Foreword: "Little Girl Fishing" is based on Yan Geling's novel of the same name, which won 3 nominations at the 32nd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Golden Horse Awards. The film mainly portrays cultural conflicts and the awakening of women's consciousness.
In order to help her half-time boyfriend Jiang Wei share the pressure, the protagonist Xiaoyu illegally came to New York from China to work as a laborer. Jiang Wei is anxious to get out of the predicament of life, and convinces Xiaoyu to fake marriage with Mario, an old Italian man, in order to obtain a green card.
Old Man Mario looks like a sloppy gambler with a bunch of gambling debts, but he has a past that is both beautiful and helpless, and Xiaoyu begins to take care of him after learning about his background. Mario was also touched by Xiaoyu's simplicity and began to regain the hope of life and write again. The two gradually became entangled in the delicate feelings between father and daughter and lover.
When Xiaoyu gets his green card, Mario's physical condition becomes very bad. Xiaoyu couldn't bear to leave him and wanted to stay and take care of him for a while, but was strongly opposed by Jiang Wei, and Xiaoyu had to make his own choice in this dilemma. In the end, Xiaoyu followed his inner choice and stayed with Mario.
So, how did the girl Xiaoyu grow from a traditional girl who lived dependent on men to a person with an independent consciousness and a self? I try to analyze it from the following three aspects. In the last part, I'll talk about some thoughts that the film brings.
The confusion and confusion of the previous generation of immigrants, the hardships and the heartache
In the first half of her life, the young girl Xiaoyu lived for Jiang Wei, lived for others, was sold, and passively accepted
In the second half of her life, the young girl Xiaoyu grew up, awakened her self-awareness, learned to live for herself, and took the initiative to make choices
<h1>01 The confusion and confusion of immigrants, hardship and heartache</h1>
Xiaoyu followed Jiang Wei to New York, USA, she is an illegal immigrant, no green card, can only hide in various ways, take the minimum wage, do the most onerous work, and survive like an ant.
Jiang Wei had to work in the vegetable market every day, helping to kill and move fish in the middle of the night. In addition, there is school homework to do, and you have to work hard to get a scholarship to be able to maintain your life in New York.
Once he was so sleepy that he fell asleep while doing his homework. The alarm went off several times before he woke up, and he hurried to the place where he worked, already two hours late. Scolded by the boss to the point of bloodshed, he was fired on the spot. Jiang Wei pleaded bitterly with the boss, and the boss asked him to stay.
Jiang Wei actually studied art, and he hated the fishy smell of the market very much, but forced to make a living, he had to work and study half-time. Share a flat house with someone else. Whenever he rested, the most common sentence he hung on his lips was: Sleep, you want to sleep. No matter how good the sun was outside, he was not rare and just wanted to sleep.
I think that no one will like such a life, and Jiang Wei is no exception, he does not want to suffer these sufferings. But he had to suffer, to survive in New York, to finish his studies.
Another of his friends, Lao Chai, also immigrated to New York very early. Lao Chai's greatest wish in life is to reunite his family and live a happy and happy life. There is a scene in the play where Lao Chai invites everyone to eat hot pot and says words of thanks. Thanks to everyone for taking care of him, the family was finally reunited. The wife and children were taken over, but they were 18,000 miles away from the happy life they had originally wanted.
Lao Chai's wife, like Xiao Yu, works for people in a factory in Chinatown and steps on a sewing machine every day. Wages are per piece. Two children, one son and one daughter.
The mother stepped on the sewing machine, and the child slept and played to the rumbling sound of the machine. If there is a good environment and better options, who would want their children to grow up in such a place?
An old Chinese song sounded, sitting in a foreign country, hearing this familiar melody, she couldn't help but hum it. All the textile women were listening.
At this moment, they have the same fate, the same mourning, the same nostalgia. The lyrics express your heart. How many bitter past, how many bitter tears, who knows?
Is such a life happy? Hardly. Couples like Lao Chai may have a very decent job in China and can live a good life. But they desperately immigrated to the United States. Is America really heaven? Is New York really as beautiful as everyone says?
The bitterness is known only to oneself. Most of the people who have immigrated to the past are crowded in cramped rooms, where is there life? Some are just survival.
Every day, I looked up at the rising sun, and then walked into the factory for a whole day, and when I came home from work, the lights had already begun. Buy the cheapest dish, be reluctant to eat hairy crab, go back to your rental house, and sleep.
As for dreams, it is already too extravagant. Don't talk about dreams, just to survive, they have to do their best. Luckily, I got my green card and stayed in the United States. But many more people, people who can only go around hiding from immigration authorities, are immediately repatriated to China if they are discovered.
No matter how prosperous and lively this city is, what does it have to do with them? They seem to be just passers-by here, and it's hard to make a living here. For New York, they were just foreign travelers; for them, they wanted New York to be their home.
<h1>02 The first half of the girl Xiaoyu's life: living for others, passive acceptance, passive choice
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Xiaoyu is an orphan who was adopted by Jiang Wei's mother and grew up with Jiang Wei. Probably because of this relationship, she has always been very obedient, with typical traditional Chinese female qualities: gentle, obedient, patient, industrious, kind, sensible.
Jiang Wei came to the United States to study. Jiang Wei's mother was afraid that Jiang Wei alone would be too hard and arduous in New York, so she smuggled a small fishing stolen over and accompanied Jiang Wei, on the one hand, to solve physiological problems, on the other hand, to make some money to reduce the burden.
And Xiaoyu was very happy to come to New York, Jiang Wei and her green plum bamboo horse, of course she was willing to come. When Mario asked Xiaoyu, why did you come to New York? Xiaoyu gently spat out two words: Jiang Wei.
She lives for Jiang Wei, everything she does revolves around Jiang Wei, and she relies on Jiang Wei like a parasite on Jiang Wei's body.
When Jiang Wei asked her to fake marriage to an old man, she did not even resist, did not say a word of no, and obediently sold herself to an old man.
Small fishing is lucky. Fortunately, Mario is not a lewd and perverted old man, but is very kind to the little fish. Imagine if Xiaoyu met a perverted and lewd old man, what could she do? Anyway, in the legal process, they are already a legal couple, if the old man really wants to do something to her, how can she resist?
Simple Xiaoyu didn't even think about this, just listened to Jiang Wei's words, and Jiang Wei asked her to do whatever she wanted.
There are two details in the film, Mario asks Jiang Wei, does the girl know who to marry? Jiang Wei responded domineeringly: "She had no choice."
Another detail was that Mario and Xiaoyu were eating at the table, Mario praised Xiaoyu, spoke very good English, and Xiaoyu, with a little bit of pride, raised his face and looked up at Mario and said, "In American, I had do." ”
Yes, Xiaoyu did not have her own life in this life, she just listened to Jiang Wei and listened to Jiang Wei's mother. Does she have a choice? She had to, and she was used to doing it. I saved my own salary and bought a hairy crab. After cooking at home, she ate with Jiang Wei, she only nibbled on two crab feet herself, and all the rest was left to Jiang Wei. And Jiang Wei ate it unceremoniously, without the slightest hesitation.
This mode of getting along between them is not formed overnight, but accumulated over time. Jiang Wei was accustomed to Xiaoyu's efforts and forbearance, Xiaoyu was just an accessory, a commodity to him, and even making love was just a kind of possession.
In the face of Jiang Wei's derailment, Xiaoyu sat in the rental house in Jiangbei and waited for him all night, but did not see him return. After that, she wanted to question Jiang Wei, but Jiang Wei was annoyed and embarrassed and prevaricating with a sentence, "I read all night at Lao Chai's place, and you don't believe you to ask him." Xiaoyu stood on the side of the road and cried, and Jiang Wei just hugged her in the past, saying don't cry, is it shameful to lose people?
And Xiaoyu forgave Jiang Wei in this way, she had doubts in her heart, even if she saw him come out of the bar with her own eyes, he had a leg with the Shanghai girl, Xiaoyu still chose to forgive him and trust him.
Xiaoyu has no life of his own, his own life, and his ideals. She lived completely for Jiang Wei, with Jiang Wei as the center. If there is no fake marriage, she should be a good wife and mother, continue to pay for Jiang Wei, and work hard for a lifetime.
<h1>03 The second half of the girl Xiaoyu's life: self-awareness awakening, learning to say no, and making their own choices</h1>
What really made Xiaoyu change was not Jiang Wei, but the old man Mario. Xiaoyu was used to saying, sorry, thank you, but Mario told her that she didn't need to say sorry or thank you either. Live according to your own ideas and respect your own life.
When Xiaoyu found out that Jiang Wei had cheated, she was supposed to interview with Mario at the Immigration Bureau on the second day, and she could get a green card after passing the interview. But she told Mario that she wasn't going. Mario asked her: Why? Xiaoyu said, I don't want to go. Mario told her, "If you don't go then we won't go, I respect your choice, but not Jiang Wei's." ”
Mario demonstrated firsthand what respect is and what a sense of autonomy is.
The current day Xiaoyu and Mario walked the streets of New York in order to pass the interview with the immigration bureau, laughing, and the two of them talked to each other. Mario went to xiaoyu's usual place to buy vegetables, approached her life, learned about her life, and when Xiaoyu was bumped by strangers, Mario was even willing to learn Chinese for Xiaoyu and scold people for her.
When they were by the river, they chatted happily, and I thought this was probably the happiest time for Xiaoyu. When the weather is clear, she wants to go out with Jiang Wei, and Jiang Wei only wants to sleep, she looks at the sun outside but can only stay in the rental house with Jiang Wei.
But after living with Mario, Xiaoyu has a real life. Mario made dinner for Xiaoyu and carefully prepared goblets, red wine. Xiaoyu washes Mario's clothes and makes Chinese Food, they take care of each other, kind and warm, inspiring each other. Mario rekindled her hopes for life and began to write, Xiaoyu temporarily left Jiang Wei, feeling happy and safe in this strange country for the first time.
It was Mario who taught her respect, taught her to have a sense of independence, and Mario asked her every time "What do you think about yourself?" ”
At the end of the film, Mario lies in bed because of a stroke, and Jiang Wei forces Xiaoyu to go downstairs with his luggage within 5 minutes. Xiaoyu pleaded with Jiang Wei to take care of Mario for two days before moving away, but Jiang Wei refused. Xiaoyu finally said the first no in his life, "Don't force me." In such a dilemma, Xiaoyu finally made a choice that was true to his heart and accompanied Mario.
Xiaoyu has finally grown. She was no longer the little fisherman who needed to rely on Jiang Wei to survive, but she began to have her own ideas, began to have her own life, and realized that she was also an independent person with thoughts.
No one knows what life will be like in the United States after xiaoyu. However, what is certain is that Xiaoyu is no longer the small fisherman who only promises, no longer the xiaoyu who only knows obedience, passive acceptance, passive compromise, passive choice, she has begun to have a sense of self, she can take the initiative to make choices.
In Yan Geling's novel, the ending of the young girl Xiaoyu is not like this. Xiaoyu followed Jiang Wei away. But I prefer the end of the film, Xiaoyu, who finally has a sense of self, and she grows into a truly independent woman. No longer attached to men, she has her own thoughts, she can choose her own life, her own love.
<h1>04 Some realistic reflections on the film
Because of a fake marriage, Xiaoyu's self-consciousness is awakened. She also began to re-examine her feelings and jiang wei's relationship and the mode of getting along. Start thinking. She went from being a person who was completely dependent on Jiang Wei to daring to rebel against Jiang Wei, which was a great growth. It is not that she took the green card and changed her mind, but because of this green card, she saw the people around her and saw herself clearly. After watching the film, it caused some thoughts about life and love:
(1) When love will disappear, you don't know, cherish the present
Mario's ex-wife, Rita, says that all of a sudden love is gone, and you don't know why. First you have to grow, and then you have to have love.
Does Xiaoyu love Jiang Wei? There is no doubt that in the beginning it was love. But after these events, it is difficult to say that she still has the same unconditional trust and unconditional love for Jiang Wei as before. Does Jiang Wei love small fish? Not necessarily, if he loves Xiaoyu, then how could he fool around with other women when Xiaoyu moved to Mario's house?
Xiaoyu has long been accustomed to paying silently, passive choice, passive acceptance, Jiang Wei takes all this for granted, have they ever thought about it, is this love?
When Mario was at the immigration bureau, she asked Xiaoyu if she would forgive Jiang Wei. Xiaoyu said he didn't know. Mario told her that he was actually very Arietta, "but I was too young to cherish at that time." "Old age is not an impulse not to regret being young.
There is respect and courtesy in love. Love you, so respect your every choice, even if I don't want to, but I respect you. When love is there, cherish it, and when love disappears, don't force it.
(2) Where is the destination of immigrants, and where is their real home?
Perhaps the biggest confusion for immigrants is that the old country is no longer the homeland, and the new country is not their homeland. They can't go back to their old homeland, and they can't integrate into the new country. They mingle between two different cultures, between two different kingdoms, trying to survive.
Where is the real life? Only by living will we have dreams and will we chase our dreams. When survival is difficult, who else will talk about dreams?
What exactly is immigration for? Is it to live in front of your family, the bragging and boasting after returning home, living in a false aura?
Got a green card, so what? Is it possible to truly integrate into the new country? The sense of belonging is always a cinnabar mole that haunts the heart. Where is the real hometown? Where do they go from here? The homeland is no longer the homeland, and the other country is still just another country.
(3) What is really your own life, your own choice?
No matter what stage of life you go to, what kind of choices you make, do you really think clearly, or live in confusion? Is it really Jiang Wei's choice to study abroad? Or is it to live up to the expectations of your family? Is the profession you are engaged in, the work you are doing now, really what you like, or are you just forced to survive?
The young girl Xiaoyu smuggled from Home to accompany Jiang Wei abroad, is this really her willingness?
We can't choose to be born, but when we are alive, we will also be trapped by many things. We don't know what kind of life we want, it's just that our parents arrange it this way, we do it, never thinking about respecting your life, it is your life.
Seeing Xiaoyu's self-growth, Xiaoyu's awakening of self-awareness, happy for her. But can you and I really make decisions for ourselves outside the film? Is our marriage our job up to us?
Gao Xiaosong said in an issue of "Strange Story" that it is necessary to have a consistent world view, and it is not possible to take out the Western set when we want freedom, and take out the Eastern set when we want money. When you choose a lifestyle, you have to pay for that lifestyle.
Maybe as Mario said, whatever choice you make, I respect you. But it's respectful of yours, not someone else's. Because this is your life, you have to learn to respect yourself and make your own decisions.