The story takes place in a high-end apartment on the left bank of Paris, where political and business celebrities frequent, No. 7 Rue de Grenelle.
Paloma, the 12-year-old second lady, has an age-inappropriate indifference to life: the father of the congressman also wears the political mask that appears to be democratic and respectful but ignores the indifference at home, and the elegant and talkative mother has relied on psychotropic drugs for many years Still unable to control the compulsive behavior, the well-educated sister in the ivory tower can't get rid of the vulgar smell and the temperament of the young lady, and even the guests who are invited to the house are all superficially interacting with each other, but in fact they are different... Too many adults The hypocrisy and emptiness of the world made her feel very disappointed in life. She felt that life was not only meaningless, but also had the same pain as a fish in a fishbowl-seeing through but unable to escape. So, she made a countdown plan for herself—to end herself on her thirteenth birthday, specifically, using the medicine she stole from her mother to make herself sleep forever. (She would never choose such a painful way as jumping off a building. After all, the original intention of suicide is to avoid pain.)
The 54-year-old janitor, Renee, is like an outcast in this world compared to the dignitaries and elites who enter and leave this high-end apartment. No children and no daughters, obviously no luck. Of course, she has an equally ugly old cat and a secret - a room full of bookshelves, stuffed with Husserl phenomenology, Freud, medieval philosophy... She uses the closed door to keep all the books in her collection along with her own sense of security and The spiritual world is closed. Renee, who has not been treated kindly by this life for half her life, has also closed her heart to life. She no longer has extravagant expectations of life and self-esteem of high-ranking people, "I must keep my mouth shut, and I must never put my foot in the wrong place. It belongs to my world, and I have to deal with them carefully." Pretending to be stupid, ugly, vulgar, and cold-faced are the duties of a gatekeeper in the eyes of others that she must observe every day. The more she was ignored by the residents, the more comfortable she felt.
Renee thought she was well-disguised, but Paloma, who was looking at the world with a camera all day, saw the grace and mystery under Renee's thorns, because they were the same kind in a certain way and could smell each other. smell. Paloma tries to walk into Renee's concierge, observe Renee's books, taste Renee's dark chocolate and Chinese tea... "You found a good hiding place," Paloma said to Renee. Renee pushed Paloma out the door with a seen through embarrassment. "I will also be a janitor in the future," "I don't believe it, you will become a princess." Renee firmly rejected Paloni's promise. At the indifferent table, Paloma once again declared, "I will also be a janitor in the future." "My dear, it is not impossible." The parents' apparent democracy or, more precisely, the apparent respect makes Paloma angry. , she knew that their unthinking permission was just another proof that they treated her like a child and had no idea what she was talking about.
Paloma finds Renee of the same kind. The two hedgehogs can sympathize with each other, but it is difficult for them to embrace each other, let alone give the answer to reconcile each other with this disappointing world... Until the food review master on the fifth floor passed away and lived in a Mr. Ozu, a retired high-end audio agent in Japan, has made waves among residents with his elegant style. At the same time, his appearance also touched the fragile and dead hearts of Paloma and Renee. Mr. Ozu has a soul similar to theirs, he can read them, but is different from them: a disappointed world has done him the same bad thing, but he is so tolerant of it; a meaningless life has given him no quota. A hint of preference, but he enriched it. Everything about him seems to have a gravitational pull, pulling them into his world, and once inside, he finds it so easy: the communication doesn't have to be in pale language, it can be a game of chess, a book, a movie, a Japanese meal .
Paloma: "My cat is a feeding wine bag."
Ozu: "I believe in the magnanimity and compassion of the oak tree, so I believe more in what a cat has."
Paloma sees the boring torture in life and the helplessness that medicine can't save in the people around her. People, cats, goldfish... all have tragic tracks that cannot be struggled, and the only way to escape is to end. And Ozu told her that everything has the potential to be invisible, which is an unknown possibility in naming. There are disappointments in life, but there is no need to despair too early. And at the end of the sentence, Paloma was suspicious, she didn't know what it was worth.
Renee: "They didn't recognize me."
Ozu: "They never saw you."
Renee, who was well-dressed and went out to eat with Ozu, was greeted as politely as a noble lady by the residents who met every day. She was surprised.
Although she used to cover her soul with clothing, she was surprised to learn that clothing could even cover the skin. Maybe the world is really different from what we know, don't despair, because there will always be someone who will make you more desperate, even if you don't hide it, they won't see you; don't despair, because there will always be someone who will make you yearn, even if Covered with thorns, they can also see your soft and warm heart.
During her interaction with Mr. Ozu, Paloma reflected on her previous cognition of the world, her stubborn despair was shaken, and she was searching for another possibility ahead of her life. And Renee slowly let go of her defenses, allowing herself to step out of her heart and accept the possibility she didn't dare to dream of. Regrettably, she was only one step away from capturing happiness, and a car accident ended the happiness on the way. "Is this death? You won't see the people you love anymore, and the people you love won't see you anymore, and if so, then death really is the tragedy people say." Renee's death, let Paloma realizes that death ends not with pain and sorrow, but with love and hope. If fate could potentially be love and hope, perhaps it really shouldn't be too early to despair. If death doesn't end pain and sorrow, then death doesn't matter anymore, what matters is whether it's worth dying. Actually Renee did.
She is loving someone.
Stepping into Renee's concierge again, Paloma sees the goldfish she's "blissed out" and pours down the toilet, apparently going through something in the house's downpipe, before appearing under Renee's Mizuguchi, then, was seen, picked up, and sent to love, although it was the kind of love that cross-domain species, and then, was reborn.
Maybe it's not too early to despair of the world.
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