Yesterday's broadcast was A Better Life, one of this year's Oscar-nominated films for Best Actor. It tells the story of a Mexican father and son living in the United States after illegally entering the country. In order to be able to live better in the United States, live in a bigger house with his son, let him go to a better school, have more time with his son, and make up for the increasingly estranged father-son relationship, the protagonist Carlos did his best to rely on He is mowing the lawns of the rich in Los Angeles to earn income. Every time he climbs the tall coconut trees and has a panoramic view of the whole city of Los Angeles, he is full of good expectations for the future.
Later, in order to make more money and realize his dream of "better life" as soon as possible, he spent all his wealth to buy his hired boss's broken truck and lawn mowing tools. Just as Carlos was about to go big, the truck was stolen by Santiago, a temporary worker he hired. So the father and son started a car-hunting journey. In the process of looking for Santiago and trucks, they had disputes because of disagreements. Even Carlos slapped his son when he stopped his son from kicking Santiago. The repaired father-son relationship is cracked. Knowing that Santiago sold the truck to the used car market, Carlos decided to steal the truck back. Before going, he approached his son to apologize to him and asked him if he could come with him. At first, the son rejected him coldly, but in the end, the father-son relationship overcame the willfulness and stubbornness of the young man. He still walked out of his friend's house. Under the streetlights, the blurred figures of the father and son, one big and one small, gradually disappeared. At the end of the film, although the father and son stole the truck after all kinds of dangers, they were stopped by the police on their way home. Carlos entered illegally without a driver's license and other documents, and was eventually detained by the police and deported back to Mexico.
This is a very ordinary but also very real film, the whole film does not even exist miracles. For example, when I saw the father and son shouting excitedly for stealing the truck back, I thought the final outcome was that Carlos made a lot of money, they moved into a big house, and Carlos also got a green card in the United States, Since then, father and son have lived a happy life; when Carlos was taken into prison and an immigration volunteer came to ask him if he appealed to stay in the United States, I thought Carlos would appeal to stay with his son, After three months of hard waiting, a miracle finally came. The court judged that he could stay in the United States. Since then, the father and son have lived a happy life and so on.
I think I must have watched too many fairy tales when I was a child, because the end of the fairy tales always says the same thing: "From then on, the prince and princess lived a happy life." But it's not true, the happy life is far away and vague, The reality is so cruel, sometimes we have to rely on the self-deception mood of expecting a miracle to happen, in order to gain the strength to keep going.
In addition to describing the living conditions of thousands of illegal immigrants in the world, this film also tells us the greatness of father's love and the deep affection of father and son. In fact, no matter what life is like, everyone is actively striving for a better life. And love and hope are the driving force behind our perseverance. When I saw the part where the father and son were talking in the living room of the prison, I was moved to tears. Father Carlos said to his son: That would make me feel worthy, if you became somebody. Our own, I hope we grow up healthily, live a happy and happy life, and become a valuable and meaningful person to the society. So, someone on Weibo said, I must speed up my efforts today to surpass the speed at which my parents are getting old.
To be honest, this is really a bland movie, and illegal immigrants are a group of individuals so far away from our ordinary lives. There is no apocalypse, no alien invasion, no heroism, no beauty tech, no conspiracy, etc. There is only a father and son, yearning for the simplest and most ordinary life... But I like this kind of movie and this kind of story, because it makes me feel warm and fills me with the power to move forward in an instant~for our better life~more Good life, come on!
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