Ruan Fengyi, who is good at shooting delicate emotions, launched her first debut film - "American Girl", whether it is her choice of family perspective, or the presentation of a family problem contradiction is extremely real, which also makes the film receive many award nominations, Ruan Fengyi is famous for this work is not a problem.
The relationship between a family gradually deteriorates, and in the deterioration, it is reconciled because of a certain opportunity, which is what countless families have ever had
Yes
At the same time, while "American Girl" throws this kind of real problem on the screen, it is also trying to make the film's depressing main tone warm and soft in a way that everyone can understand.
"American Girl" is not a copy of the main trunk of the output of emotions, the audience experienced from the family relationship and affection are from some small details in the film
Characterization
。 There are no similar big things happening in the family, but being able to understand the difficulties of each person and their various behaviors and choices is a completely "wrapped" real feeling.
Cultural differences in the living environment lead to the generation of a "potential sense of superiority"
"American Girl" set the time background in a more special year 2003, in this year, the outbreak of SARS in China, many people's lives and families have been greatly affected. The three mothers and daughters in the film returned to Taiwan from the United States, because their mother Wang Lili suffered from breast cancer, because she did not have enough money to bear the medical expenses abroad, and chose to return to China for treatment.
This change in living environment does not feel too strongly for Wang Lili, after all, she did not live in the United States from the beginning, and she is still an authentic Chinese. The United States is more like a foreign land with nowhere to put herself, but for her two children who grew up in the United States, it is strange to return to their hometown.
This strangeness does not only come from the living environment, from a spacious room to a small room where the family is crowded together, the cramped space only comes from external objects, and more is the unwillingness to accept it inside.
When the mother and daughter three returned to China, the two daughters were still communicating in English, did not say Chinese, it was the mother who reminded the two to use Chinese dialogue with their fathers, and the eldest daughter used Chinese and English interspersed ways to try to change her habit of speaking.
This difference in language can be changed, and it only takes a slow break of her habits, and what is really not used to it is her inadaptability to the way of schooling. For an adolescent child, most of the time is living in school, Liang Fangyi thinks that the campus environment is relaxed and happy, she does not understand why the teacher will use stick education to let them study well, nor do she understand that after her grades decline, she needs to face the punishment of sticks.
This heartfelt incomprehension makes Liang Fangyi unwilling to accept and change, and she still firmly believes that she can still return to the United States, and returning to China is only a short-term sojourn. Therefore, Liang Fangyi's academic performance can not even reach the passing line, and she is regarded as a bad student by other parents, and Liang Fangyi cannot make friends normally like she did in the United States.
The main reason for Liang Fangyi's situation is the cultural differences in the living environment, which makes her have a potential sense of superiority, just like she thinks that she can't see horses in China, only in the United States, she doesn't recognize domestic development, and thinks that the United States is better. It also made her friends in the United States, but she was reluctant to engage with more people, and subconsciously she did not think she could have a common topic with these people.
And this potential sense of superiority made others feel hostile to her, even if Liang Fangyi didn't say much
many
What to do, others are still easily offended by Liang Fangyi's superior cold, resulting in instinctively being less friendly to her, which also exacerbates Liang Fangyi's difficult situation.
At this time, Liang Fangyi and her sister had not yet been able to understand that their living environment was just different, and the way of education was only obviously different, existence was reasonable, and there was no so-called absolute good or bad, but this kind of thinking no one helped the two sisters to establish.
The stress of life turns into emotional stress, and the obscurity of expressing love becomes the biggest problem
The family that "American Girl" presents to us is always arguing, which makes people feel depressed, although this quarrel is also based on reality, and their problems and contradictions are not empty, but in the final analysis, everyone in this family expresses their love too cryptically.
Among them, the only transparent, less quarrelsome and more relaxed life is the little daughter, she has not really grown up, the perspective of the problem is more simple, so she will express her love for her parents and sister frankly, but also after the quarrel of everyone through the phenomenon to see the essence, understand that the love of the family is unchanged.
The reason why the mother Wang Lili in the film constantly loses her temper is because the pressure of illness has been transformed into her emotional pressure. As a mother, she shoulders many burdens in life, which naturally makes the whole family regard her mother's illness as a less important thing, in their view, strong mothers can continue to live a strong life even if they are sick.
Especially in the eyes of the eldest daughter Liang Fangyi, her mother is already sick and can live with a more positive attitude, and she should not say so many sad words to hit the whole family, it is the mother who makes everyone miserable. But Liang Fangyi ignored that her mother was also an ordinary person, and the pain was not only her body, but also her heart.
Wang Lili has the common sense of fear of death, but she has never told her family directly about this fear and concern for her body, but every time she receives treatment, her eyes are always frightened and always flickering, her body trembles slightly, and she swallows nervously.
But from the situation she is facing, her husband needs to go to work in a distance, the two are still in a different state, and when Wang Lili returns to China and lies in the same bed with her husband, the two do not have much communication, Wang Lili does not have the opportunity to put the problem on the table with her husband, so she will plant a complaint in her heart.
Wang Lili's husband is not much better, what he has to bear is the financial pressure of a family, he is naturally worried about his wife, and he also hopes to be able to accompany his wife and children, but the family's requirements for him are to change a big house, and the family's life also makes him have to continue to earn money to support the family, it is difficult to do both.
Liang Fangyi feels bad because of her mother's unpopular attitude, and the discomfort in school life makes her instinctively establish a self-defense mechanism, unwilling to tell anyone what she says, but everyone grits their teeth in the process, which is also their way of expressing love for their families.
It's just that this kind of love is not directly expressed in the form of language, but hidden in the heart, so that the other party does not worry about their own worries, but often this kind of obscurity, so that people can not feel each other's intentions, over time will evolve into no one understands their situation and sadness, all the pressure is converted into emotional pressure, with an opportunity to completely explode.
This is not a true portrayal of countless Chinese families, the film is named after "American Girl", but in the end, it is still a Chinese story.
The closer you are, the more harsh you are, and the touch of real life doesn't have to be the same everywhere
Perhaps looking at this work today, because the family is suspected of being isolated from SARS, it is the experience of some people during the epidemic, and a large number of people may not necessarily have similar moments. But the film's depiction of family affection is true enough that the mother feels that her daughter is isolated
Anxious
Anxiety has also caused many suppressed family problems to erupt in an instant.
Treat the people around us, we are often closer and easier to be harsh, people's requirements for others are often higher than their own requirements, even in the case of two people have a gap, it is easy to deal with the problem with a hostile posture, when the contradiction is not resolved, the hostile emotions will become more and more intense.
In the film, Wang Lili and her husband have no way to accompany their wives at home because they have to go to Shenzhen for a long time, which makes Wang Lili very dissatisfied, and she hopes that her husband can care about herself and regard her illness as a big thing. However, the husband also has practical difficulties, he must earn money to support the family, to see his wife, which makes the two people do not understand each other's situation and mood, directly contradictory.
This also causes the two to always be on opposite sides on the same issue, such as the young daughter is sick with fever, in the husband's view, taking medicine at home is a safe and effective way, but Wang Lili is determined to take her daughter to the hospital to see a doctor, the result is that because of suspected SARS was isolated, the contradiction between the husband and wife was completely pushed to a high point.
This phenomenon is very common in life, but this kind of husband and wife problem is not insoluble, once the two agree on the same thing, they will relieve the contradiction and untie each other's knots, and this opportunity is for the two to educate the disobedient daughter together.
"American Girl" is a wonderful group portrait film, each character can make people feel a sense of substitution, their joys and sorrows are real and empathetic, so that the audience has a feeling of being in their environment and situation, but also will produce this intuitive feeling of emotion, and this real touch does not require the audience and the characters to have all the experiences everywhere.
"American Girl" depicts family relationships and family ties delicately enough, and the details of life are integrated into this movie, which inevitably makes people feel real and powerless. Until the end, the film did not give a sudden twist and happy ending, but left the audience with unlimited room for reverie, but it was enough to make people believe that the family's problems would eventually be solved.