What is the hottest Taiwan drama in 2019?
Undoubtedly, it is "Want to See You" starring Xu Guanghan.
The Douban score has soared from 8.0 in the opening 1,000 people to 9.2 in more than 360,000 people now, which is a miracle.
In addition to this 2019 "Best Taiwan Drama", Xu Guanghan also contributed another "Best of the Year" - "Sunshine", which won a number of film awards including Best Feature Feature.
"Sunshine" and the equally award-winning, family-focused film "The Long Day" have many similarities:
Both also focus on intergenerational relationships in families, with family affection as the main contradiction.
Even the angle of entry is surprisingly consistent, taking the route of seeing the big in the small, trying to allude to the crux of society and the times with individual tragedies.
The only difference is that the former does not forget to tell the warmth of the family in the midst of the pain, and eventually leads to reconciliation.
The latter hides a gloomy and cold core under the sun-drenched picture:
The family is both a haven for life and a breeding ground for tragedy.
The story begins on a cold, rainy night.
The youngest son, Ah He, is bullied by Black Wheel, and he finds his friend Caitou to avenge himself.
Originally, I thought that the head of the dish was just to scare the black wheel, but I did not expect that the poisonous head of the dish actually cut off the hand of the black wheel.
Ah He and Cai Tou were also sentenced to serve their sentences in juvenile childcare institutions.
In the face of his wife's grief, the husband Arwen seemed unimpressed.
After all, in his eyes, Ah He, who did not learn any skills, was an "outcast", and he had already pinned all his hopes on his eldest son, Ah Hao.
Unlike Ah He, Ah Hao is the eldest son of the family who is obedient and sensible, the most outstanding student in the school, and a model with a bright future and a bright future in the eyes of everyone.
To Ah He, Ah Hao is too powerful a person, so powerful that he must hate him to feel his presence.
The relationship between them is like that of the brothers and brothers in the prose collection These People, Those Things:
The older brother, who had always been expected by the family, eventually became a writer.
The younger brother, although he was clever and clever since childhood, has become a lone ghost in the city, with a vague future and no direction.
In the end, the younger brother repeatedly fell and was overwhelmed and committed suicide.
He left a brief suicide note:
"Big brother, you said that you have to take care of the family, I am more at ease, hard work for you." However, when you are a younger sibling, it is also very hard. "
Under the existence of poles and poles, it is the tearing between flesh and blood, and it is the burden of one party in the end.
However, in "Sunshine", it was Ahao who gave up.
On a calm night, he jumped from a tall building and ended his young life.
Ahao's death was like a hand choking everyone's throat.
No one understands, why? Why would such a well-behaved child make such a sudden move?
Until Ahao's text message to a friend before his death, exposed the reason for everything:
"In this world, the fairest thing is the sun, regardless of latitude, every place accounts for half of the time of day and half of the time of darkness throughout the year... I looked around, not only these animals had shadows to hide, but you, my brother, and even Sima Guang could find a corner with shadows. But I didn't, I didn't have a water tank, there was no darkness, only sunlight, twenty-four hours a day, bright and warm, full of sunshine. "
The two brothers were labeled "good" and "bad" early on, "promising" and "not out of the ordinary".
Ah He lives in the shadows, while Ah Hao is forever exposed to the sun and receives everyone's attention.
He needs to be good, he needs to not get into trouble, he needs to be liked, he needs to do what everyone thinks is right.
Especially after his brother was imprisoned in a correctional facility, he was even more saddled with the "hope of the whole family".
But even the sun has a time to set.
All things need to hide in the shadows for a short rest before the spirit to continue to work hard the next day.
But what about Ahao?
"There is no darkness, only sunlight, 24 hours a day, bright and warm, the sun shines."
He has no shadow, and the world does not allow him to have shadow.
Endless expectations pressed against Ahao's chest, gradually suffocating him.
He had nowhere to hide, much less escape from the harsh sunlight and get even a second of respite.
Finally, the sensitive boy fell in the sunlight.
In a way, the family is a microcosm of a traditional Chinese family:
Mothers who spoil their children and do not have much say, the eldest son who carries too many expectations and the second son who is tragically raised.
In particular, father Arwen strictly follows the classic image constructed by Ang Lee's "Father Trilogy": taciturn, grumpy, and stubborn.
This is the cause behind the tragedy: the lingering shadow of patriarchy.
That is to say, the "murderer" who caused the collapse of the family is no one else, but Arwen, who prides himself on being the pillar of the family.
What he thinks of as "paying for love" is actually hurt in the name of love.
It is also he who constantly creates antagonisms, turning father-son relationship into a war for resources.
If you use the words of actor Chen Yiwen to describe it, it is "father's love is like sunshine and shadow, two sides of the same body."
In the process of education, he only knew how to instill dogma and force goal setting, and finally forced Ahao to a dead end.
And because of his favoritism and indifference, he contributed to ah he's fall.
After encountering school bullying, Ah He, who did not get care, reacted to not complaining, but joining the boxing team, and as a result, he became a problem teenager who spoke with his fists.
The most terrible thing is that after losing Ahao, this "pay for love" continues.
At the end of the movie, the father Arwen will be killed by the head of the dish who has been looking for Ah He and trouble since his release from prison, in order to hope that the younger son can move in the right direction of life.
Arvin's actions seem selfless and tragic, but why not another kind of self-motivation and moral kidnapping?
He only considered taking the blame for his son, but he did not think about whether the child would like him to pay like this.
As the director said in the interview, "The so-called fatherly kindness and filial piety, those are all kings and bastards, all of which are deceitful."
Alternatively, it can be explained by the line of "Little Joy": "The love of parents is actually conditional." "
Imagine if Ah Hao were still alive, would he take a risk for the sake of "trashing" Ah He?
The answer, I'm afraid, doesn't have to think about it to know.
The English name of the film is "A SUN", and I believe that fans with hearts can see what the intention is.
"A SUN" is homophonous with "A SON", which means that the father only admits that he has only one son.
After the eldest son Ah Hao, who had high hopes, left, the father finally began to re-examine the younger son Ah He, who had never even looked at him.
The film is ostensibly a story about family reconciliation, but the family of four has never really been in the same frame.
Superficial consummation does not disguise what cannot be reconciled after all.
In the film, Arwen and his two sons are connected through a surreal dream.
Arwen dreamed of Ahao, and Ahao said to him, "Just come to see you."
At the fork in the road, Ahao said, "Dad, I'm not with you anymore, I'll go this way."
Arwen continued to walk forward and met Ah He at the convenience store.
A long-lost "dad" made him understand that the second son, whom he never accepted, became his only son.
Coincidentally, Ah Hao also dreamed to Ah He and said the same thing to him, "Just come to see you."
"A SUN" leaves, "A SON" is reborn, and the film realizes the warmest care for real life between the combination of virtual and real.
At the end of the film, the film gives his father Arwen a long shot of the notebook that Ah Hao gives.
From the lens, the notebook has traces of being flipped through, but there is no word on it.
Although Ah Hao felt the strong father's love, he was never able to lift it.
In fact, whether it is the heart knot between Arwen and Ah He, what Arwen does to Caitou, or the fatherly love entanglement between Arwen and Ah Hao...
Many things are destined to be irreconcilable.
Just as we must admit that there will be darkness under the sun, and there will be sunshine under the darkness, it is good to admit it.
This is also what I like most about "Sunshine", it is not a positive energy movie that teaches people how to get out of the shadows and must be reconciled. It is precisely facing the dark, rugged and broken life.
In life, there is sunshine, there is shadow, there is cruelty, there is warmth, there is life, some people die, there are regrets that cannot be recovered, and there is also a fate that cannot be changed.
We carried a lot, cried and laughed, and continued to live.
As father Arwen said: "Life is to constantly grasp the time and grasp the direction, and sad things will always pass and will be forgotten." I have always felt that life is like a road, as long as you hold the steering wheel in your hand, the red light should stop, the green light should start slowly, open steadily, and the road of life will be safe. "