Nononomiya has lived a smooth life so far and is an elite member of a large construction company. He and his wife, Lu, have been married for many years and have a very good relationship. Together, they raise their smart and well-behaved son, Qing Duo. I thought that the peaceful life would continue like this, but a phone call from Qingduo Birth Hospital brought the family to the cusp.
It turned out that, due to the hospital's mistake, Qing Duo and Liu Qing, who were born on the same day, were wrongly held by the nurse. A misunderstanding many years ago has brought many families into an unprecedented stalemate. Many proud and fragile hearts are swaying in the face of the fate of blood and the family that accompanies them day and night. For the Saiki family, they are also standing at the crossroads of life.
The hospital's in-depth investigation into the baby swap incident many years ago has come to fruition. It turned out that the nurse on duty at the hospital had just remarried, and she felt very anxious in the face of her stepson's disapproval. Looking at Lu, who lived a happy and healthy life, she decided to exchange babies to take revenge. No one thought that the source of the matter was such a ridiculous reason. In the restaurant, even the usually gentle and reserved Green couldn't help but say that he was going to send her to prison, and the Saimu family, who were inexplicably involved in it, gnashed their teeth at her.
However, according to lawyers, even if it was convicted of "plundering of minors," the statute of limitations has long since passed. Green and Yukari agreed angrily that the woman must have come forward to admit her mistake because she knew about it. One day, many received a letter from the lawyer, which contained the compensation sent by the nurse. That night, many found the nurse's home according to the address in the envelope, returned the money to her, and said contemptuously, "Return to you, your sincerity!"
He wanted to continue venting his anger, but the nurse's stepson got out of the door and blocked many people. Looking at the young boy in front of him, many said, "It has nothing to do with you, right?"Unexpectedly, the child did not escape, and still stood stubbornly in front of "Mom"."It does matter; she is my mother." That night, Lianduo called his stepmother, Nobuko. On the phone, he wanted to apologize to her, but she was distracted by her words. The little boy standing in front of his stepmother reminded him of the relationship between himself and Nobuko and also reminded him of what had happened. He used to say "it's nothing to do with you" to forcefully reject Nobuko's closeness, but now the little boy's "I have a relationship" made him realize that even two people who are not related by blood can build a family relationship.Is it, at this moment of doubt, a correct choice to give up Qing Duo and choose Liu Qing?
And with the occurrence of this "accident," many feelings toward Lu also began to crack. After learning that Qingda was not his own child, many times on the way home, he said something unintentionally, "It really is."When his wife was about to give birth, he couldn't be with him because of work, so Lu Cai had to choose to go to the hospital in his hometown in the countryside, because there was a mother who could help there.
But after giving birth to "Qingduo," his wife was in a coma for three days due to heavy bleeding. In the morning, when the nurse dropped the bag, many of them had actually seen the child, so the later complaint to his wife sounded more like shirking responsibility. Under the negotiation of the two families, the two 6-year-old children began to switch back to their biological parents. However, things did not go as smoothly as they thought. Qing Duo regards living in the Zhaimu family as a"task"given to him by his father , but he can't help but miss his family on quiet nights. On the other hand, Liu Qing and a lot of them played gun games, fished on the balcony, and camped in the living room. The three of them lay together and looked up at the stars in the night sky. When the meteors passed by, Liu Qing made a wish ,"I want to go back to my father and mother."
In Liu Qing's paintings of Yuda and Yukari, the small characters next to them are their father and mother. There is one detail in the movie that left a deep impression on me. When I first tried to exchange the accommodation, Qing Duo rubbed his hand at Saimu’s house because he fell while playing. The attitudes of Yukari and Lu formed a stark contrast. Yukari thought it was just a trivial matter. He didn't take it to heart, but Green felt very distressed for Qing Duo. That night, Green and many others had a dispute over this incident. Maybe it's because the two families have different attitudes towards their children's education, but it also reminds us thatthe emotions built by getting along day and night in the past 6 years are not necessarily stronger than blood ties.
Imperceptibly, Qing Duo and Liu Qing have already become an indispensable part of their respective families. In the artificial forest of the Utsunomiya Research Institute, many people accidentally discovered a cicada slough. Cicada catchers told many that it took 15 years for cicadas to lay eggs here and emerge as adults. This sentence makes a lot of people ponder. It takes 15 years for cicadas to thrive in artificial forests planted by humans. How long does it take to raise children? Looking back on He Qingduo's life in the past 6 years, does he really have the identity of a good father? He couldn't remember the last time he played with Qingduo in the park; he didn't care about his children's entrance exams; he always talked about other items and then took time to accompany him after that, but he never fulfilled his promise...
Whether Qingduo or Liuqing are like cicadas in this artificial forest is unclear. Due to the intervention of adults, their lives have undergone tremendous changes. However, even if it is not the original forest, with enough time and effort, the cicadas here can live well in an unfamiliar forest. All along, many have lived an excellent life, and he is "a person who has never failed" in Saiki's mouth. Therefore, Zhaimu often behaves arrogantly when faced with a poor family. However, Zhai Mu, who looks far inferior to himself, is loved by Liu Qing and Qing Duo. He'd help the kids fix their toys, take a bath with them, mingle with them, and many other things he couldn't or wouldn't do."It takes time for children."This sentence also made many people feel embarrassed all of a sudden. Especially when he heard that Qing Duo not only made a handmade rose for himself but also made a rose for Saimu, he felt unprecedented jealousy and frustration.
But it was during the slow contact with the Saimu family that he also slowly learned a truth: money cannot replace emotions, and material superiority does not mean that family affection can also be bought. In contrast, Qing Duo's love for his father takes a lot of effort. On the way home from the piano cram school, mother Lu Zeng told Qing Duo that if you don't like the piano, you don't have to force yourself. But Qing Duo said that he wanted to learn because he wanted to be praised by his father. There is such a clip in the movie, when Midori and Liangda were arguing with their voices about their children, Qingda was lying on the bed and pretending to fall asleep, a pair of clear eyes flashing brightly in the dark room. I don’t know what he was thinking .
Before the two children exchanged accommodation for the first time, many took advantage of the opportunity to play games with Qingduo and made a request for accommodation, but Qingduo accepted it calmly. But that silent expression had to make people suspicious. Maybe he had already faintly sensed the outline of the matter from the abnormal behavior of his parents. The day before the "child exchange" started, I took Kyodo to the park for a long time and generously gave Kyodo the camera as a gift, but he refused.
At that moment, did this smart child also realize something, so he refused this"bad-intention" gift?And the most touching scene in the film is that many find pictures of him secretly taken by Qing Duo in the camera. In the photo, he is sleeping on the sofa, reading in the living room, working in the study... Through these photos, we seem to see a gentle and introverted child, quietly staring at his most beloved father with love. Reminiscent of the scene in the park where Qing Duo refused to take the camera, we finally realized that it was not a gift from everyone to him, but rather a gift from Qing Duo to his father.
Rather than describing a father-son relationship, the film is more about how people, like many, do their best when faced with roles like "father," "son," and "husband." responsibility. Many people in the movie have always disliked their father's lifestyle, but unknowingly, he is also imitating him. In the process of getting along with Liu Qing, he often attributed the good performance to "blood relationship," and the unpleasant part was attributed to "upbringing." Somewhere, he has become the person he hates the most. At the end of the film, Liang Duo and Qing Duo walk on two paths, one high and the other low, which symbolizes that Liang Duo finally stepped down from the role of the high father and looked at it from the perspective of his son. In the end, the two paths met at the end, the father and son reached a reconciliation, and many also understood the fetters that came from family affection.
At the same time, this segment of the movie also makes us realize thatsometimes the right to choose is not in the hands of adults but in children. The relationship between the little boy and his stepmother, the many changes in attitude towards Nobuko, and the many different attitudes between Keita and Liu Qing... It's the child who chooses to be your child, not your choice to be the child's father.Knowing this, you can also understand the meaning of Saiki's words, "Father is also a job that no one can replace!" As a father, can you accept that your child is on a different path than you? Is it necessary for you to live like your father as a child. The answer the movie gives us is that you don't have to be like your father. When can a father really be a father? From what moment can a father truly hold the title of "father"? When I realize that the child is also watching me, at that moment, I understand what it means to be like a father and a son.
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