In this scene, the father comes home after finishing his performance at the home of his old schoolmate who has also been laid off. The mother wants him to pull her up and then goes up the stairs with him, however, the father has already gone alone. She looks at her hands, holding nothing and says weakly: “Somebody, please pull me up.” It sounds as if she were fallen into an abyss, with no one to help her. In the film, this “abyss” seems to be her identity as a housewife and the life in a rut. It's easy to notice the ring on her finger in this shot, which may remind the audience and the character herself of marriage. To some extent, marriage is also a kind of role -playing. She is now a housewife in a middle-class family, so she should act like a mother or wife. Her family and the society expect her to be gentle and considerate,to prepare delicious meals for her children and husband every day, and to manage household expenses with her husband's salary but leave the big decisions to her husband and so on. As shown in the film, the mother dutifully plays her role as expected, but a sense of tiredness sometimes creeps over her face.
In addition, I think this scene echoes another metaphor in the film. When the father fails an interview, his friends compare themselves to “a slowly sinking ship”. The lifeboats have gone long ago and no one could pull them up. They have to suffer these tough situations and perform as usual as if nothing bad has happened. Unfortunately, they may have no choice in this culture attaching great importance to masculinity, or they may lose their dignity, because they don't match what the public expects of salarymen .
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