Look, on the monotonous green sea in this area, there is a bunch of sparkling things that you rarely see. It was as if a large group of fish had come up from the bottom of the sea, revealing its shining dorsal fin between the waves, but in fact there was nothing but a cluster of waves.
As Kore-eda's feature film debut, The Illusion of Light tells the story of a woman who has to figure out the reason for her husband's suicide to survive the psychological disaster, and the film portrays emotions and psychology through light and shadow and images, which greatly reduces the narrative. Like deliberately "leaving blank" in key places, there is often a long shot after the character dialogue and activities are over, as if intriguing and unreasonable, so that the overall rhythm is always maintained in a soothing and peaceful state.
<h1>First, the back of childhood has become a lingering question</h1>
When Yumiko was a child, her grandmother always ran away from home, insisting on returning from the city to the countryside to grow old, and once never returned. Later, Yumiko married and had children, living a poor but happy little life, and one day her husband Ikuo unexpectedly left.
After a few years of widowhood, Yumiko married Minxiong with her young son, a remote village surrounded by mountains and seas. Since then, I have lived a simple life of stability and happiness, day after day. But in her heart, there was always a lingering question buried, she did not understand why Yufu committed suicide. A series of unexpected events cause Yumiko to run away from home, and when she comes to the beach, she can't think of dispatching, and Minxiong chases after her and answers Yumiko's lingering questions.
At the beginning of the film, the young Yumiko catches up with her grandmother to persuade her to go home, and the grandmother insists on returning to the countryside to grow old, only a few words but a long aftertaste, like the passage in "Seeing", "I slowly, slowly learned that the so-called father-daughter mother-son relationship only means that you and his fate are constantly watching his back in this life and this life. You stand at this end of the path, watching him fade away into the bend of the path, and he silently tells you with his back: no need to chase. Grandma wanted to return to the roots of the fallen leaves, felt that she must go back to that place, had a soft attitude, and gently released Yumiko's hand, and Yumiko stood in the same place at that time, not knowing how to react, so Grandma waddled away.
This is probably the first question for the young Yumiko: Why did Grandma leave?
From then on, Grandma became a nightmare for Yumiko, and she remained in the scene where she could not save Grandma's departure, and she was afraid of losing it again. At this time, Yufu clearly replied to her, "I am not the embodiment of your grandmother."
Then, the camera switches to the daily life of the husband and wife, the two have three sons, although they live in poverty, but they are very much in love.
(The picture shows the two chatting and secretly brushing the bicycle green)
Yumiko is overjoyed, she sneaks to the factory when Ikuo is working, sticks to the glass, and squashs her face as if to watch him work, Ikuo is also interested in Yumiko's freckles, they enjoy each other's lives, and are willing to share everything.
<h1>Second, witness the departure of those close to you again and ask about the meaning of life and death</h1>
Then Ikuo also left, without warning—like his grandmother did. The only choice left to the living is to accept. When the police find Yumiko, everything happens quickly and unrealistically. "I hope you go to check it out" At that moment, Yumiko must have flashed a lot of thoughts, maybe luck, maybe trepidation, only afraid that Ikuo would be like a grandmother, never to return. And she was unconscious.
Yumiko, who accepted the reality, quickly calmed down, spent a few years alone with the child, the greetings and enthusiasm of the neighbors wrapped her, not too bad, but also lonely and a few years later, Yumiko married the people of his hometown, the days gradually began to become clearer, Yugo is the second question she can't escape, since then, Yumiko has never really put down, always asking, and it is difficult to know the answer.
When I heard the laughter of Minxiong and Yongichi coming out of the bathroom, I couldn't help but think: How happy I would be if it wasn't Minxiong but you. As soon as I thought about it, I felt a chill on my waist, a little fidgety, and fell into an unwarranted fear. It's not about myself, it's a fear of you, the one who suddenly disappeared from the world, why would you want to die? Why have you been walking in the middle of the railway until the moment the wheels of the train rolled over? Where are you going to go as you walk like that?
There is a scene of children playing and playing, there are mountains and water, there are light and shadow and background, seemingly irrelevant, pure and impressive
The old woman nearby had never returned to the sea, which made her memories ripple again, and the woman had asked her before leaving that she wanted a few crabs.
Still thinking of her deceased wife's husband, the remote countryside, the obedient and sensible children, and the gentle relatives, life moves forward step by step, getting a little better, but sometimes it still inadvertently touches the doubts in Yumiko's heart
After all, she couldn't understand why her loved ones always left so quietly? Mixed in the mood of self-blame and sadness, Yumiko walked along the funeral procession, perhaps the mourning made her get some kind of peace, she was always searching for an answer, the answer was mixed between life and death, ordinary and deeply penetrated into life, but it was always silent, not a word.
<h1>Third, give up asking for answers, and release the nostalgia for death</h1>
The husband who came after her told her that her father had seen an unusually beautiful light when he went to sea, and perhaps the light had taken away people, that is, the "illusory light".
"At some point, my heart became a sea of calm again. It was the same feeling that twenty years ago the police came to search my house under the bed, and I was lying on my mother's knee with my elbows empty. The sea roared, the windows swaying in the wind and rain, and your figure swaying on the railway after the rain, all left me, and I sank into a deep silence. Winter has passed, spring has arrived, and Yongichi has also entered elementary school. What exactly Minxiong was saying, I have not asked
He, but I've been thinking about it ever since I hit that. Is there really a mental illness in this world? Is this illness physical or mental? I'm afraid it's not just physical pathology. Does man really suffer from a disease that has been stripped of his spirit? I thought deeper and deeper. People who have suffered from this disease may be like the zengmuhai in front of them, and the changes are endless. Of course, the waves that burst out at that moment will also reflect the incomparable beauty. ”
The film's bright and brisk soundtrack seems to describe life and death as a very peaceful thing, and finally Yumiko is also healed by life, and the family travels on a bicycle, I don't know if life really heals Yumiko, or life must go in this direction, whether the illusory light really exists cannot be verified, but people who pursue the illusory light will always exist.