The 91st Oscar Best Animated Short Film "Baby Bao", directed by Shi Zhiyu, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Disney. In just 7 minutes, it tells the story of the love of Chinese-style parents.
At the beginning of the film, Chinese-style music is festive and peaceful. In the close-up, both hands are rolling out the dough and wrapping the meat buns. After the similarity transition, the buns are all put on the steamer. The person standing by the opened window is the Baozi and Baobao's mother. It also explained that the time was in the morning, and the subtitles were published at the same time.
In the small room, the father watched TV quietly, the mother brought the freshly baked buns, the father left home after a few bites and went to work, leaving the mother alone to sigh helplessly and eat breakfast alone. Seeing this, everyone can feel that this is a family where only two elderly people live together, and the loneliness of the elderly is self-evident.
In the close-up, the last bun eaten by the mother suddenly came to life. The mother was frightened at first, and then saw the little bun giving birth to hands and feet, and the cheerful music sounded again. At this moment, she is more of a surprise, and her eyes express a feeling of panic to happiness.
The mother takes care of Bao Bao Bao as a child, taking grocery shopping, morning exercises, taking height measurements, unpacking pink gift boxes in the car, and eating bread together. Because of the accidental injury and being carried away by the dog, the mother eagerly checked Bao Baobao's body and sighed in relief after confirming that it was all right. It's like living in the arms of our parents when we were young.
The director did not directly tell us Bao Baobao's age changes, but told us through height and Bao Baobao's behavior changes that when Bao Baobao grew up, the age of adolescence was rebellious. Wanted to play like other children, but was forcibly pulled back twice by the mother. On the way home, the same pink gift box of bread was not attractive to Bao Bao, because the mother rejected his idea of playing; instead of eating at home, he loved it Snacks; close the door, refuse to communicate with parents. In order to ease the relationship between mother and son, the mother prepared a sumptuous dinner, Bao Bao went straight out to party with friends. In the room, the lights were not turned on, only the TV was on, and only the mother had finished a table of meals in anger. At this moment, like our adolescence, the freedom we yearn for is unreasonable in the eyes of our parents, and we are only safe around them.
The former Bao Bao has become an adult in an instant, and the ring in the close-up tells us that Bao Bao has an object. The mother, on the other hand, was stunned. She was caught off guard by the arrival of this "daughter-in-law". Bao Baobao did not explain, but just packed up and left the house. The muffled music also sounded. Everything happened in the mother's shock. In the end, the mother wanted to keep it, Bao Baobao angrily shook off her mother, conflicts broke out, the music became heavier, and the sound effects were louder.
At the last moment, the mother swallowed the "child" in one bite. The music stopped abruptly, and in the middle of the room, the top light poured down, leaving only the mother kneeling on the ground, and only the sound of sobbing.
The black screen fades out, fading into the camera is the sobbing mother lying on the bed. The door was pushed open, the light shone in the house, and the mother was in the dark, the figure at the door was blurry, the shadow reflected on the wall was the appearance of Bao Baobao, and the face that the mother could see clearly was the "child" who was eaten by herself. ". This child is not Bao Bao Bao but his own son. It is not difficult to understand why Bao Bao Bao in the opening chapter has the image of life like that. But the son was pushed into the room by his father, which is also a true portrayal of our relationship with our parents. The love in our hearts is always not expressed. At the same time, think about whether the appearance of Bao Baobao and the final swallowing of the baby are a mother's fantasy or a mother's dream? I realized that I was sobbing because of what my intense motherly love had caused.
The child turns on the light, the orange light, the warm color gives a warm feeling. The relaxing and warm music sounded again. The pink gift box brought by the child was placed on the bed. The mother and son ate the familiar bread together. The rigid relationship gradually eased. The warm music sounded again. The camera zoomed out and watched the mother and son quietly through the window. The bedroom is the epitome of home and the place where the mother-child relationship is reconciled.
In the close-up, the steamed buns failed. In the panoramic view, a family of four sat around the dining table. The father was still watching TV. The children learned to make steamed buns with the help of the wife and mother. The music was still soothing. At this moment, the family reunion really makes the family energized.
The story has a happy ending. The music is still the music at the beginning, still joyful and peaceful. The illustrations of Chinese knots, ceramic bowls, and stir-fries appearing in the subtitles at the end all have strong medieval characteristics, just like the strong Chinese parents expressed in the short film. And a little selfish love, and this kind of love can only be understood when we are parents, can be understood, can be tolerated.
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