(This article was first published on the WeChat public account: Ye Xiaomu's Private Cinema)
01
There have been a lot of news about suicide recently. Middle school students in Guangdong, university secretaries, vice presidents in Hubei, and student couples in Gansu. It's all pretty sad. Suicide may be a "private matter", and no one else can interfere, but you have already done it yourself, and there are not many sequelae left behind - what will your living family do in the future? How do their psychological shadows recover? How does their life go on? etc.
There is a Japanese film, the famous director is Hirokazu Kore-eda's debut feature film, "Phantom Light", which is also about the same theme. The film was shot in 1995, 25 years ago. Starring Makiko Ekaku and Tadanobu Asano.
02
The story of "Phantom Light" is probably like this, Ayu and Yumiko are childhood sweethearts, and they naturally get married when they grow up. The newly married Yaner is incredibly sweet. When I took my husband out at work, the heroine was standing on the road. Just looking at her husband's back, I couldn't help laughing out loud. As soon as the child was born, the days went on like this naturally and warmly, until one day, the husband Ayu, played by Tadanobu Asano, committed suicide on the light rail track, facing the approaching train.
Now life is messed up. The child is only 3 months old. The heroine has no job and is in a very bad mood. Neighbors worry about her suicide every day. They come to see her from time to time. , take care of her daughter. Life has to go on, so when her son was 6 years old, a neighbor introduced her to a man from afar, and Yumiko remarried.
The new husband's home is by the sea, and the surrounding neighbors rely on the sea to eat the sea and make a living by fishing. Although the two were married for the second time, the days after the marriage were very happy and harmonious. Yumiko seems to have completely come out of the shadow of her ex-husband's suicide, but, in fact, she has not. Seeing someone holding a funeral by the sea, and seeing monks chanting sutras and ringing bells walking by in front of her, she began to be in a trance again, standing in the strong wind by the sea and not wanting to go home. Her husband drove to her, and she finally couldn't help but ask the question, "Tell me, why did he kill himself!" The husband said that some people may see "phantom light" as if something is calling They, so, they walked towards that light.
This answer to "Phantom Light" may have been made up casually, but as long as there is an answer, she will be satisfied. Everything was finally relieved. She was finally completely free.
03
The theme of Phantom Light is, "My husband committed suicide, what should I do?" Yeah, what should I do?
The answer given by the director is to continue to live bravely.
Although the theme of "Phantom Light" is heavy, the overall atmosphere of the film is not sad, and even very warm. The iconic family scenes that Hirokazu Kore-eda would later be best known for are also present in this debut novel—for example, in the summer, the family happily sits and eats watermelon in the corridor of a Japanese-style wooden building; the husband; Take the heroine and the ex-husband's son Xiaoyong to take a bath, and teach him to count numbers while playing; when her husband divorced, she had a daughter, and Yumiko chatted with her while helping her cut and comb her hair; when the two children were away from school, The two couples had sex happily and comfortably in the room until the strong, tall husband cried out for mercy. It's not a bad day, it's even beautiful.
However, the shadow is always there. Yumiko took her children out for shopping, and a green bicycle was parked on the side of the road, reminding her of the happy times of riding with her ex-husband. Some things will never be forgotten.
04
There are many movies about the suicide of relatives, such as the 2019 Golden Horse Award work, Zhong Menghong's "The Sunshine".
"The Sunshine" also wrote about death, which was also suicide. Ah Hao (played by Xu Guanghan) is the eldest son, handsome and sunny, with excellent grades and a bright future. Ah He is the youngest son. He doesn't like to read. He is a socialist. He has just been put in prison. As a result, Ah Hao committed suicide for no reason, and overnight, the father was left with only a young son he didn't like. Days have to go on, what should I do?
The youngest son, Ah He, is actually quite miserable. He has no education, no craftsmanship, and a criminal record, so the job is not easy to find. Finally someone was willing to take it in, he was very grateful and worked very hard. In order to support his wife and children, he worked hard to work two jobs, cashing in the supermarket during the day and washing the car in the car wash at night.
So, what is the father's choice? In the beginning, he gave up Ah He, and he was still thinking about the excellent eldest son. When the eldest son died, the rhythm of life and future plans were messed up. The father was so angry that he slept in the company every night and was unwilling to go home. Later, the father slowly changed, he began to try to care for this little son who was not living up to expectations but was working hard, secretly watching him go to work, secretly helping him pay off his debts. The climax of the movie is that there is a gangster who wants to pull a and go to drug trafficking. In order to protect his son, the father does not hesitate to break the law and drive the gangster to death.
The theme in "The Sunshine" is father's love, but the choice of the two young people, Ah Hao and Ah He, is also worth talking about. Ah Hao died recklessly, while Ah He worked hard to live by working two jobs despite not having a high degree of education and a criminal record.
In contrast, I admire Ah He who works hard and lives hard. Although he is not good enough, he is more worthy of living under the sunshine.
05
Death is the easiest thing to do. Living hard is the hardest thing.
It is Hirokazu Kore-eda's "The Light of Magic" and Zhong Menghong's "The Sunshine", both of which are saying the same thing.
Maybe it's because I don't have back pain when I stand and talk. When I just finished my supper, I wanted to say something to the teenagers who jumped off the building and the middle-aged who hanged themselves. Before taking action, it is best to think about the downstairs. The barbecue stall in the food street, look at this oyster, how fragrant!
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