Text丨Qingxin Junyue
The film "Untouchable" (US version), a remake of the 2011 French film "Untouchable" ("Untouchable"), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017, and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on November 22, 2019. Officially released in China.
The whole film interprets the whole process of an untouchable (identity, class, and status gap) friendship in a humorous and pleasant atmosphere. Before the two met, they were on the edge of life. After the two met, they redeemed each other in their exchanges, and they achieved each other and their own happiness.
And this article takes Dale and Philip, the protagonists of the film, as clues to explore their path to happiness.
The darkness of the past should not be an obstacle to obtaining happiness
Dale, one of the protagonists in the film, is a middle-aged man who is serving a sentence in prison and urgently needs 3 interview signatures to complete his parole requirements. His father is also a "regular visitor" to the prison. The deepest impression on him when he was young is What his father said to him after he was imprisoned:
"Welcome home."
In order to fulfill the request of the parole officer, Dale inadvertently participated in the interview of Yifang (Philip's housekeeper) recruiting a "life assistant" for Philip. When he learned the content of the job, Dale was resistant to the job, and it could even be said that he was not interested in any routine. There are certain contradictions in his work. After all, under the influence of his father when he was a child, the work he came into contact with later was "shady" - petty theft, drug trafficking.
However, in order to meet the parole conditions and return to his family as soon as possible, he still conducted an interview (cutting the queue, impatiently waiting), he frankly stated that he did not have the corresponding knowledge and skills, and was not interested in this job, just for the interview to sign, but In the end, he received an unexpected double surprise - he got the last interview signature, and was inexplicably approved by Philip to be hired. Faced with this situation, Dell chose to refuse, but what happened next forced him to come back that night to accept the job.
After Dale returned home after completing his parole, the greetings and warmth he thought he would receive were replaced by the indifference and resistance of his wife and son. After many years in prison, he has already become a dispensable existence in the family. He was kicked out of the house by his wife that night.
From the description of the plot, the family's indifference and resistance to Dale mainly stem from three aspects:
- Lack of family responsibilities, failure to protect the family as it should
- Lack of family emotions, failing to give the family the necessary emotional care
- Lack of recognition and trust, his work and status are unacceptable to his family
In fact, for Dale, he loves his family very much. Although everything he does cannot be recognized by his wife and children, he is also creating happiness for the family within the scope of his ability to be right. The happiness he hopes to obtain— - Normal life and the identification of wife and children.
He chose to work as a life assistant for Philip, initially just to get a high weekly salary, although Dale lacked enthusiasm in his work, so that in the early days of the job, he was almost negligent (the alarm that Yifang handed him was thrown aside). Philip had an accident, but he gave everything to the family. He handed over all his weekly wages to his wife to compensate for the damage he had caused. He wanted to prove his importance and concern for the family and hoped to get it again. Wife and children's approval and forgiveness.
In fact, it can also be seen from the film that although Dell has a certain inferior quality, it has not completely covered up the shining point of human nature-the love for the family, especially for the son, is real. For example, the birthday gift Dale gave to his son was a book he "stealed" from Philip's house, but when he learned that it was a relic left by Philip's deceased wife, he eagerly wanted to get it back from his son. When he turned in his salary, he asked his wife for help, but was rejected. He asked him to explain it to his son in person, and told him that he was very concerned about the "birthday gift" he gave (the son actually longed for fatherly love).
Later, when he took Philip out for a ride, after getting Philip's approval, he went out with his son for a day. When he was going to be separated from his son at night, he secretly asked his son for the book, which made his son guess the matter. As a result, the goodwill that had just been established between father and son disappeared.
In the end, the son was disappointed and returned the book to Philip in front of his father. On the way back, Philip, who thought he would be furious and dismissed him, chose to forgive after deep thought, and said lightly:
"Books are meant for people to read, and people always make mistakes."
Then Dyer told Philip about his childhood experience, and told him the desire in his heart to be a good father:
"I would never let my child be like me."
Xu is that the two developed feelings during their relationship. Xu is that Dell's attention to his wife and children moved Philip. After all, it was because of the death of his wife that Philip lost his happiness and reason to live, which made Philip want to help. Dell's idea, in the follow-up communication, Philip gradually dispelled Dell's unrealistic entrepreneurial plan, let him focus on "the things he loves", and indirectly gave him a certain amount of funds (with his casual Graffiti was sold at a high price).
At the same time, Philip inadvertently said to Dale:
"My father didn't leave me anything, and everything I have now is what I have worked hard to earn."
The words that seem to have a certain show-off flavor are telling Dell from his own experience: everything in the past cannot determine the future, and only his current efforts can determine whether the future is happy or not.
As a result, Dell finally gradually abandoned the influence of the past and began to enter a new life.
The hindrance to happiness is not the shackles of objective reality, but the limitations of subjective hearts
Philip, another protagonist in the film, a successful man with multiple identities and huge wealth, the owner of an investment company, a writer and a lover of extreme sports, but in an accident (gliding in a storm, trying to push the limit) ), lost his beloved wife, and became a severely disabled person with high paraplegia.
After hearing about this, his former friend Yi Fang volunteered to be Philip's housekeeper. In order to make his daily life more convenient, he specially recruited a "life assistant" for him. As mentioned above, Dell also participated in this interview by accident. , No one would have thought that a person with no education, no professional skills, and a criminal record would become the most recognized person by Philip, breaking through the siege of many interviewers with professional skills.
Why did Philip choose Dell as a life assistant? Some people think that it is because of Dale's indifference and frankness that Philip feels the most real respect, just like what Dale said to Philip in the interview: "Don't look down on me, I also look down on you", regardless of Philip's physical state Directly asked Philip to sign for him; some people thought that as Philip said later in the film, Dale was chosen because of his indifference, Philip believed that this would allow the "suicide plan" to be carried out smoothly.
It is true that both of the above viewpoints can be the reasons why Philip chooses Dale, but there may be another reason besides this: the attraction of two people who are in a common situation in life. One is a low-level person who "has a record" and is at a loss for the future, and the other is a disabled person who "has no ability to live" and has no desire for life. Both of them think that they are on the verge of happiness, which naturally forms an attraction. A conversation in a relationship can more test this point of view.
Philip said to Dale:
"Some people are nice to me, but others, when they don't see my money, just ignore me."
Dale replied:
"Then we are the same, except I have no money."
Xu is Dell's initial concern for this salary, and Xu is the kindness of Dell himself. Part of the purpose of Philip choosing Dell was not really realized. Blocked by Dell:
"If you don't take oxygen, I will give you artificial respiration mouth to mouth."
Afterwards, after learning about Philip's real experience, Dale raised the idea of helping Philip. Dale used his own way to help Philip find the beauty in life, taking him racing to make him feel the passion he once had, and taking him to smoke to relieve his inner feelings. Fear and pain, let him order his own food at a fast food restaurant...
With Dale's efforts, Philip gradually began to accept life. For Philip, the key to giving up life and making a "suicide plan" is that the death of his wife made him unable to feel the beauty of life for a time, and his physical disability made him lose hope of pursuing happiness. But he also saw the possibility of his own happiness from Dale. First, everything he has now can bring infinite beauty to Dale, and even directly solve Dale's family troubles. He has nothing; In the middle, Dell's desire for happiness made him yearn for life.
Afterwards, Philip was ready to find happiness again. Under Dale's instigation, he called a pen pal of the opposite sex. After the accident, Philip had a long correspondence with the opposite sex. In the letter, the other party expressed that he wanted to develop further. , but Philip was worried that the other party could not accept his status quo, while Dell thought that the other party had already learned about his status quo from the Internet, so this kind of worry was meaningless. On the phone, the two made an appointment to meet, and during the meeting, it was confirmed that Dell's guess was correct. Unfortunately, the pen pal who thought he could accept everything before the meeting questioned his decision after the meeting, and finally gave Philip a cruel rejection.
As a result, the fire of happiness that Philip rekindled was extinguished by reality, and then Philip, who was so embarrassed, blamed Dale for the mistake, dismissed him, and expelled Yifang soon after.
Later, Philip's physiotherapist found Dale for help. When Dale appeared in front of Philip again, after a series of efforts, Philip truly had his longing for life and embraced happiness - Yifang.
Happiness, what is out of reach is choice, what is in reach is attitude
The ending of the film is good. Dell used the funds indirectly given by Philip, partly to change the living environment for his wife and children, and partly to start a business (electric wheelchair), and harvested the happiness he was looking forward to. After learning about Philip's condition, Dale went back to see Philip again, took him racing (that is, the scene at the beginning of the film), helped him shave, and relived the sport of paragliding with him, until the appearance of Yi Fang, also Let Philip have happiness.
What is happiness?
There is no single definition of happiness, but there is one that applies to the most general state: a fulfillment of expectations .
In the film, what Dyer looks forward to the most is essentially the approval of his family, and what Philip looks forward to the most is, in essence, a normal life (love and respect). Once the above expectations can be met, it means happiness.
So why do some people feel that happiness is "out of reach"?
There are many reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is self-denial . In the film, because of his criminal record and experience, Dale believes that he cannot have a decent job, and it is difficult to obtain the approval of his family; Philip, because of his disability after the accident, thinks that he cannot be treated normally by others, and can no longer be treated normally. get love.
But in fact, even if there are some realistic factors that make you seem far away from happiness, it is not really out of reach. Instead, it is your denial of yourself that pushes happiness farther and farther, so that it cannot be touched. Before the end, no one can give a fixed result to the future. Similarly, if there is no happiness, then it is likely that the last moment is not reached.
Come to think of it, the final ending of the film, the love between Yvonne and Philip, has another meaning: happiness has always been around, and you have not found it.
For happiness, your negative choices make happiness farther and farther away, and a positive attitude can narrow the distance between you and happiness. Therefore, "unreachable" is just a choice, and "reachable" is a state of mind. Maybe this is another revelation of human nature, good and evil, class, etc. in the film "Unreachable", a revelation to happiness.
Qingxin Junyue, original author, senior mental health instructor, and well-known emotional blogger. Warm you with words, me.
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