Unlike Greece stalwart copper plastic statue
has conquered territory arm
Hongxia off the wave of the door you stand tall
exalted gushing lamps light
your name cohesion streamer - the mother of exiles
to illuminate the vast land
gaze soft sprinkled in the wide harbor Longbridge
"Defend your ancient and illusory land and merits!" She shouted with
trembling and silent lips:
take you,
the toiled and poor refugee
who yearn for free breathing, who was ruthlessly abandoned
, crowded on the other side, mournful and mournful
, torrential rains and storms
Give me all the shocks of overturning !
I stand at the Golden Gate with my lamp high!
The sonnet "The New Giant" Emma Lazarus
"The Golden Gate" is a 2006 Italian film directed by Italian director Emmanuel Criales, the film tells the story of Italy in 1913 The story of the people of Sicily who immigrated to the United States. This work is different from most movies that discuss immigration issues. It does not focus on describing the sadness and hardship of leaving home, nor does it specifically portray the courage and new life of pioneering new territories, but focuses the story on the immigrants who set foot in the United States. Before entering the new world, the land, the inspection and testing, with a humorous but gentle, imaginative tone and technique, satirized that the American immigration policy had long lost its original spirit of tolerance.
The film tells the story of the Saltovar family, which includes a father, two sons, and a grandmother. The family originally lived in a small village, raising sheep for a living. The grandmother also worked part-time as a witch doctor, and the youngest son was considered deaf and mute because he never spoke. They came across a group of photos that made them decide to immigrate. The United States in the photos is a paradise on earth. Chickens are half the height of a human being. Fruits can only be hugged by both hands. Large and many coins grow from trees. Of course, the photo was actually made up and used to lure young girls into marrying away to the United States.
In this way, the father of the Saltovar family disregarded the opposition of the mother and the younger son, and explained the affairs of the family clearly, and then the family embarked on the road of immigration to the paradise on earth - the United States. Their first stop was the port in Sicily, where they had to go through relevant procedures and buy a ticket before boarding the ship to the United States. Everything there is a mess with all kinds of scammers and tricks. Just as the family was asked to take pictures, a young British woman slipped into their midst, pretending to be with them.
This British woman is called Lucy, and she speaks elegant and gentle English. Judging from her dress, she is obviously from a high society. Lucy quickly attracted the attention of other people, and a broker immediately came up to chat with her, telling her that single women were not allowed to come to the United States, but they could help her introduce rich and successful people in the United States, as long as she agreed, immediately. A marriage contract helped her enter the United States. However, Lucy did not agree, and continued to follow the Saltovar family closely. After boarding, men and women were separated into small, dirty cabins. Lucy could have chosen a higher class, but she squeezed into the Salvatore family's grandmother's side and endured the harsh nagging of the grandmother all the way.
Sure enough, after confirming that Salvador's wife had passed away, Lucy asked Salvador's father if she would marry her. Of course, she also emphasized that she did not love him. El Salvador's father was willing to, like everyone else, he never took his eyes off Lucy. As for the question of love or not, he said: "Love? We don't know each other very well! The relationship must be slow. Cultivate." This is Lucy, don't want rich or successful people, just a simple man, a man of your own choice.
After a long and arduous sea voyage, the ship finally arrived in the United States, and everyone disembarked at Alice Island, the gateway to the United States, where everyone had to undergo a series of medical examinations and tests to determine that they were eligible. to officially enter the United States. Before docking and disembarking, a thick fog filled the air, and Salvador's father asked, "Where is America?" And Lucy pointed to the front meaningfully and said: America is there, but you can't see it.
The so-called examinations include various physical health and functional examinations, even the private parts of the individual are not spared. As for tests, it includes tests of mental functions such as arithmetic, language, and stacking blocks. Lucy once questioned the examiner why an intelligence test was needed, and the other person replied: "mental retardation is a genetic disease, which is contagious, and people with mental retardation must not be allowed to enter the United States." As a result, the Salvatore family refused to cooperate with the test. His grandmother was found to be mentally handicapped, while his younger son was found to be mute and handicapped and will be deported.
When asked for the test, the Salvatore grandmother said: "You are not gods, why test us and decide whether those of us from the old world are eligible to enter the new world." The other party replied: "If you want to think of America, you have to follow our rules." Obviously, America is just America, not paradise. As for the younger son of the Salvatore family, because he refused to speak, he was taken to a small room by himself for the test. The examiner asked him to "open the door, put the chair by the door, and put the book on the ground", although the younger son had no It is difficult to understand and implement the other party's request, but when he opens the door, he finds that there is a wall behind the door! Immigrants abandon everything in their hometowns to come to the United States, but there is no way to go behind it, unless they give up their existing ideas and habits, and act according to their rules of the game.
In the face of the tester's announcement, the Salvatore father was very angry, saying that he had traveled across the ocean to the United States, but now he is facing the dilemma of separation. The United States is so big and needs many workers. He is stubborn and refuses to speak. How does this hinder his ability to work? As for the mother, although she likes to speak harsh words, as long as she stays at home, who can get in the way? Just after the father said these words, the younger son suddenly spoke up, saying that his grandmother wanted to go back to his hometown, but she wanted us to stay.
■Grandmother didn't want to leave her hometown, and she didn't like it even more when she arrived at Ellis Island, but Lucy was the one who changed her. Grandmother was not friendly to Lucy from the beginning, but Lucy didn't take it seriously, she has been taking care of her by her side, and she prefers to stay with the people in third class.
An educated and well-born Englishman who is willing to let go of everything he has and go to the new world to find a free living space. He has no prejudice against other people, always upholds an equal and open attitude, and at the same time insists on his belief in dealing with others. If there is a so-called American spirit, Lucy has the spirit embodied in the people who first came to America. If the "New Giant" sonnet written on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty stands for anything, it is not in America's golden gates, but in the immigrants who are about to enter the gates.
Why did Lucy set off from Italy and why she went to the United States? The film does not explain from the beginning to the end, but it is conceivable that she has her own dream for the United States. At the end of the film, many immigrant women sit in a large room, waiting for their names to be called, and then get up and face-to-face with American men who "booked" them but never met. The whole process is like an animal auction. Lucy was always indifferent to other people's courtship, but insisted on asking for the Salvatore father, a man who couldn't read, couldn't write, and was poor and poor. When the whole process was completed and the engagement between the two was confirmed, the Salvatore father didn't have flowers for Lucy, so he threw his hat to Lucy and said, "Give you a flying hat." This, I think, is what Lucy wants: the power to decide her own future.
■"Golden Gate" is very different from other films about immigration to the United States, that is, not a single shot was brought to the United States, nor was a shot of the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States, photographed. Because Lucy's words express the meaning of the film: America is there, but you can't see it.
I have a friend in the United States, he is a second-generation immigrant from China, born in the United States, but can't speak a word of Chinese, and later came back to learn Chinese. As a second-generation immigrant, it is unusual for them to not speak Chinese at all. After all, both parents are Chinese. Unless they have a strong determination, they will speak Chinese at home and with other Chinese parents. Therefore, children usually speak Chinese to some extent. When he told me that his parents never spoke Chinese, I had a little bit of incomprehension.
But later when I went to study in the United States, I gradually could understand his parents' feelings of abandoning their hometown. This was based on practical considerations and had nothing to do with loving the country or not. The United States is an open country, and many people can immigrate there, especially those with higher education and professional knowledge, so many Chinese students choose to stay there after graduation. However, the immigration gate to the United States does not mean that you become a person in the new world, a cultural wall, a glass ceiling, always there.
Because of language, values, thinking logic and way of life, the first generation of immigrants often can only integrate into it in a limited way, doing work that does not fully represent their abilities. Therefore, they naturally pin their hopes on the next generation, hoping that the next generation will speak unaccented English, have American-style logic and attitude. They don't want their children to be like themselves, stuck between the new world and the old world, with no way out.
However, giving up everything is not the same as getting everything. My friend, who was born in the United States and speaks only English, is short and downright Chinese. Because of his appearance, Americans think he is Chinese, because of language and attitude beliefs, Chinese think he is American, and as a result, he is still stuck between the new world and the old world. After getting a doctorate and two masters degrees, he resolutely decided to come back to learn Chinese. After all, he can't change his appearance, and the old world is his only door left. The road of immigration is extremely long, and the golden gate is just the starting point.
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