Norman was a grumpy seventy-something, Ethel a sixty-something.
The picture slowly cuts in from the pond, dusk, and the skin diving in the water. The slow rhythm vaguely makes people feel the peaceful life of the late years. In such a twilight, the two of them moved to the Golden Pond. Norman's speech was very stiff, but Ethel was like an optimistic and cheerful 18-year-old girl listening to the distant waterfowl.
This is how the story of the two old men begins with the contrast of their personalities.
This story, from the very beginning, both the plot and the details can make people feel the traces of old age. Norman and Ethel's white hair and wrinkles, Norman's sluggish movements, Ethel's trembling body, Norman's hearing is bad, he can't hear his wife's door, can't remember the phone at home, can only see with a magnifying glass Newspapers, not remembering the way to the forest, rubbing your head upside down while lighting a match...
Aging starts to spread in many ways, first of all physiological - changes in appearance, degeneration of various bodily functions, and then recognition. Knowledge - poor memory, low thinking ability. As for the psychological aspect, the emotions of aging are complex enough to fill every moment of all this lonely years.
The first is the relationship between husband and wife.
Psychology has such a statistic: in the period of newly married, the marital satisfaction of the two people of the couple is very high. Marital satisfaction plummets as the two settle into their lives together. After that, until the first child reaches the preschool period, that is, when the child goes to kindergarten, marital satisfaction will slowly turn around and rise very slowly. Until all children have left home, the intimacy of the relationship between husband and wife will rise sharply, and in old age two people are even more satisfied with each other than when they were newly married.
That's why older couples cuddle more closely and love each other more.
That's why, the story of two old people in their twilight years makes people feel more intense and sweet love.
You say he's a likable old man? If so, why would the guy who came to visit, the kid at the gas station, the daughter's boyfriend, whoever chatted with him, would have a displeased face? But she said, you are the best man in the world, but only I know.
Ethel was extremely fond and tolerant of her husband. She understood why he was yelling at people, knew that if he came home late it must have been an accident, and knew how to get him to start trying to play with his little grandson Billy. This made me suddenly realize that love has nothing to do with what the person is like. He is poor, rich, handsome, ugly, kind, evil, none of these matters, what matters is that you love him and he loves you too. The tacit love between two people is enough to make each other understand why the other person behaves like this and why he says such things. Once people understand each other, it is not difficult to fall in love.
The two of them kissed many times in the movie. But it never makes people feel as youthful or nervous as seeing boys and girls kissing in youth movies. At this time, people will suddenly understand how amazing Nianhua is, and it can take off the tenderness and passion contained in love. The promise of eachother and loving you for 10,000 years is just wishful thinking written by the poet. Love will eventually fade and become a kind of affection that seeps into the skin. Love you can feel with your breath.
Don't you think the backs of the two old people snuggling together look particularly beautiful in the evening?
They bickered, she called him stupid, he always said things to spoil her, he never took the initiative to work—but so what? But it seems that the two are more tacit and sweet. This kind of love may be the purest feeling after years of refinement.
- "You will always be my handsome Prince Charming."
- "Oh! I don't like horses." A
family member is really a very magical thing. You can't choose, and you can't escape. It was decided at birth. It was a father, and I was a father all my life. I couldn't escape if I wanted to.
Isn't this a very interesting thing?
——What if this father has a bad temper and I am afraid of him? Can you not?
—Oh dear, of course not.
- What should we do then?
- Don't be afraid, just love him. He loves you too.
The second relationship around Norman is here, about him and her daughter.
When I watched this movie later, I found out that in this movie, the actor Jane Fonda who played her daughter Charshi was the daughter of Henry Fonda who played Norman, and Jane bought the copyright of the film as a gift. to dad. The father-daughter relationship lingers from inside to outside, and it feels really happy to see the two of them.
In the movie, Norman said the first thing he said when he saw his daughter: "Hey, little fat girl!" Charshi's face immediately turned ugly - this old guy always called her this ugly nickname with a joke. However, looking from the outside, isn't this cute nickname just a story between two people that has always existed because Norman witnessed her growth?
I remember my dad saying that every time he went back to my grandmother's house, my grandmother would nag a bunch of advice, no matter how strong my dad looks, he will always be a small child in front of grandma. The same is true for Charshi. She cried to her mother and told her that outside she could be an adult who could be on her own, but once she got home, she would always be that willful and petty daughter. How wonderful. A child becomes an adult if he is outside, but is always a child once he is at home.
At the end of the story, the two finally reconcile. Obviously, both of them are in love with each other, and they both want to break through this barrier to reach each other's hearts, but they always use the wrong language and tone. As long as two people compromise with each other and seriously understand each other's feelings, they will find that it is not that difficult. Just as Charshi finally jumped off and completed a backflip, it wasn't really that difficult.
Mother Ethel said to her daughter Charshi: "I know she will die for me, but, I know he can also die for you."
Then she understood...
Not long after the film started, Norman and Ethel discussed If the daughter is serious about getting married, there should be a problem with grandchildren now. Ethel asks, what if we have grandchildren? Norman said, put it on his lap.
As a result, they did have a grandson, but they could do much more than just put them on their laps.
Norman and his grandson Billy had a great time. Norman let Billy read, taught him to dive, taught him to fish, and even worked together to repair the broken gate—after having a grandson, Norman became warmer and learned to compromise.
I think the most relaxing and dynamic part of the whole movie is the scene where the grandson Billy is driving a yacht and playing in the pond. With the brisk music in the background and the bright sunshine in the picture, this is the original soothing story about the old man. Brings a youthful sunshine. The days of Billy and Norman together are like a turning point for Norman. Norman begins to become different. Fishing with his grandson allows him to get rid of the emptiness of the original days and start to be happy and hopeful about life.
Billy opened the door in his heart.
In the whole journey of aging, what is looming except that the emotional maintenance is changing?
That is death.
The story is interspersed with the breath of death from beginning to end.
It's not that I haven't seen death. Various movies depict death caused by various events. But once death and aging are linked together, death becomes a golden, warm glow, not fear, shock, regret.
The story begins with two old people arguing about death. She insists that she is only middle-aged, but he emphasizes that she is old and dying. The characters of two people decide to treat death differently, but whether it is negative or positive, both of them understand that death will come eventually.
Norman always said, let me read this book before I die, let me catch that mandarin fish before I die, my 94-year-old neighbor died. He knew that life would come to an end, but when he was with Billy, he started to become positive instead of simply being negative about life. When they caught a dead bird, Billy asked him, are you afraid of death? He said, what the hell, people always like to think about it. It turns out that he is also a person who likes to think, thinking about what he will be like when he dies, thinking about what his wife will do when he dies, but when he starts living with Billy and rekindles his desire for life, this time about death. His faint imagination was wiped out, and what came out of it was his positive attitude towards life.
Death is actually not that scary. If it comes, it will come. If it doesn't come, just live a good life.
Towards the end of the story, Norman fell to the ground with a heart ache, and Ethel gave him medicine in a trembling voice, and said with a cry, "For the first time, I realized that death is not far away from us... I feel so cold." When you understand that this is the final destination of the old people, you may be able to look down on this suddenness.
Death is an inevitable fate for everyone, so why panic? If you have someone you love, you understand your journey, you don't regret it, that's all you need, and you can face it calmly. A dance or a kiss with your wife together is the sweetness that death cannot take away, and it is also your own meaning.
This is the story of two old people in their twilight years, about love, family, and death.
It's been a long aging journey.
Just love.
Love your wrinkled face.
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