Recently, I have especially liked these kinds of films, rather than a clear core of the story, it is more like some kind of life record that follows the perspective of the protagonist. It may be that as I get older, I feel more and more that compared to the passion of "not breaking Loulan, it will never return", the "just waiting and seeing" as the protagonist said is the normal state of life.
The film is full of a quiet temperament, and there are many separate scenes in the film. The death of the child in the orphanage, Homer's farewell to the orphanage, the death of Dr. Larch, including the final farewell between Homer and Candy, were not heart-piercing roars, but silent stares and blessings. The protagonist, Homer, seems to be a stupid boy with unfortunate background and little knowledge. Under the interpretation of Tobey Maguire, there are a few more wise men who see through the world.
After watching the film, I went to learn about the original novel. Although I didn't study it carefully, I can still feel the difference in richness between the two. Through the description of three generations, the novel depicts the growth of everyone in the era and the advanced thinking on the proposition of "principle". This is also the origin of the title "Cider House Rules": everyone has their own principles, but by challenging and overturning the existing principles, they make new footnotes in their own lives. In contrast to the presentation of the film, due to a large number of details and deletions, the discussion on the core of "principles" is not as in-depth as the original. It's no wonder that many viewers feel puzzled by the title of the film, which only appears twice in the lines.
Aside from the preconceived notions of the original work, just looking at the film itself, this is still an excellent work. When the discussion of "principles" is weakened, the film's discussion of "life" itself is pushed to a more prominent position. If the novel discusses "how to choose in the face of problems", the film presents more "how to live in the face of life".
The Cider House Law is a piece of paper posted in the dormitory of Apple Garden employees, which stipulates that smoking is not allowed on the bed, it is not allowed to operate the machine after drinking, it is not allowed to eat on the roof, it is not allowed to sleep on the roof, and it is not allowed to go on the roof. This is supposed to be a requirement for all employees, and the interesting thing is that before Homer came, no one knew what the rules were written because no one could read. Foreman Black Uncle Arthur said that the people who made the rules didn't live in the dormitory and didn't follow them, the rules ain't for us. We are supposed to make our own rules. And we do. Every single day."
Arthur has his own rules, and in the face of smoking "bad apples", he will also pull out a knife to teach people a lesson. He may not have read what the Cider House Law says, but they are all protecting apple orchards in their own way. The rules abstracted by others will be discarded instinctively by the recipient, just like the cider house rule that was thrown into the stove by Homer.
The same goes for Homer. Dr. Larch loves him like a father, teaching him medicine and planning for his future. But for Homer, who has lived in an orphanage since childhood, what he longs for is the outside world, to see the sea, and to see lobsters. He couldn't understand why the doctor wanted to do the work of the "devil", so he left, and the young life went to pursue the outside world.
In the apple orchard, he saw the sea as he wished, tasted lobster, and even met a woman who made him "painful just looking at it". He also understood why God had to do the work of the "devil", and understood the painstaking efforts and love poured into him by Dr. Larch. At the end of the film, Homer goes back to the orphanage and takes over from Doctor Larch as the guardian of the children, saying goodnight to them as usual: "Goodnight, you princes of Maine, you kings of New England."
Why do I listen to a lot of truths, but still have a bad life? Because truth cannot be instilled. The world is very big, and there are only a few places that suit us; we think there are undiscovered truths out there, but in the end we find that the laws of life are those few correct nonsense. These laws are so precious that we can only truly understand them by rebelling against them.
The wheel of technology is rolling forward, but at the spiritual level, we still have to build the wheel repeatedly to understand the painstaking efforts of those who wrote the rules of the cider house. Only after I have gone my way can these laws be internalized into my rules.
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