Faced with the death of her mother and the decision of the adults to pass her on to her uncle, she accepted in silence, and on the eve of her departure, she was still playing the game as usual, and her friend asked her, "Why don't you cry?" She didn't answer, just looked at the fireworks blooming in the night sky, as if it were some kind of ritual. Looking at her grandparents waving outside the car and the friends who chased her to say goodbye to her, she hugged the doll tightly, her expression calm as an outsider, but she knew clearly that there was a new life waiting for her from afar- the summer of '93.
In the new environment, uncles, aunts, cousins will become new fathers, new mothers, new sisters, as well as neighbor uncles who adapt to raising chickens, fat aunts who sell meat, community doctors, new friends' mothers, and their pitiful, wary eyes... Everything is sudden and powerless to change. After all, the rules in the world are all set by adults, just like milk, and you can't avoid it if you don't like to drink it. Frida didn't like the feeling of sharing love from her sister, who had been pampered and didn't even have to tie her own shoelaces. Here, however, I have to rely on the display of dolls to prove that I am loved. But people who are not worried about lack of love do not need to work hard to prove it.
Trying to hide your unhappiness may be able to fool others, but you can't fool yourself. Seeing the new family's intimate dance, and even seeing the calves in the mountains snuggling up to the big cows, Frida felt both jealous and sad. Unable to get through to her mother's phone, she could only give her cigarettes, clothes, and thoughts to her mother, and let her hand over to her mother.
The new one is actually not bad at all, and has a very inclusive love for Frida. Frida is allergic to cats, so they send the cat they have kept for a long time, and Frida, who has a sister's share, also has it, whether it is the dance on the back of the new father's foot or the new mother's bed. However, it is not easy to bridge gaps and barriers. Hiding his sister in a tree hole, harming his sister from drowning, making a big fuss because his pajamas were different from his sister's, and trying to run away from home... These accidents caused by jealousy and misunderstanding labeled Frida "dangerous" and "lack of tutoring". It is true that such Frida does not look like a well-behaved child, but even the infant in the swaddling struggles to discern his own power in the world, not to mention that the lost mother is constantly testing whether there is a loving child around him.
"What are you doing?" "I'm going home." "Why?" "No one here loves me." "I love you." Frida's conversation with her sister must have lit up a light in Frida's heart. And lasting love will eventually melt away all doubts and uncertainties. When Frida first asked about her mother's death, she was loving enough to face the fact that her mother had died. The new mother's sincere answer also relieved Frida of the last regret in her heart. The portrait of her grandmother giving her mother at her first communion, her old clothes, and the icon that served as an intermediary to her mother suddenly dissipated the oppressive feeling of the dark, flickering, and deliberately hidden traces of her mother in the film.
At the end, Frida, who was playing with her family, suddenly burst into tears, and the long-suppressed and hidden sadness finally found an outlet. Only those who are full of heart dare to admit loss, and those who are loved dare to cry in front of people, because they are sure that someone will come to comfort them, and someone will come to wipe away their tears. So the touch at this moment is no longer just because of Frida's story, but for the grievances and loneliness that he hid in his heart since childhood, he suddenly wants to give himself a hug, thank himself for bravely walking through the pain, no matter how anxious and wandering the moment, he believes that warmth has always been there.
The performance traces of the film are very faint, and there is even a sense of realism of a family documentary. It is said to be the director's autobiographical narrative film, which expresses inner emotions implicitly and in place, and indeed fully reflects the delicacy of the female director and is a masterpiece that can resonate.