The opening scene of "What a Home" is full of dramatic conflict and magic: according to the dialogue, it is Zane, a 12-year-old boy who is accused of murder, but in the next shot, Zane is on the plaintiff's seat in the courtroom. After the judge motioned for silence, Zane calmly and clearly filed a complaint against his parents: "Because they gave birth to me." ”
His parents gave birth to him, but they had no ability or will to raise him. Zane has no legal status, cannot go to school, water, food and other basic necessities of survival are all luxuries for him, in addition to his labor and abuse. To make matters worse, there are three or four siblings in similar situations in the family, and the mistake of "childbirth" continues, because parents believe that "preventing childbearing is a great sin" and that "childbirth" means either death, free labor, or a bride that can be sold...
The two-hour film, like a documentary, is like a documentary, true, delicate, and without trace. Through the perspective of a boy, the film shows the cruel life of the lowest level of Lebanon one by one, and uses the lens to restore the real life of countless children who experience similar to the male protagonist, and then solemnly brings it to the audience.
"What a Home" won the Jury Prize at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, was shortlisted for the 91st Academy Awards and the 76th Golden Globe Awards. As of the Nandu reporter's press release, its Douban score is as high as 8.8, and the comment area is full of "crying misery" - in fact, when "How to Be Home" was first screened at the Cannes International Film Festival (when it was released in Cannes, it was the literal translation of the name "Capernaum"), it created a large tear collapse scene of "thousands of people sobbing", and some media directly described it as a "tear harvester", which can be seen in the moving index.
From his return to Cannes last year to his quick debut at the Shanghai Film Festival – and the cannes film festival's chairman Fu Mao personally came to Shanghai to call it, this masterpiece finally landed in Chinese mainland theaters nearly a year later, and was released on April 29. The reputation accumulated all the way has now been effectively transformed into the box office - on the day of the premiere, "Why Home" fearless of "hegemonic" "Reunion 4", easily won more than 10 million yuan at the box office, and the attendance rate is still the highest among the new films in the file period, reaching 13.1%, which is much higher than the 9.8% of "Reunion 4" and the 6.7% of the literary film "Bumped into a Sheep", and the situation is very good. The data of "What a Home" is reminiscent of "Kailash", which created the miracle of literary and art films in 2015, and they have similar data curves and dark horses. As of the Nandu reporter's press release, the box office estimate of "Why Home" on the ticketing platform has been 152 million yuan - if the attendance rate continues to be powerful, and the subsequent schedule is blessed, its box office will go further higher, which is definitely not a dream. Nandu reporter Liu Ping'an
A
tale
Sensationalism, but not misery, because it is really miserable...
The cruel crusoe of a little boy, countless moments of being defeated by life
The film was originally translated as "Capernaum", and according to the director's interpretation, the word "Capernaum" is a place name in the Bible. It is said that Jesus moved here when he began his ministry, and because of the miracles he often performed here, Capernaum was called "his own city." But in English and French, the word means "repetitive" and "chaotic and irregular" in other ways. Undoubtedly, this is a title that is extremely suitable for the story of the film, but after being introduced to China, the title was changed to "Why Home" ——— "Home" that can be understood by Chinese, hitting the soul of the audience.
The burden of life is on the 12-year-old boy Zane, and the audience follows his perspective and appreciates the hardships of life: he and his siblings are so thin that they only have skin and bones, babies have to eat milk powder, because pure water is not easy to get; children's snacks are white sugar mixed with ice cubes, and even the soap powder for washing clothes is difficult to fall... The family needs money, so the children have to go out and work; or find ways to make a lot of money, such as selling their sister to others as wives.
Although Zane doesn't fully understand and understand the world, he instinctively knows to protect his sister. But what ability does he have to protect his sister? So he left home in anger and began to wander.
Later, Zane meets a mother and son without legal status, and the three support each other to survive. Suddenly, one day, the mother never came home again, and Zane took on the responsibility of protecting the baby. But in the end, he still gave the baby to the man (the trafficker), and it turned out that no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't protect the baby. The last straw that overwhelmed him was learning that his sister had died in childbirth, and 12-year-old Zane finally broke out, took a knife and snatched the door and went out...
Nadine Labaki, director of "What a Home," said she looked forward to using Zane's struggle to speak out for all who did not have access to basic rights, lacked education, lacked health and love. According to reports, the production cycle of "How to Be Home" is more than 5 years, and Nadine Labaki has spent more than 3 years conducting fieldwork, "We have conducted a lot of meticulous research, including slums, prisons, courts and many other places." Because I have no right to imagine their living conditions out of thin air, I can only see, think, and record them for myself." "In Lebanon, there are many children like Zane," she said. "The script was also formed during the investigation and was constantly refined. The shooting took 6 months, and the post-editing took up to two years to improve.
In 2011, Nadine Labaki appeared in the "A Kind of Attention" section of the Cannes Film Festival with "Where Do We Go", and one person took on the three major positions of director, screenwriter and starring, and this comedic anti-war story made her famous. Feel the comments of Douban netizens on this film: "Sometimes faith can destroy the world, and what saves it is the benevolence of women." "In contrast to Where Do We Go," "How to Be Home" showcases Nadine Labaki's increasingly skilled skills.
Although the synopsis of the story has been explained above, when the details of the film are scheduled and the camera pictures are displayed, the audience will still feel more specific and more touching emotions, as if life itself is directly presented in front of it, and there is no trace of design. And this is the embodiment of director Nadine Labaki's superb ability.
B
performance
The little lead actor was also a refugee and dedicated a master performance
There is no complete script and lines, but all rely on the director's dictation guidance
The performance of "What a Home" is highly acclaimed, partly because of the power of the actors, including the young actor Zane Al Rafia, and on the other hand, the director Nadine Labaki's ability to guide children and guide the actors.
During the filming of "What a Home", the young actor Zane Al Rafia, like Zane in the play, was 12 years old.
Born in Syria in 2004, the young actor Zane fled with his family to beirut, the capital of Lebanon, as a refugee, where he lived for eight years. He was illiterate. Most of the other actors in the play are also non-professional actors, and they have more or less encountered similar difficulties as in the film.
During filming, director Nadine Labaki spent a lot of time guiding the actors, she did not provide a very complete script and lines (because most actors are illiterate), instead, she made sure to explain each actor, every scene, "let them find their own past feelings and emotions in the situation, dig into the depths of the character from themselves". The last step is to "restore the truth". The director revealed that for the film, they shot as many as 500 hours of footage.
Many foreign media praised the young actor Zane for "contributing to the master-level performance", and the media and film critics who are optimistic that he can win the Cannes Film Emperor are not in the minority——— if he really becomes the Cannes Film Emperor, then he will be the "youngest Cannes Film Emperor"! Many people even said that the genius of the little boy has surpassed that of the 14-year-old Liu Leyumi in "Nobody Knows" at that time——— and this praise can already be described as "heaven". After watching the performance, I know that the performance of the young actor Zane is really deserved.
C
regretful
End: Forced elevation + forceful sensationalism + slight procrastination
Performance: There is no restraint, but frequent "fueling"
Although there are many advantages, "What a Home" is not without regrets.
If you consider it from the perspective of the script, "How to Be Home" is a story that directly rushes to stimulate the tear glands, and the film does not restrain in its performance methods, on the contrary, it frequently "fuels the waves". At the end of the film, forcibly elevating + vigorously sensationalism + slightly delaying, defeated some of the good feelings accumulated earlier. The blunt preaching at the end of the film, compared with the smart street scenes in front of it, is simply like the operation of the two people... This probably also explains why "Why Home" lost to "Thief Family" with a similar theme at the Cannes Film Festival, and lost to "Roma" at the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
In any case, this should be the director's will: Nadine Labaki hopes that through this film, the audience and the world can make some changes, so just say it bluntly and call it out loud! There is no need to feel that the film is discouraged, the director does this, although it detracts from the artistry, but as far as the film itself is concerned, its theme expression is not problematic, so the current ending is also appropriate.
Another regret is that after the introduction of Chinese mainland, the film has about 9 minutes of deletion, but basically does not affect the plot and perception.
At the end of the film, the little boy Zane showed the only smile in the whole film——— which is undoubtedly the director's big move. Click, hum, in this Moment, you will hear the sound of your heart being poked and then broken, don't suppress the urge to cry!
Finally, I still have to tell you, remember to bring tissues to watch the movie!
Dong Yue, a young Chinese director ("Blizzard Is Coming"), said: "I watched the film in a choking up. I've been following it since Cannes, hoping it will one day be released in China, and now it's finally come true. ”
Fu Mao, chairman of the Cannes Film Selection Committee, made a bet with Chinese film fans: "You will shed tears when you watch "Why Home" and after watching it. ”
Xu Zhenhao, a newcomer director in China, said: "The low-camera shooting, presented on the big screen of the theater, brings a strong sense of substitution. The director is very skilled. ”
Chinese film critic Shi Hang: "'Pearls are temples built around grains of sand', a proverb originally from the Lebanese poet Gibran, echoes the theme of the film. The art of cinema should have been invented for such a film! ”
American talk show queen Oprah Winfrey: "The two hours of watching the movie are two hours that are eye-catching and great value for money. ”