Unfortunate families are unhappy in their own way. April was misfortune for the family of teenage April Burns.
This punk girl with fiery red hair and thick dark circles under her eyes never seemed to have anything to do with good family memories. She got tattoos, she kept piercing and piercing her body, burning her brother's hair in the kitchen, socializing with bad youth, running away from home...
April has never brought laughter and care to her family, this family, no one has anything about April A beautiful memory, even a small fragment.
April was a disaster.
April is a scar that the family doesn't want to mention and doesn't want to recall as much as possible.
April's childhood.
Mom said, "Don't break the Thanksgiving turkey decorations, they're worth more than you."
"How can you do that, April?"
"April are you crazy?"
"..."
If it wasn't for Mom's cancer, Dying, maybe April and the family will no longer have an intersection. This Thanksgiving may very well be Mom's last Thanksgiving.
Dad forces the whole family, including my grandmother, who has Alzheimer's and nearly lost her memory, to spend Thanksgiving at April's apartment in New York with her boyfriend, Bobby.
Families, no matter how much suffering, no matter how many painful memories, have to let go of each other's pride and compromise with life in the face of death.
Dad was the only one who had hope for April's Thanksgiving dinner because he felt that April's new boyfriend, Bobby, had a warm heart, just like himself.
Struggle, quarrel, memory, regret... The car slowly drove towards New York.
Dirty graffiti on the concrete walls of a gray apartment building in a run-down New York neighborhood.
April is busy preparing to roast a turkey.
It was her first time roasting a turkey and preparing a formal dinner. April's heart was full of reluctance and dissatisfaction. "They don't deserve..." April said to Bobby.
Bobby just smiled softly, helping April fill in the turkey cavity, and surreptitiously put a "welcome" decoration on the outside of the door. Then go out to find a decent suit and officially meet the parents of the girl he loves.
The oven is broken! Bobby is not there.
April is knocking on the door of this indifferent New York apartment with a 10-pound turkey, begging people to lend them their ovens for Thanksgiving.
A black couple... a
single woman...
a lonely man walking a dog...
an old Chinese couple who doesn't speak English...
Bobby tries on a suit at a friend's thrift store. Tell a friend about a story from your childhood.
"Love is so powerful."
"Love, let my mother prop up the whole car with her injured body after a car accident, and save me from under the car."
"Love, makes people willing to change, makes people do what they feel Totally unbelievable."
"Love, a miracle."
Cars to New York, to the brink of conflict...
turkey without an oven, dinner without belonging...
could love be the ultimate salvation for this family ?
Oh, Pieces of April…
Peter Hedges is definitely a very talented writer and director. The style of the whole movie is completely different from the general American teenager movie style. The realistic picture effect makes people think that it is an experimental movie of which European director in the first two minutes of watching.
The whole film is humorous and full of life. April's search for the oven and the family's trip to New York are two clues that add radiance to each other. There is pain, tears, laughter, and thought. Although the story is simple, the director's handling of the picture is neat and tidy, without wordy details, and gradually escalates small conflicts and gradually deepens the character's character.
Especially worth mentioning is Patricia Clarkson who plays the mother. In this film, she portrays a mother suffering from cancer, suffering from chemotherapy, neurotic, and overly depressed, which is the biggest highlight of the film. Countless moviegoers think it's unfair that Patricia didn't win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this film. Xiao Ke has also seen Patricia's wonderful performance in Station Agent. She is particularly good at expressing the inner contradiction and pain of the characters through expressions, few words, and some suppressed movements. When the inner emotions of the characters accumulate to a certain level and erupt, Patricia can be reborn in a short period of time, sweep away the previously suppressed performance style, and bring out the passion like a volcanic eruption. .
Katie Holmes is the new girlfriend of Thomas Cruise, who is now frequently on the cover of magazines. In this film, Katie's performance is good, basically completing the inner portrayal of April, not just an action performance. However, in front of such wonderful acting skills of Patricia, it is still somewhat eclipsed.
The end of the film is a very finishing touch, it can be said that "everything is said without words". Xiao Ke personally thinks that the ending is the most successful scene in the film, which perfectly brings the atmosphere of the whole film to the climax. Of course, this ending is inseparable from the detailed depiction and atmosphere that spared no effort in the front. All the clues and the timing of the contradictions are mastered very skillfully.
Peter Hedges says it's a film about choices, a family full of problems who have to choose between hurt and affection. Xiao Ke thinks this is more of a movie about love, the power of love, the flaws of love, the strange manifestations of love...
If you are disappointed and dissatisfied with your life, then Pieces of April is a good one Film. It makes people re-examine family relationships and find hope again.
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