01.
On the bus, Natalie was sitting near the window, and despite the strange passengers sitting beside her, tears were still streaming down her face. Those tears had accumulated for a long time.
Also in this car, once, she was reading in the crowd, but now, she can only cry in the crowd. And Natalie tried to restrain herself and turned her face to the street outside the window, only to find her husband playing with his lover. This is a scene from the movie "The Future".
Isabelle Huppert plays Natalie, a woman in a midlife crisis. She is a philosophy teacher and listens to her favorite music with her husband, who is also a teacher. She takes care of her own garden and has two children.
Natalie's mother is an old lady who still has a willful girlish heart. She suffers from anxiety. In order to get her daughter's attention, she will wake up her sleeping daughter with a phone call in the middle of the night. Natalie had to run back and forth between family, work and her mother's help.
Although life is not worry-free, there are people to care about, responsibilities to take, and a complete family. This seems to be a happy life in the traditional sense.
But suddenly one day, the husband told her that he had met a person, he was going to live with that person, and the husband who had lived with that person for 25 years left her like this; the book she wrote was told by the publisher that it was not popular in the market; Then, her mother died suddenly. Both career and family collapsed, so the scene at the beginning of the article appeared. The unexpected arrival, she hadn't thought about it before, and now, it came to her without warning.
What does the future look like?
In the future, the person you think loves you will leave quietly; your expertise will suddenly be questioned; even the responsibility that you once thought was a little troublesome may be lost in an instant... I think, maybe this is what life is about The truth: Highs and lows alternate and surprises arrive without warning.
02.
This reminds me of a book "The Snow is Coming", everyone has to face their own heavy snow, you don't know if it will fall, and you don't know when it will fall. But one day, it will come unexpectedly.
For most of the middle-aged people, who has not experienced such a scene?
You, me, and him. There was always a moment when I couldn't hold back my emotions and suddenly broke out. Tears well up in front of strangers or on the bus, get up or get off the bus after crying, pretend to recover and continue on the road in the crowd.
There is also a detail in the movie that shows Natalie in distress, which is very touching:
Natalie went out, carrying luggage in one hand and a cage in the other, in which was Pandora, the cat that accompanied her mother for many years. One can imagine the predicament of a middle-aged single woman who goes out without even taking care of her cat. Perhaps, my current state is just right for watching "The Future".
In the vicissitudes of life, what should I do? I also want to know how a woman like her handles the crisis she faces.
03.
There are two little things that show how she deals with it.
In one scene, Natalie, who was on vacation, was told that her mother was not eating for a few days in the nursing home, and she was going to drive back by car. In a hurry, she ran and picked a bunch of flowers and held them in her hands. At this time, her husband had already done what he wanted and could not comfort her. I think this bouquet of flowers is not only for her mother, but also for herself. It is a little hope that a person has not forgotten to give to himself in difficult times.
Another detail is that Natalie returned from a trip to prepare for the children for Christmas, and found her ex-husband when she opened the door. After a friendly greeting, she asked for the key to the house and graciously kicked him out while cooking. . The husband's return at Christmas is a hint. But Natalie didn't accept the handout. In the loneliest time, she still maintained her dignity.
In the eyes of outsiders, she is so helpless, needs help, and needs care, but she is still loyal to her heart and chooses to be herself. Even if such a choice would make her situation even more embarrassing. Because, she knows, once she chooses to accept charity, she may spend forever in being charity. Next, how to spend it?
An adult, especially a middle-aged person, has no time to heal wounds. Just bite the bullet and arch forward. Face it, support it, face it again, support it again... Others may be able to bring you warmth, but they can't give you a shoulder. The one who can carry it is yourself.
Until one day, the darkness you thought might be another turning point. In the film, Natalie said something to show her temporary relief: I am completely free. That was another turning point after she experienced the initial panic and bewilderment of the accident. As the episode "deep peace" in the film expresses, in the face of sudden pain, perhaps only a long period of peace can heal it.
04.
I want to talk about Huppert, she is not an amazing woman, and her appearance is not lively. Perhaps it is her intellectual temperament in her perseverance that makes me feel just right. Her performance is natural and restrained, just right to hold up the tone of the film.
At the end of the movie, Natalie's children brought the child back for Christmas. The child cried. Natalie picked up the child and sang a song to him (her). This heralds her new identity and brings a new round of hope.
The past is gone, and the future will come sooner or later. Finally, what awaits her will be: when the night ends, the angels meet again in the morning light.
View more about Things to Come reviews
