In the theater file of Chinese mainland May, popular films such as "Roma", "How to Be Home" and "Avengers 4: Endgame" have been given great attention by theaters and film critics. Compared with these popular films, the relatively unpopular literary and art film "Above the Clouds" is somewhat deserted.
Poster of "Above the Clouds"
Stills from "Above the Clouds"
To be fair, the plot and shooting method of "Above the Clouds" are still remarkable. Set in the slums of India and directed by Oscar-nominated film director Majid Majidi, the film continues the warmth of the classic film Little Shoes.
The warmth of human nature in a cruel life
Compared with some films with the theme of "the bottom", "Above the Clouds" has a bright beginning. Cheerful music, energetic young people, the bustling and crowded environment of India's streets... The story begins with a "delivery" between the male protagonist Emile and his friends. However, with the development of time and plot, the truth and cruelty of life are slowly revealed.
The storyline of "Above the Clouds" is not complicated. Emile and her sister Tara are orphans. When they were very young, their parents died in a car accident. The two siblings, who were originally dependent on each other, parted ways because Tara had an ex-husband with domestic violence. The helpless Emir became a small at the bottom of society.
Once, in order to protect her brother Emile, Tara was harassed by Akash, the owner of the bathhouse who coveted her for many years. In a hurry, she severely injured him with a stone. This act of forced self-defense was identified by the police as a violent act, and Tara was put in jail. The suffering of the sisters and brothers, Emile and Tara, began with this accident and accident.
In order to prove his sister's innocence, Emir had to take care of the injured Akash, hoping that the other party would one day tell the truth and clear Tara's innocence. In the process of Emir's care for Akash, many problems, temptations and tests followed, and the problems of poverty and injustice in the lower society gradually emerged. Many of the contradictions focused on the Emir's choices each time. In the face of a hopeless life, do you choose to go along with the flow and fall into the abyss of sin, or do you continue to stick to your bottom line and conscience? In the face of sin and harm, do you choose to forgive or cure evil with evil? For Emile, every step of life's decision is extremely difficult.
For most of the time, the emile suppresses his emotions, playing the role of an "emotionally stable adult." Kind, he took in Akash's elderly mother and two young daughters in the stormy night, and used a box of cheap colored pens to draw with two little girls, bringing them the simplest happiness, and the film's human warmth was revealed again.
Dedicated to you in the midst of adversity
In the film, Emile and Tara are like two sunflowers that grow tenaciously in a life of suffering. As long as there is sunlight, they will stubbornly raise their heads and grow in the direction of sunlight. That's where the tension of "Above the Clouds" lies.
As mentioned earlier, each choice of emile is actually a test. There is a detail in the film that is touching. In order to bail Tara, the emir needs a large sum of money. If he sold Akash's eldest daughter, he would have gotten the money. Emile took the little girl on a ferry boat crossing the river. The boats traveled slowly, and the poisonous sunlight shone on them like it was roasting the emile's conscience. What will he choose between a "nice guy" and a "jerk"?
In the end, the Emir stuck to his bottom line. He hid the little girl in the cabin, and the two escaped. Soon after, however, Amir was beaten to the point that the beaters were beaten and bruised, paying a terrible price.
Later, a badly injured Akash died. Will Tara eventually regain her freedom? What happened to the emile? The film doesn't give an answer in the end. However, the ending of the story no longer seems to matter. Director Majid Majidi deliberately left such a gap to allow the audience to imagine the end of the story for themselves. If you believe in beauty, then "above the clouds" there will be a shadow of freedom.
In fact, throughout the whole film, the most touching part is the ending. In prison, Tara comforted the little boy Jodu, who had lost his mother: "Your mother went to the moon, and it was a place where there was no sickness. Your mom will be watching us all the time on the moon, so we're going to be happy and happy. Jodhu asked Tara, "What is the moon?" "Jodu, who grew up in prison, never saw the moon. The kind Tara used a ring to intercede with the prison guards for Jodu, in exchange for a chance to open the doors and windows and let him watch the moon.
It was a stormy night. Under the storm, the moon could not be seen at all. But we saw Tara and Jodu's hands sticking out of the prison and clasping together. Director Majid Majidi seems to be showing people in this way that in the face of life's adversity and suffering, what really matters is the hands we clasp each other in the wind and rain. (Ding Qiao)