George, who suffers from Down syndrome, and Charlie, who is unable to extricate himself from the "sales", meet by chance on a road on a rainy day. Prior to this, two people whose destinies did not overlap were living their own lives. George was eager for family and sincere love in the nursing home, while Charlie was so busy in his sales position that he buried his own life with mechanical work. Family life is absent from the role of father in the world of two daughters.
The most profoundly comprehensible thing in the film is a kind of questioning and tracing about life itself, which is the impact of the strong contrast between "Georgeian" despair and "Charlieian" hope. Why is it that George is desperate, but Charlie is hopeful? Let me speak slowly.
At the beginning of the film, the model of "Bible Genesis" is quoted, expressing another unique interpretation of the world, and eliciting the love of life for George, an older child with Down syndrome. The lens moves from the sky to the land; it extends from indoors to outdoors; from close-ups to micro-lens of ants, ladybugs, grass, etc.; from the sounds of machines to the sounds of nature; from the birth of George to all his fantasies... nothing It does not reflect a child's love of life and the desire to integrate oneself into the natural world.
"If you stroke a tree, then you will become a tree... If you close your eyes, you will become an ant..." George felt the freedom of life in the world, and also felt the face Helplessness and helplessness to the outside world.
People say that God has closed a door for you and will definitely open another window for you.
George's congenital disease prevented him from working and living like ordinary people, but it gave him a pair of eyes to discover the beauty of life. Not only makes him have dreams of fantasies, but also can pass such dreams to the people around him. However, such a beautiful life always has an invisible gap between it and society. They are a group of people who are free from complicated rules, but have to be abandoned by their own flaws. They themselves were forgiven by God from the shackles of rules and the pain of self-seeking distress, but they were also excluded from normal social life, because normal people did not find the roots of beauty, and the "angels" like George became a drag and were obstructed. Abandoned by one's own relatives, and looked at differently by others.
This conflict between hope and despair is crowned with a more tragic plot in this film-George loses his mother. Abandoned in the sister’s family, abandoned in the lover’s world, disliked in the eyes of people, and friendship is not a long-term support. Everyone finds the last spiritual sustenance and emotion in their own lives. Belonging, only George, after the death of his mother, he desperately searched in the world, but he couldn't find anyone who could love himself like his mother. No one sees himself as life anymore. In a world without tolerance, love, and affection, George himself is just an outsider. In the end, he lonely and desperately chose to die, and he chose to stay quietly away from everything that made him sad. His sister, his lover, his friend Charlie, and his partners... are no longer a reason for him to live. Only the love of a mother can make a lonely child feel that life is alive in the world. The true meaning of. In George's mind, life is simple, life does not need any decoration and packaging, life itself and all its meaning is love.
The many details of the film all highlight the praise of George’s soul. Through George guided Charlie out of work pressure and shackles, George taught Charlie to feel the beauty of nature, taught him to discover the joy of life, and taught him how to love his family. …At the same time, the footage of the film captures many subtle key points, such as: George seems to be able to walk in the water, in the night, George waving his hands, a vague and coherent shot, as if George is really floating on the water. There is also George's self-entertaining exaggerated expression, child-like innocent smiling face, and many close-ups of the camera deepen the appeal of George's interpretation of life. Let the audience portray the image of George as a patient with flesh and blood, but it is very different from those with congenital stupidity that they usually see, because the director highlights their spiritual world and pays more attention to their psychological changes instead of some weird ones. Behavior. The director also recorded their robbing and nonsense behavior as a way of expressing their inner desire to get the approval of the outside world and getting more care, so that the audience feels that the disadvantaged groups need more care. From the audience's point of view, seeing George, thinking of the equality of life and the incomprehension of disadvantaged groups is one of the focuses of this film. For the connotation of life itself, it may be less touched.
So I call "Georgeian" despair, not that George's pure and innocent heart has no light at all, but in two aspects. First, in the development of the story of the film, George started from a passion for life. The big boy gradually lost the meaning of living. Before George committed suicide, he held the big tree and dreamed about his mother, saying: "Mom, I want to go with you, it’s not good for me here." It explains the real world. Did not give George even the hope and courage to survive. Second, in the narration of the theme of the film, George, as a Down syndrome patient, treats everyone around him in a friendly and kind manner, examining everything from a sincere and simple perspective, and even helping Charlie to discover the beauty of life. The harmony of the family was restored. But he couldn't escape his own shortcomings, he couldn't change his image in the hearts of others, and he couldn't live with normal people. Everyone had his own home, but George didn't have a real home spiritually and materially. From these two aspects, George essentially represents a kind, lonely, and desperate soul. It is also the most primitive mark of life embodied in George.
Let's look at Charlie again. A small accomplished salesman gave up the time and energy to spend with his wife and children in exchange for a workaholic who lives by the rules. In Charlie, we have seen the shadows of many urban white-collar workers. Many people repeat the same actions mechanically every day, honking their horns for traffic jams, like living a walking dead, without emotional communication, and a spiritual world. Messy.
After Charlie met George, God really seemed to have given him an angel. Charlie has to spend his time at work to take care of George, which is more difficult than taking care of his two daughters. But during this period, George infected Charlie with his unique lifestyle. Charlie is not a person who is completely inhuman and does not know how to care. When Charlie threw George at the intersection and prepared to leave alone, Charlie returned to pick him up because he was worried about George being caught in the rain. The camera switched between the expressions of the two people, and the psychological reaction of the two people was expressed in silent language. , To promote the development of the storyline, and deepen the film's sense of hierarchy.
After that, Charlie officially liberated his nature, and with George's company, he gradually found the meaning of life. He mingle with George's friends and lit all the fireworks in front of his house like a child, for his daughter's birthday, and at the same time the liberation of his body and mind. He laughed loudly at the company's conference, and calmed down for a cup of coffee when traffic jams. At the end of the film, he told the children the legend of Genesis in the spirit of George. There is no doubt that Charlie's life was changed by George. From a rigid mechanical life to enjoying the beauty of life itself, Charlie's future is full of hope.
In any case, Charlie's change and the hopeful ending is to prove that the greatness of life lies in life itself. We saw George's helplessness and sorrow, and lamented the beauty of life, but it was short and fleeting, but it made us feel the most simple and simple happiness of life. That kind of ignorant lust, sincere hugs, kindly making things difficult, and euphemistic farewell... So George's mother said that George is the best gift God has given her, an angel, and a person with special power. His special feature is that he will not sink into the real material world, and will not lose the direction of his life for the sake of foreign objects in addition to life itself. The things he runs, seeks, and pains all come from the most primitive desire of life. And the most real needs.
I think that in the beginning and the end of the film, the contrast between the front and the back, and the contrast between the two protagonists, among the coherent elements in the film, we can deeply understand that the greatness of life does not lie in the length of time or the length of time. How much material you have does not lie in your achievements, but in that you can discover the beauty of the world and pass on these wonderful spirits to everyone around you.
"Then he wondered if there were any omissions. On the eighth day he created it, George."
Love with your heart. This is the whole meaning of life itself being great.
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