If what appears in our life will disappear, what we create will never be possessed, and what we pursue will be unsuccessful, then what have we gained in our limited life? What is the motivation behind all our actions?
"Love, time, death, these three concepts connect everyone on earth, all the things we desire, the things we fear to lose, the things we end up buying because we crave love and want more time, fear of death."
This used to be Howard's belief in "love", "time" and "death", the controlling shareholder of a well-known advertising company (Ascent Inright). It is full of understanding of the essence of advertising touching people's hearts, and full of self-confidence that successful people have full control over the essentials of life.
However, luck has not always favored Howard. The six-year-old daughter died of illness and the couple who loved each other in grief divorced. This heavy blow made Howard's faith completely collapsed in an instant. After a setback, he completely gave up life and let his work go. "Love", "time" and "death" became the recipients of his accusations in writing.
In order to save the company's righteous life, three of Howard's friends and colleagues planned a scam, hired three "drama actors" as the three recipients of "Love", "Time" and "Death", and contacted Howard to It proves that there is a problem with its spirit. On the one hand, it seizes the voting rights of shareholders and on the other hand, it tries to put Howarda back on the right track. So a debate between Howard and "love", "time" and "death", who was "taken away from the love, meaning, and hope of life", began.
Howard: "Time says you can heal wounds, no one mentions how you destroy the beautiful things in the world, how you turn beauty into decay..."
Time: "If love is creation and death is destruction, I am only the medium of both...time is a gift."
Howard: "I don't care about time. What's the difference between living like this and being in prison? I don't want your gift because you took away her (referring to her daughter) time."
Howard: "Dear Death, you wear so many myths, you cause so much pain, and you bring so much fear, to me, you are just a paper tiger, like a middle-level cadre in a company, powerless and sad, even finalizing a There is no right to a transaction."
Death: "I am not a middle-level cadre in the enterprise, powerless and pathetic, I refuse to trade with you (exchanging Howard's life for his daughter's life) is my decision."
Howard: "You kept me from holding her hand."
Howard: "Farewell, dear love."
Love: "Life is made of me...you have to trust me."
Howard: "I trusted you, but you betrayed me. I see you in her eyes every day, hear you in her laughter, feel you when she calls daddy. But you hurt me Heart."
Love: "No, you're wrong, I'm everywhere, dark or light, rain or sun, yes, I was in her laughter, but also in your sadness at the moment, I'm the cause of everything , I'm the only reason why, don't try to live without me again."
In several debates, love, time, and death refuted Howard's contempt and disappointment for them, tearing a hole in Howard's heart tightened by grief, anger, and grievance. However, for a person to rebuild his faith in a collapsed life, he can only rely on himself to find the first piece from the broken to start building. This first piece is a "stranger" to Howard.
Howard meets Madeleine, a single woman who also lost her daughter, at a mutual aid club.
Madeleine: "Do you still love your ex-wife?"
Howard: "I don't even know what love is anymore. Do you love your ex-husband?"
Madeleine: "We never stopped loving each other I think. On the day of the divorce he said he wanted us to be strangers again."
In the communication with Madeleine, Howard gradually accepted that what was lost will not come back, and the sadness will not subside. Don't pretend that nothing happened, and the pain must be spoken; no matter what happens, don't forget to appreciate the pain after meditation. Beauty, that is still the faith of life.
The film uses two dominoes collapsing scenes.
The first time was at the beginning of the film. Howard knocked down the dominoes he built by himself, representing the belief that supported Howard's successful empire, the motivation for all efforts, and all the joys in life that collapsed suddenly, uncontrollably, completely and irretrievably. This concise and dynamic expression perfectly portrays Howard's despair, inability to recover and rebuild.
The second domino collapse is at the end of the film, when Howard hugs Madeleine at Madeleine's house, crying and saying his daughter's name, their daughter's name: Olivia. The domino that collapsed at this moment is no longer destruction and despair, but the cage that has imprisoned Howard for a long time has finally collapsed.
When the film ends, the obscure title "Affiliated Beauty" can finally be understood, and the same question at the beginning of the article seems to have an answer.
Because we begin to die from birth, what appears in our life will surely disappear, what we create will never be possessed, and what we pursue will always bear fruit, even if there is fruit, it will appear. It looks like we're empty-handed after all, but that's not the case. Death does not take away the gift that time has given us, the memory of love. It does not disappear and decay with the destruction of all things. It is the proof that love has come, and it is the ability to derive love. Time may not heal wounds, but it always gives us the opportunity to love, to pursue all possibilities, before death, without stealing the subsidiary beauty that comes along the way.
PS: There is an Easter egg at the end of the film, revealing the identity of "love, time, death". Looking back, it is understandable why "time" boys and "love" girls have different attitudes towards compensation. After all, time is money, and love cannot be measured in money. In addition, in addition to this main line, the other three branches are also worth thinking about, "How to face death responsibly", "Don't regret missing, time never refuses any form of beginning", "Love must go all out and be bravely expressed" .
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