In the history of literature, looking for relatives has always been an indispensable theme. It is as timeless as love. Similarly, the history of film is always inseparable from this theme.
In Takeshi Kitano's "Kiujiro's Summer", a gentle gangster leads a precocious little boy to find the boy's mother during the hot summer vacation. The rogue Kijiro, played by Takeshi Kitano, has a scar and a slanted face just like Takeshi Kitano's expression in reality after a stroke.
"Central Station" is a 1998 Brazilian film. Dora, a somewhat evil old woman, takes a precocious little boy Joshua on a hot summer day to find a father the little boy has never met. The old woman's swollen goldfish-like eyes always had a hint of evil spirit floating in the air, but the little boy's complicated eyes always carried a little doubt.
The two films are the stories of two people from the bottom of society who are unable to fight. One is relaxing and soothing, while the other is worrying. Finding a father is actually a journey of self-growth. The difference is that growing up is painful, but also profound.
The endings of the movies are not perfect, because the reality is not perfect; but they are also very loving, because at least they have found themselves. The theme of the movie seems to be helping little boys find their relatives, but in fact it is also helping two adults find the missing childhood, the missing love and trust.
Kikujiro didn't have a mother either. He grew up alone at a very early age. He thought he was used to messing around in the world like this. In order to prove that he can't swim, he insisted on diving into the water; after listening to Zheng Nan's words and winning the lottery, he quickly lost everything; in order to make Zheng Nan who lost his mother happy, he cheated and threatened other gangsters to give Zheng Nan got an angel's bell; but in the end, he realized that all the things he was willing to help Zheng Nan to do were things he had also longed to do. He also hopes to get the love of his mother.
Dora has no father. Although there are still memories of her father in her memory, she always forces herself to forget these beautiful pasts, preferring to believe that her father is an alcoholic, and abandons her for this. She doesn't want to trust anyone and feels that there is no real love and trust in the world. She writes letters on behalf of others, but she claims to be God, and never sends these letters, so that those lovers who could have reconciled will be separated from each other, and those wanderers will drift away forever. All these letters that she did not send are her. Desire to receive letters from loved ones. The mother of the little boy Joshua also asked her to write a letter for her, but she was hit by a car after dictating her love. Dora took in Joshua, but bought him to a trafficker for 1,000 yuan, but in the end, she was uneasy and took Joshua back, but she forged a trip to find her relatives.
During a family hunt, Dora meets a truck driver who is kind enough to pick them up. Dora never thought that she would fall in love with a man, but she did fall in love with the truck driver, but because of her confession, the truck driver left without saying goodbye. Not because the truck driver didn't like her, but because neither of them actually believed in a future, and the truck driver ran away because he didn't believe he was worthy of love; follow the address on the envelope to find Joshua's father. When I was home, I heard that Joshua's father had sold the house and left here because of the alcohol debt. Dora firmly told Joshua that his father would never come back. In fact, it was because Dora's father had abandoned him because of alcoholism She never showed up again; when, at the insistence of the little boy, he found Joshua's father's new address for the second time, although he found that his father was still not there, he unexpectedly found his two brothers and a letter, and Dora started. Believe that there is true love in this world.
Whether it's Kikujiro or Dora; these seemingly mature, cunning and selfish adults, dragging their aging skins into the adult world, but there is a child who lacks love in their hearts and always lives in a corner, crying silently. Although it is helping Masao and Joshua to find relatives, in fact, it is helping Kijiro and Dora regain the lost childhood and heal the scars that have been sealed in the years.
There are actually quite a few such family-hunting works in the history of film, and the same is true of "A Thousand Miles Riding Alone". In literature, it is even more numerous. Whether it is Oedipusus' murdering his father and marrying his mother, or China's Agarwood saving his mother, they all share the same inner proposition: a person's growth begins by denying his parents, and it is also the same. Begin by re-acquainting your parents; no matter whether it is negation or rediscovery, it is the most important and insurmountable step in the process of self-growth.
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