When love is generally integrated with Africa, it will always reflect magnificence and light; when Africa is generally linked to politics, there will always be various unease and disputes; when politics is generally entangled with love, there will always be heartache and contradictions. Yes, it's an African documentary, a political scandal, and a love story.
Justin, also known as gardener, was born in a family of diplomats. His posture is very admirable. He is neither humble nor arrogant, elegant, reserved, and used to "the rule of diplomacy is to keep silent". By touching all kinds of flowers and plants to suppress the occasional turbulence in his heart, the days flowed like this calmly, until Tessa lifted the surface calm and violently broke into his life. The delegation representing the Queen came to Kenya. Tessa, as the wife of a diplomat, had a big belly and wore a cheap floral dress. She ran around the slums and kissed children to make new friends.
Justin is really an extremely calm person. In the face of suspicion of his wife's infidelity, he has always remained calm, neither showing his inner pain nor taking action. He knows what's best for him—escaping is sometimes another way to actively worship happiness. But Tessa dies suddenly, and the bizarre death is unexplained by numerous obscure letters and conversations, forcing J to try to uncover his wife's secrets and understand her work ideals.
Two lines of pursuit and reflection on the mental journey. Bright line: J discovered that T had collected a lot of strong evidence during his lifetime, and even sacrificed his own body to publicly disclose the illegal collusion between a large pharmaceutical company and the local government. Large multinational pharmaceutical companies use the pretext of treating AIDS by secretly conducting human tests in Africa instead of laboratory tests to keep costs down. The local government not only turned a blind eye, but even colluded with officials and businessmen to become a major accomplice, treating the lives of the poor as white mice; the dark line: J began to understand his wife, recalled the bits and pieces of their love, and understood that T hid everything from him just to protect his hard conscience .
"You will always become the one you love" - shady, love finally made Justin a continuation of Tessa, faded away cowardice and indifference to the world, bravely continued her justice, her ideals, and the endless life in her heart raging flames.
The general understanding of the plot ends here. Now I want to talk about two heavy topics about life and framework. I hope I can express what I think clearly without being entangled.
First is life.
After reading it, I finally understand why Sanmao loved that desolate and moving land so much; why so many volunteers and photographers went to Africa one after another. Gorgeous and shabby wraps, crooked vegetation, thatched huts, people, livestock... Is the dignity and greatness of life only in the boundless barrenness and desolation can it be sublimated to the deepest part of the soul?
Comparison of two clips:
T was discharged from the hospital after giving birth to her unfortunate son, and she saw three siblings in the same ward walking home from the car window, and she asked her husband to stop and send them. J said: There are too many people who need help, and we can't get involved in our own lives. T believes that helping one is one, and cannot use this as an excuse to gradually lose our sympathy and justice. T looked up to her life from the humblest point of view, and filled her short life with compassion.
After T's death, J went to Africa again to look for clues. When he fled from Africa in the turmoil, he took an African girl named Abu. J begged the captain to take Abu away. The captain's attitude was the same as that of J at the beginning. refugees, there is nothing we can do. The sensible Abu finally got out of the plane by himself. "If she is lucky, she may be able to enter the refugee camp." Looking at the scene of Abu running on the bare ground, J was speechless, just as T watched the three siblings staggering in the mud from the car window that year.
We are becoming more and more numb to the existence of life, and life that does not concern ourselves is more and more regarded as "low life". We walked alone on the principle of abiding by ourselves. It turns out that "diplomats" are just "hounds".
The lives of the gardener and his wife may not be enough to make a splash in the long river, but we cannot ignore the role and dignity of the individual.
The existence of elitism still needs more existences that are not elites. Since the arrival of life has a reason to come, low life is just a group of people's barbaric definition of another group of people.
This definition must be destroyed.
Then there's the frame.
I have always believed that no matter how highly developed the western political civilization, education and civilization are, some filthy acts still live in this soil that breeds all kinds of evil.
Since the evil side exists and man is not a god, there is no reason or possibility to ask someone, a group or a nation to erase this part. The negative gene needs effective control rather than blind restraint.
Control requires a framework to maintain and a sober onlooker to build momentum.
It's really not easy to make such a direct, profound, and pointed film. There are so many people in our country who love movies and writing, but more often they are thinking about box office sales. Yes, the market needs to operate in this way, but the market also needs public awareness and public intellectuals.
Need and existence are two different things. Existence and development are two different things. How many directors like Merrill can we tolerate? Perhaps contemporary filmmakers have also made us happy, such as Jia Zhangke, Zhang Yimou, Li Yang and so on. But the underground is always underground, and the existence does not mean that he or his works have achieved the realization of the motivation and purpose when he created it.
Whose sorrow is this?
Does the slow lifting of "Ugly Chinese" and "Abandoned Capital" make us see hope, or does it make us question this decadent and inefficient framework?
I have no idea.
The movie just tells me: keep learning, keep doing your own thing and do your best to care about every life.
"Wake up early and wake up late" - not just for today - encouragement.
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