It's been more than ten years since I last attended a funeral, and I remember crying and silence. I forgot many details and traditions. Just two days ago, when I came home, my grandmother mentioned that a relative had passed away, but to my grandma’s surprise: my cousin, who had been playing since childhood, didn’t inform her before she died, and when she learned the news of her death. It's already a week later. She told me later that there was a tradition in the old days that if you didn't see that person for the last time before they died, you didn't have to go to the funeral . This seems to be saying that the funeral guests should be chosen by the deceased himself, he can send invitations, and only those who receive the invitations have the right to attend the funeral.
What John May, the male protagonist of "A Quiet Life," did was to send invitations to those people, and most of them didn't hear back. One of the things that impressed me the most was when John found one of Billy's co-workers and asked him if he would like to come to the funeral of his old colleague. He said:
For someone like him, I would definitely be willing to let me accompany him for another drink. As for the funeral, forget it. There is only sadness there.
The invitation appears to have been rejected, but for Billy, that statement is an endorsement. When he was born, he was funny and amiable, which made people want to have a good time with him. enough.
Billy's funeral is the most attended funeral in the whole film (not counting John's funeral for the time being), which is largely due to John's persistence, but more importantly, Billy's life is richer than other people who died alone. many--
He goes around mercilessly abandoning his wife and children, but he keeps every photo of his daughter in the cleanest gift bag; he uses the sky as his bed and the earth as his bed, but he keeps his own principles, not humble beggars, and only sleeps in luxurious Square; he's rambunctious and rude, but he can bite the belt three and a half times to raise money for strangers.
He was alone all his life, and he acted wildly, but in the eyes of others, he was neither humble nor arrogant, straightforward and straightforward.
A funeral is the end of a person's body, but the traces of a person's existence no longer care about his body. When a former lover says , "I loved him once, and I have loved him alone in my life," he gains immortality. He can hardly be considered successful in universal values, but his life is so interesting and fascinating that John May has begun to emulate his "unruly" life. That's enough.
There is a very interesting detail in the movie. A single person was found dead because the pet dog he kept barked in front of the door, and he didn't listen for a moment. The neighbors complained that the body was discovered; a lady who kept a cat died and was found by others. It was noticed because the cat ran onto the road and slipped away. It seems to be another song of loyalty to the dog, but why not understand it as an attitude towards death and deceased people? We can all learn like cats, learn to leave, learn to restart.
This movie is special, every character has a human flavor when they are carefully pondered, but there are also moments of facial expression. That's why I often say that those people in the movie who look annoying may just be part of a person's life, and everyone in the movie may be at a different stage in a person's life. Sometimes, there is a little tolerance for a character of a person, neither harsh nor demanding, lest one day I will inevitably fall into the trap of life.
During the epidemic, I also often fantasized about my funeral, and all kinds of dying wishes or must-do things. While watching this movie, I suddenly thought, what if a stranger came into my room and wanted to borrow all the things I left behind to look back at my life? Or, in our generation, mobile phones will become everything that carries the traces of our lives. I still cling to my old idea: virtual information is too cheap, and if it goes on like this, forgetting will become cheap, so what's the trouble with life and death? But life is extremely troublesome.
Today, only one of these must-dos remains.
Live as best you can. Don't be afraid. Do not give up.
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