't swear", the maid Reitz and her husband finally gave up, and Xiangshan was because they couldn't betray their beliefs and couldn't swear in the face of the Koran. I swear that such a feat as light as a feather is as heavy as a mountain in the hearts of believers. And the stability of society and the inheritance of conscience depend on the top of Mount Tai. Just imagine, for people without beliefs and countries without beliefs, the instability of human nature, the fading of conscience, the erratic values of values, and the ever-changing changes of social rules, what a sad and terrible thing.
The Nader family and the Reitz family belong to different social classes but share the same beliefs, so they can distinguish between good and evil and return to order.
In some societies, people who belong to the same class without any beliefs cannibalize each other and become hostile everywhere.
4. Iranian culture, I don't know, I can't say much, just after watching the film, I am amazed by the gentleness and smoothness of Arabic, the beautiful sculpture-like faces of women under the black veil, and I long for more information to understand that film. Mysterious land.
5. Regarding the translation of the title "A Farewell", many people have already given their opinions. I also think that this translation is inappropriate, the film's open-ended solution, formally questioning whether the "parting" takes shape. I prefer to translate the title into "Separation," an intangible thing that separates a couple, separates two social classes. It seems to be transformed into the last scene of the film, the pane of glass in the corridor that separates Nader and Simin.
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