we're just homeless

Kale 2022-04-23 07:03:31

The third film directed by Jin Min, "Tokyo Godfather", tells the story of three homeless A Hua, A Yin and Miyuki who pick up an abandoned baby, so they embark on a journey to find their parents, and finally reconcile with their respective families. s story. This is a touching story that downplays cruelty, joy, and tenderness. I once thought it was the most ordinary of Jin Min's four films, but looking at it now, it is not ordinary.

No matter which time I watch it, I still like the character Ah Hua the most. She is full of maternal care, emotional crying, loves to act, gentle and kind, persevering, and full of energy... (How can there be such a lovely person? ) But this time I want to talk about the red ghost, Ah Yin, who is taken care of by the green ghost Ah Hua.

Ah Yin, who has been wandering since his 30s, looks like a rude, vicious middle-aged uncle at first glance. He claimed to be a cyclist who married his son in his 20s. He cheated in the competition in order to raise money to treat his daughter's illness. After the incident was revealed, he was disqualified from the competition. His daughter died without treatment. go. It was not until the middle and later part of the film that we gradually learned that these were all lies. The real situation was that he was addicted to gambling and drinking, and left his wife and children after he owed a debt. Looking at it again, it turns out that he is still a person who evades responsibility, thinks of himself, and blames others. Of course, this is not the whole of Ah Yin.

I often use the eyes of the present to criticize my past self, blaming the unchangeable past, and the past has continued to this day. On second thought, if the future me, how will I look at the present me? What will she say?

The past, present, and future, these three time periods when it seems impossible to talk in the same space, happened to Ah Yin.

When Miyuki was kidnapped by the killer, Ah Hua tried her best to save Miyuki and the baby girl Kiyoko, but Ah Yin suddenly gave up. Ah Yin said, "We're just homeless people" and "We can't do anything in the end." It was sad and angry, and he gave up on himself. Ah Hua said angrily, "You are really a scumbag. People like you will die on the street sooner or later..." Just when Ah Yin gave up on himself, he met an old tramp who was dying on the side of the road. The old tramp and Ah Yin's clothes are very similar, and he likes to gamble and drink too much. Even the old tramp sighs, "I always feel that you are exactly the same as the young me."

In addition, the editing method of the scene when Ah Yin and the old tramp were beaten by the gangsters, the author is sending a message to the audience - the old tramp is the future Ah Yin.

This reminds me of the self-fulfilling prophecy that Ah Yin ends up being what he describes. An article in "Leviathan" mentions this sentence when it comes to self-fulfilling prophecy, which I think is a very appropriate summary of this psychological phenomenon - "Not only does your objective environment affect your cognition, you cognition can also affect the objective environment.”

In this conversation, the future Ah Yin didn't say anything about life to the current Ah Yin. He only let Ah Yin see what he looked like in the future, which is better than any words. Next, Ah Yin met a person who had a similar face to him, but lived a different life - a doctor, who was also his daughter's future husband. What's even more interesting and ironic is that the doctor's life experience was exactly the same as his own lie. . ("I'm just a doctor", this sentence reminds me of the medical incidents in recent years and this epidemic, as well as my friends. I also had this thought "You are my friend, you should... "In fact, you're just a friend, not just my friend. In the end, maybe people shouldn't expect one person to fulfill all their wishes, and be so lazy and selfish.)

After Ah Yin's lies are exposed, Ah Hua and Miyuki leave Ah Yin. Ah Yin, who wanted to give up again, saw in the news that the abandoned baby Qingzi they had picked up was reported to be abducted, so he went to Qingzi's parents. When they arrived at their residence, they learned that they were not Kiyoko's biological parents. Facing a young man Nishizawa who is as irresponsible as himself and repeating his mistakes, Ah Yin yells, this Nishizawa is like his past, he seems to be scolding himself.

Talking to myself in the long river like Ah Yin reminds me of Kim Yong-ho in "Mint" directed by Lee Chang-dong, but "Mint" is more cruel in comparison.

If we don't start from the "now" perspective of Ah Yin, in fact, whether it is Ah Yin and the old tramp, or Caesar and Ah Yin, they are actually the past and the future of each other.

The present is a point that connects the past and the future at any time, and it has infinite possibilities.

The past is in the past, and the future is in the future. Now, every moment please don't give up on yourself.

View more about Tokyo Godfathers reviews

Extended Reading

Tokyo Godfathers quotes

  • Gin: You peep pretty loud for a chick that can"t even find its own worms.

  • Gin: The cop shop's that way!