She lives in a pentagon: one side is the poetry of life; one side is the hardships of life; one side is the infection of disease;
This is the 2010 film "Poem" by South Korean director Lee Chang-dong, which depicts a certain stage in the life of an ordinary woman in her twilight years. The simple film language brings out the humanistic care that shakes the soul. I hope more people can slowly taste this masterpiece of light and shadow.
At the age of 66, Meizi, who is still beautiful and elegant, supports herself and her grandson Xiaoxu on government benefits and part-time work. Xiaoxu's mother went to Busan to make a living alone in the early years, leaving her son to her grandmother Miko to take care of. Although life is poor, he always dresses up his beauty with light makeup, loves life, loves flowers, and wants to regain his childhood dream to write poetry: not to be a poet, just to write a poem.
She attended a month-long poetry training class and followed her teacher's instructions to observe life from different angles, even if it was an apple. She also remembered the summary of poetry friends, writing poems must have feelings, and when feelings come, writing them out is poetry. She is out of tune with the old life around her, blowing the wind leisurely, looking at the trees, carefully observing and understanding all the natural beauty around her, waiting for the feeling to come.
In addition to poetry, there are also hardships in life: with the relief money and her weekly needs to do personal hygiene for the president who is paralyzed by stroke, support herself and bring up her grandson, who is in the third grade of middle school.
But the poetry of life and the routine of taking care of her grandson were shattered by the suicide of a third-year middle school girl who jumped into a river. Meizi herself had seen a girl who committed suicide in the hospital, a lost and desperate mother, and Meizi, who was also a woman, was sad for this mother, but could not do anything, and the crowd was indifferent.
The diary left by the girl mentioned the names of six boys. She had been sexually assaulted by the six boys in the six months before her suicide. The six boys also confessed, and one of the six boys has "Xiao Xu".
Not many people know the truth, and the police have no clue. For the sake of reputation and the future of the six boys, the school wants to keep the parents of the six and the mother of the deceased private. The result of the final consultation was to spend 30 million yuan to eliminate disasters, 5 million for each family.
Feeling guilty and ashamed of her grandson's behavior, Miko couldn't stand their calm and indifference when discussing strategies with the father of the other five boys. From the context in which they were discussing the use of money to relieve disasters as easily as a party, she took it out to see the blood-red cockscombs outside the house. Meizi couldn't believe that her grandson, who she had worked so hard to raise, was involved in killing the girl.
At the girl's Requiem Mass, how much pain she had to endure before she chose to give up her life at the age of a flower. Miko seemed to feel the pain of the girl, and she could better understand the pain of the girl's mother.
Meizi, who loves brightness and is poetic and sensitive to life and people, because of her conscience, can blend in with the beautiful sunshine and flowers around her, and experience their warmth; she can also blend in with the girl and the bereaved mother's emotions. to experience their pain and suffering. Conscience, coupled with the torture of teaching Sun Wufang's guilt, Miko burst into tears and collapsed in the shower at the president's house. At home, Xiaoxu was calm and calm, and ignored the questioning grandmother.
Miko, who was overwhelmed, ran to the science laboratory, where the school girl was violated, and looked in the window. It seemed that she could bear some pain for the girl and atone for the sin of her grandson. At this time, Meizi, who only hoped to take part in a poetry class and write poems to relieve her pain, was also asked by the paralyzed president to meet her physical needs. She left in anger. On the same day, she was diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease by a large hospital. Slowly forget all the beauty and ugliness in this world, the girl and grandson who committed suicide.
Before forgetting the world, Miko wants to repay her debts. However, Xiaoxu's parents declined to borrow money to raise the five million beautiful son. Desperate, she cried and shared her only happy childhood time at the poetry meeting, and then soaked in the rain alone and decided to meet the president's request.
Soon the parents of the six-member group hope that Miko can act as a negotiator who can empathize and go to the countryside to reach a private intention with the mother of the deceased. Meizi went, but the sunny, blooming, quiet and warm countryside made her poetic, and she only wanted to experience the life and taste of the apricot fruit that fell on the ground (it was crushed on the ground, and then reborn), and she was busy in the fields. The peasant woman (the mother of the deceased) talked about the countryside scenery to herself, and brought a few smiles to the peasant woman with her grace and sunshine. By the time she understood the purpose of her trip, Miko no longer had the courage to face it, and hurriedly fled.
Xiaoxu at home was still heartless. Even when he saw the photo of the dead girl that Meizi deliberately took out to test him, he still did not show a trace of trembling in his heart and uneasiness in his soul.
The resolute Meizi ran to the president and borrowed 5 million to redeem her grandson's financial debt.
She took Xiaoxu to eat a rich meal, cut his toenails for him, and then let the police, who was acquainted in the "Friday recitation class", who was always telling yellow jokes, but actually upright, took away his grandson.
The one-month poetry training class was over, and only Miko completed the homework of creating a poem. Her poems and flowers for the teacher arrived in the classroom.
So far, Miko has explained her painstakingly painstaking life and guilt all at once.
Miko, who was about to forget this world and was forgotten by this world, found the feeling of writing poetry by empathizing with the pain she felt, and wrote the feelings that belonged to her and that ordinary-looking deceased girl.
Miko recited this poem in a voice-over voice in the tone of greeting the dead girl. At the end of the line, Miko's voice and the dead girl's voice merged and recited together. This must be the girl's response to the atonement of the beautiful children and grandchildren. The girl's portrait fell to the ground. The apricot fruit is crushed like the same, but it will definitely be reborn, and the same is true for Miko.
(Original first published on the public account "Iron Rice")
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