When life is a mess and hopeless, when you are almost desperate or even thinking about giving up yourself, will you still pursue that ray of sunshine in the dark?
"Bob the Stray Cat" tells the story of a homeless addict who lives in frustration, has no fixed place to live, is abandoned by his parents, and is disliked by everyone. But after meeting the stray cat Bob, there is hope in his life, and finally a successful story of detoxification.
What struck me very much about the film was that the hero, James, was still optimistic about life no matter how difficult it was. With his superb musical talent and youthful voice, he exhales his yearning for beauty and desire for detoxification. Just as Tagore wrote, "Life kisses me with pain, but I repay it with songs."
But he was unfortunate. Perhaps the name of the homeless and the drug addict and his sloppy appearance made him a lot of discrimination. "Go way" and other scoldings are his daily life. He is often maliciously insulted at work. He can't even get a bite of food for giving up his dignity.
Of course, optimistic people are also lucky. Beside James, there are doctors who sincerely hope that he will get rid of drugs, neighbors who love him deeply, and strangers who are willing to help him... The most important thing is that Bob has always been there. Everything is helping him. Finally he succeeded, he stood soberly in front of the crowd, describing the story of him and Bob. His and Bob's story was written into a best-selling book. He could finally sing with Bob too.
The clue of the film is not only James' self-redemption, but also Betty's renewed hope for life. We can see that James is not just accepting the help of others, he is also infecting Betty with his character, so that Betty can get out of the shadow of her brother's death.
In fact, Bob is the most realistic portrayal of James. Bob represents James at various stages. The lens language of the film is also a highlight - reflecting the life of the protagonist from the perspective of a cat. When Bob is on James' shoulders he's doing well. Once the director uses the overhead shot, it shows that everything is not going well. The week he was off the drug, there were multiple close-ups of Bob, expressing that his "future self" was looking forward to his "present self" moving forward. Every careful director will use some objects or things to represent a meaningful thing, so as to implicitly express his mood there, so as to achieve communication with the audience across the screen.
Beethoven once said: I want to hold the throat of fate tightly, it will never make you yield. Then in our daily life, we will also experience many difficulties, but we must not give up on this, we should "go through suffering to joy".
Gloomy days will pass, believe it, happy days will come! The heart is always looking forward to the future. Now it's always melancholy. Everything is fleeting, everything will pass. And that is over, it will become a loving nostalgia.
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