The Chilean film "Ordinary Woman" won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. I reviewed all the nominated films before, and I am convinced of this award. This film can actually be watched in conjunction with "The Danish Girl". We will be surprised to find that after more than a hundred years, the arrogance, plundering, and exclusion of dissidents in people's bones have not improved much.
The beginning is normal, with the good-looking Malena eating, celebrating birthdays, planning outings, and dancing with her lover Orlando. The atmosphere is romantic and the story is sweet. Malena is a restaurant waiter and a female singer with a dream. Although Orlando is much older than her, it is obvious that they get along well and have a deep relationship. If they follow this line, it will be a love story full of warmth.
The plot took a sharp turn from an accidental death in Orlando late at night. Malena sent her lover to the hospital, but she did not save her lover's life. But before she could grieve, she immediately fell into all kinds of unbelievable questions and questions. From the doctor, to the police, to the staff of the ethics review agency, they all repeatedly asked the same question one by one, suspecting Malena, and after the suspicion was lifted, they still carried out endless examinations. So the audience suddenly realized that Malena is a transgender person. She used to be a man. Because of the special experience of changing her personality, almost everyone thinks that her morality is flawed. If Malena was really an ordinary woman, would she still suffer so much trouble? Whether the director or the audience has a very clear answer to this question.
Compared with "The Danish Girl", our world has improved on the surface. Malena successfully passed the operation, has a lover, has a good career, and has her own stage. But when the lover dies suddenly, the veil of civilization is pierced. In addition to the doctor's questioning, the police's cross-examination, and the snooping of the ethics reviewers, there were verbal abuse, evictions, and insults from his son from his lover's ex-wife. He was even pulled into a car by a group of men, wrapped around his head with tape and dumped on a street corner.
All injustices stem from one cause, Malena's transgender identity. At this time, no one cares whether she is kind or not. She has a stable career, no criminal record, and lives and works honestly. There is no doubt that no matter how polite you are at ordinary times, people's hearts scoff at those who are different from themselves. Are you a man or a woman, why should you become a woman if you are a man, is it disgusting for you to sleep with someone twenty years older than you? Are you a monster, are you forced? Did you get the money? Are you being abused? I pity you, I despise you. High moral superiority, but all of this is a voluntary choice of both parties, so what's the deal with the third person? He or she has the right to choose his own gender, the right to choose his own lover, without sympathy or despise.
Malena fights people's prejudice in many ways. Silence, crying, burying my head in the closet, venting at the bar, opening the bathroom cabinet with the key left by my lover, hoping to seek spiritual support, but the cabinet is empty. She also sought psychological comfort from her former singing mentor. What we see in the film is a valuable restrained narrative method. The director looks at Malena with a normal heart, and uses a daily narrative method to downplay the bloody, violent and curious things that are easy to appear in such films. The ingredients are not even upscaled and complimented. She is neither nobler than us nor inferior to us, she is just an ordinary ordinary woman.
The director gave the protagonist a bright ending. Malena jumped into the car of her ex-wife and asked for her dog. She re-examined and accepted her gender and body, realized her dream, and finally stood on the stage confidently. Sing opera. The starring Daniela Vija herself is a transgender, and she acts bravely and is very brave and wonderful. I hope that human beings can let go of their arrogance and prejudice as soon as possible. We are all just containers for our souls, and all living beings should be equal.
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