0. Written in the front, the
essay thought of from the title of the film attempts to analyze the film with Hegelian logic: the contradiction theory of pros and cons. But before that, I will elaborate on the title.
"Everything About My Mother", strange name. Does the word "mother" refer to the dead Esteban or to Sister Rosa's child? Or is it neither? Suddenly thinking of the ambiguous theory of the new criticism may give it the best explanation: maybe it is both, and it is not limited to this. Mother may still be a general reference, an identity. So this ambiguity has far-reaching power.
The mother's posture is always the easiest to think of the suffering and perseverance of a nation. When I watched this brightly colored film full of tears and death, I did think of my own nation and the mothers in my life.
1. Drama and Life
Almodovar is a director who likes to use bright colors. My feeling is that those bright colors bring a sense of closeness that is almost oppressive, making the story in the play like a lively reality happening around us. Coupled with the very tight narrative rhythm of the film, the audience has no time to distance themselves from the story. They can only watch the problems and tragedies come and take them off guard. This kind of treatment makes it easy for viewers to reach empathy with the characters in the play and resonate with their own lives.
However, while narrowing the distance between the film and the audience, the director also worked in the opposite direction, that is, pulling the film back into the realm of fiction. The most important method is the use of lenses. For example, when Esteban writes, the camera is at a very strange angle of the notebook he wrote. After Esteban was hit by a car, the camera was at an impossible angle: the angle of the dying Esteban. . These seem to remind the viewer: this is a movie, and the eyes we use to see it are special.
In this round and round, the distance between the work and us has fallen into confusing repetitions. Play and life overlap for a while, and intersect for a while, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and reality. I don't know if this is similar to the postmodernist literature's method of subverting reality and illusion in class.
The relationship between the play and life is also discussed within the film. Before his son Esteban died, his mother watched three plays with him: ①the movie "Beauty of the Comet", ②the film about organ transplantation played on the course, ③the "A Streetcar Named Desire" watched in the theater. Among them, ① and ② imply the following plot, and ③ becomes an important clue throughout the story. The camera time given by Almodovar is enough to disrupt the rhythm of the entire story narrative, so that people have to pay attention to these dramas and produce a sense of absurdity that life is like a drama.
"A Streetcar Named Desire" plays a very important role in the film. On the one hand, it runs through several important points of the story: the acquaintance between the heroine and Laura, the death of her son Esteban, and the famous actor Yanmi. On the other hand, it implies the plot and tone: the actresses who have acted in this play: Yanmi, Nina, and the heroine Manuela, all cannot escape the tragic fate similar to those in the play. Outside the theater, Yanmi’s beautiful large-scale stills were hanging high, but the film later approached the heart of this beautiful actress and found that she was so lonely and sad, just like the character she played, Blanche. "I always like to rely on the kindness of strangers" said. The poster of "A Streetcar Named Desire" often appeared in the camera, and it became a sad metaphor for Manuela: She met Stila and Lola because she played Stila, and like Stila, took the child away from the man, and finally he 'S child died indirectly because of this drama. No wonder she almost collapsed when Yanmi forced her to ask her if she had ulterior motives. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is the focus of all suffering for her.
Play is like life, life is like play. Inside and out of this film, it's all told like this.
2. Civilization and Brutality After
watching this film, I spent a lot of effort looking for its original soundtrack. In fact, it was just for a song. The film appeared when Manuela took a taxi into the suburbs of Barcelona. The only vocal song in the song, this song really has a touching power. Later I found out that it is called
From the moment Manuela got on the tourist bus to when she met A Yue, who was violently treated, the few minutes when this song was played is undoubtedly a highlight of the film. From Madrid to Barcelona, for Manuela, the span is more than just space, there are still seventeen years. "I walked this road seventeen years ago, when... the opposite direction was going from Barcelona to Madrid. I was also running away at the time, but I was pregnant with Esteban and was running away from his father." After this inner monologue, the music slowly advances, and the tunnel that symbolizes time and space slides quickly through the lens, and a bird's-eye view of Barcelona appears, a beautiful night view of the city. However, as the taxi drove to the suburbs, a series of jaw-dropping and perverse scenes appeared, naked sex trade scenes, husky male voices and sentimental music in the background, which greatly exaggerated the tragic atmosphere of the film. When cars lined up in wandering dragons, passing by naked prostitutes and "Sister Feng", civilization and barbarism sharply collided and merged here, and the strong sense of disharmony produced made this picture stay in the viewer's mind for a long time.
When A Yue came forward to solve the two starring actors’ inability to be on stage due to personal reasons, he introduced in detail all the products of technological civilization on "him": nose, chin, skin, breasts, etc., and all of them are Serve the primitive desires of mankind. It seems that human beings go around a boring circle.
In this film, all hot issues of modern society are involved: homosexuality, AIDS, intersex people, drug abuse. It seems that, like many underdeveloped regions, modern civilization has not brought prosperity and stability to this country, but it has brought crisis and pain. It seems that human beings have never been able to get rid of their original desires. The so-called civilization just twists it and pushes it to a certain extreme, and then presents it in an uncontrollable way. And what can save mankind seems to be only primitive things, such as motherhood, such as love.
3. Men and women.
Men do not have much weight in this film. There seem to be only three slightly portrayed roles: Manuela’s son Esteban, Rosa’s father, an elderly man with Alzheimer’s, and barely You can count the actor Mario. In a sense, these men mainly present the fragile side in the film, such as death, frustration, and seeking help.
Almodovar said: "Everything about my mother" shows a woman's ability to withstand pain. A woman does not have to be a professional actor to lie, perform, and act well. Men and women have The same loneliness and pain, but women’s reaction to this is much more dramatic and thrilling. In this sense, men do seem to be less than women.”
Indeed, in the film, women They showed infinite strength in the face of suffering. Yanmi's perseverance, Rosa's innocence, Ayue's optimism, and Manuela's love and tolerance, these characters bear scene after scene of tragedy with amazing perseverance.
However, as far as I understand it, the film does not blindly praise women as many people understand. At least it does not praise women on a similar moral level, but aims at a deeper part. This is from the above paragraph of Almodovar. It can be seen. Manuela also said in the film: "The femininity can endure everything to avoid being alone." Although Rosa immediately said: "Tolerance is a virtue," Manuela gave her a very disdainful response. I think the director has no intention of praising women. It is not so much a eulogy, but rather amazement.
Since the film expresses women's tolerance for suffering, it is actually talking about two magical instincts of women: optimism and tolerance. This may be attributed to women’s maternal instinct and social instinct, primitive and amazing power. For example, the four women in the film can quickly gather together to make a lot of talk, and naturally care about and comfort each other, which is really not difficult for women. Men love as much as women, but only women can easily transform this love into forgiveness and tenderness. Men also endure the same as women and try their best to be strong, but women have a natural power of optimism. In the scene where Yanmi went to Manuela to apologize, four women occasionally gathered together. Some of them are not familiar with each other, and they each endure great grief, but they sit on their knees and laugh loudly, it seems that a mysterious power has arisen. From their heartfelt laughter, we see a great power belonging to women that can heal pain and resolve sorrow. Maybe it's just to avoid loneliness, and there is no more sacred reason, but this instinct of women does give the suffering world a way out.
In addition to men and women, the film actually involves a third type of people, "Sister Feng", which means intersex people who have only undergone transgender appearance (not the same as real shemales). A Yue is a "Feng Sister", but the various characteristics of "he" and the relationship between "he" and other women make "he" very close to a real woman. Upon learning that Yanmi and Nina almost died together, "he" broke down in tears and found that Mario still wanted to discuss sex with "him". "He" reacted with a sigh, expressing disdain and unreasonableness. , Also expresses this kind of unreasonable understanding of men. This reaction clearly outlines the difference between men and women. Men are animals of desire and women are animals of emotion. From this detail, it can be seen that the role of A Yue is completely female. In contrast, Rolla, who is in a key position in the film, is much more complicated.
Manuela called "he" a "wolf-hearted person", and was always reluctant to disclose information about him to his son. When she was shaken by his son's sincere desire, the son left, and Manuela went to find Lola in order to fulfill his son's last wish. Through Ayue and Rosa, the image of Lola gradually emerged. Manuela's evaluation of "him" is "both pretending to be a prosthetic breast, but also being a big man." "He" is the initiator of many tragedies: hurting his wife, looting friends, seducing nuns and making her infected with AIDS. At Rosa's funeral, this legendary character finally appeared. After removing the sunglasses, it was a beautiful and false face, a face that was difficult to distinguish between men and women. The image of Laura may be the most complicated existence in the whole play. He is of great significance to the story, but the character itself is vague. There seems to be no more explanation for his transformation and his injustice. Perhaps, his existence is to be forgiven.
4. Hurt and Forgiveness
We always say "The one I love most hurts me the most", and hurt often starts with love. If it weren’t for Manuela and Rosa’s love for Laura, they wouldn’t be hurt by him; if it wasn’t for Yanmi’s indulgence and obsession with Nina, she wouldn’t have suffered so much for her; if Rosa didn’t love Her demented father and the mother of the accident, she would not feel so alone; if Esteben hadn't been chasing after the rainy night because of his obsession with Yanmi, he would not have been killed in a car accident. Although destiny is cold and merciless, it has its own logic and reasons.
This is an old topic. Although hurt always starts with love, the only thing in the world that can stop hurting is love and forgiveness.
In the first half of the film, after Manuela rescued Ayue from the mob, Ayue helped the knocked out guest to show him the direction. At first, this detail made me a little puzzled, but as the film unfolded layer by layer, this detail became a natural fit foreshadowing. Forgiveness is the professional ethics of "Sister Feng" A Yue, and it is also "he"'s instinct as a woman.
This question was raised from the beginning of the film. Manuela’s career is related to organ donation, which is a meaningful setting. When his son was taken away in a car accident, Manuela chose forgiveness in the face of a ruthless fate: donating his son's heart, and responding to the pain with love.
Another important forgiveness is to Yanmi, the actress who indirectly caused the death of Esteban. After being questioned by Yanmi, she not only forgave her for her disregard of Esteban, but also forgave her for questioning her personality. Although she once protested with tears, when she saw Yanmi waiting for an apology at the door, she quickly and naturally received her and expressed her forgiveness with a smile.
The last and most important forgiveness is to Lola, the prodigal son who has committed multiple crimes. Manuela hates "him", and when Rosa reveals that the child's father is Lola, she shows great anger and sympathy. Then, until Rosa died, Lola appeared. This scene is also a highlight of the film. The last shot of the scene before Rosa's death was a seascape and a cross-shaped window frame, and then the next shot was a white cross in the cemetery. This sacred opening begins with a breath of forgiveness. When she first met Lola, Manuela responded with weeping and bad words, but when Lola said "come here", she obediently approached "him". When she completed the initial mission of this trip to Barcelona-to find Lola, tell "him" that they have a son and inform him of his death, she said "I'm sorry" to Lola. I don’t think it’s necessary to wait until Manuela takes the young Esteban to meet with Laura and give him a photo of Esteban’s dead son, to show that Manuela forgives Laura. In the funeral scene, in the holy sadness, she has given "him" forgiveness. So she told "his" about the son, so she said "sorry" to "him".
In Manuela, we see a great thing that women possess, and that is tears. In the face of cold fate, in front of great harm, women just cry, and do not reciprocate hatred. Manuela always shed tears in front of the perpetrators, this is a silent accusation. It is said that a woman’s tears are a symbol of fragility, but behind the tears is the woman’s forgiveness. And forgiveness is the most powerful bravery. They forgive harm, forgive the perpetrator, and forgive fate. This brings a moment of peace to this suffering world. They have the instinct to be gentle with their loved ones, which allows them to endure grievances. For example, when Rosa, who was not long dead, met her father who regarded her as a stranger, she responded with tears and said silently, "Goodbye, Dad" until the old man walked away. The dog named Shar-Pei can recognize the little owner of the family from afar, but it is a cruel fate that a father cannot recognize his own daughter. But Rosa's calmness touched us deeply. A goodbye, although it is a goodbye, but there is no resentment or hatred, only endless reluctance, endless love.
When we can forgive harm, all we give to the world is love. At the beginning of this article, I said that this film reminds me of my own nation and the mothers around me. They have endured the sufferings of this era, some have died, and some still live hard and strong. I always remember a scene in my memory, that was when my elder uncle passed away, a group of women in funeral clothes gathered in a circle and folded paper flowers. Mother and aunt are next to each other. Their usual relationship is not good, and their eyes are deeply immersed in sadness and haggard. But they were talking and laughing, in a slower tone than usual. A group of women, talking about household trivial matters, laughed without hesitation when they were happy. I saw the aunt smile and hit her mother's arm, as if to blame her for not saying such a thing.
I always remember this picture, the black clothes and the white paper flowers, and the golden sunlight and laughter. I feel that Almodovar and I share the same feelings, and I am amazed by the stubborn attitude of women in the face of suffering. But I prefer to attribute this power to love, love this miserable world, and love the same kind who hurt each other.
The love of the world, in the face of the times and fate, is often just a weak and sad melody, a whisper. It's like a few short harmonica plays throughout the movie, broken, dumb, and powerless. But it is undoubtedly the only sound in the world. The things that have allowed us to survive today.
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