Regardless of passive separation or natural growth, "home" will gradually change from a familiar place to a word that is only familiar in the heart.
When I was very young (about three or four years old), I went to the street with my grandmother to buy vegetables once, and got separated on the road. The home address came to the other party one by one. When my grandmother, who was so anxious, tried to go home and find someone, she found that I had been sent to the door of the house by kindhearted people... This matter is still talked about by my family after many years. In addition to admiring me for being a "little devil", everyone is more afraid: "What if I encounter a bad person?"
Compared with me back then, Saru's journey "home" in "The Long Way Home" is too hard. This is a story based on a true story: Saru, a young Indian boy who was separated from his brother at the railway station, went through five obstacles and was lucky enough to be adopted by a kind-hearted couple in Australia. However, he always cared about his family and Through precise calculations and electronic map searches, he miraculously returned to his hometown where he even remembered the wrong name, and successfully recognized his mother...
There have been many similar films of the same type, and "Treading the Iron Shoes to Find Love" two years ago is an example. If you look at the trailer alone, you may doubt that the film is "lack", even if the appearance of Di Bertel (who starred in "One Million and One Nights") who plays the adult Saru is in this film, it seems Reached new heights. In my eyes, the most moving part of "The Long Way Home" lies in the delicate details and the way of expression that can't help but generate empathy.
Without the performance of Sunny Pawer, who plays little Saru in the first half, the touchingness of the second half will be greatly reduced, which is why the trailer focusing on adult Saru is not so attractive. This eight-year-old boy beat more than 2,000 actors who went to audition and succeeded in playing the five-year-old little Saru, "every eye is a drama".
There are a few things about little Saru that impressed me: the sly eyes he and his brother gave when they were stealing coal on the train at the beginning; the sad and hopeless eyes on the narrow passage when he found himself on a train with unknown directions; The staring eyes of the site and the crowd; the eyes of "accepting each other" weakly facing one of the wandering children; the eyes of quietly calculating when they were almost cheated; With these eyes that blended innocence and precociousness, he went up and down in the process of "fighting the boss" one by one, until he walked into his new home in Australia with hesitant eyes and began to chat with his kind and gentle new parents in English at the dinner table. , finally settled down.
Adult Saru's life seems to be smooth sailing: he went to an ideal university to study, met good friends from all over the world, made interesting and beautiful girlfriends, his parents were proud of him... He has a gentle and filial personality, and everyone who meets him for the first time will attracted to him. However, his concern for his family has always been hidden in his heart - for many years, he couldn't find it, because he thought he would never find it again; but once he was awakened and understood the way of life, it was like finding a closed door A long-standing switch that cannot be stopped once it is turned on.
Objectively speaking, the second half is trying to deal with too many relationships: Saru and his girlfriend, Saru and his adoptive parents, Saru and his adopted younger brother... The timeline is also a little messy. But when the unshaven Saru finally was about to give up, he accidentally remembered the place he played as a child, when the distance on the map turned into the railway track that had been hidden in his heart for many years, and the elder brother in his memory was on his way home. Flashbacks time and time again, even viewers who have no similar experience will remember their own lost and found experience: when a toy you cherish but thought you would never get back, a cartoon you would never find, a cartoon you would never eat again Food, people who will never be seen again... Suddenly, one day, it reappears in front of me, and that kind of moving beyond imagination should make people cry with joy.
Near nostalgia timid. It is sad that Saru, who found his own mother, has long been unable to communicate with his mother in the local language. For many years, he has been desperately searching for his brother in his imagination, but he also encountered an accident as early as that day. Those beautiful pictures and harmonious relationships in childhood are difficult to find in a short time, and it may not be easy for Saru to adapt to life in India today.
Maybe it's the same as most people? Just after the Spring Festival holiday, Ah Qiang Cuihua, who was beaten back to her original form in the countryside, changed her name to a brighter English name and lived a more accustomed life. Regardless of passive separation or natural growth, "home" will gradually change from a familiar place to a word that is only familiar in the heart. Like Saru: Even though he can live well in a new environment, he can't let go of the fondest memories of his childhood. Even if the years change and things change, as long as you return to that place, you will feel at ease.
For me, in addition to "creating dreams", a good movie can quietly convey the message: "Life is always full of unfortunate accidents, but fortunately, it can also be comforted by warmth." "The Long Way Home" achieves this with gentle shots and narration. Twenty years later, when I found my childhood grandmother's house again, there was no longer a kind grandmother at home, just as Saru never saw his brother who was backing him and teasing him again. However, when he stepped onto the railroad tracks in his hometown again, his brother's voice and smile were still in front of him, and it might even continue to have an impact on him.
There is an unforgettable "home" hidden in all the pasts that cannot be returned. It reminds you of the kindness and care you received in the first days of your life. It always exists as a psychological sustenance and accompanies you. finish this life. "The Long Way Home" is looking for hometown, family, and an inseparable part of Saru's life. May everyone find a "way home", and may everyone have the courage to face every experience in the past, and then continue to prepare for the road.
Original article published in Orange News: http://www.orangenews.hk/culture/system/2017/02/01/010049718.shtml
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