Movie posters
The first movie I went to the cinema in 2021 was the Japanese anime "The Little Boss Lady of the Hot Spring House". Before watching the movie, I thought it would tell the heroine's growth process and how to change from "little boss lady" to real boss lady. After watching the movie, I suddenly realized: it was only in the childhood stage. But as an adult, I find that the contrast between children and adults in the film is very obvious. Below I will briefly talk about my personal understanding from the perspective of contrast, according to the course of the story.
The House of Spring
First of all, I missed the opening 5 minutes perfectly, and when I arrived at the movie theater, it was already XiaoOri who arrived at the Harunoya Hotel with her suitcase.
While Xiao Weaving was scared half to death by the gecko, a guardian spirit Mai Shao appeared. Why can't adults see, but only Koori can see these ghosts and ghosts? The film uses a supernatural approach to explain this psychological projection. For Xiao Weaving, who has just lost her parents, it should be difficult for her to accept this fact for a short time. These elves, as well as mom and dad who appear in the dream, are spiritual sustenance.
When he looked through the photo album with his grandmother, he realized that Mai Shao was his grandmother's green plum bamboo horse, and after he fell off the eaves and died, he was not wandering with his own family, but his grandmother Fengzi, so he would ask Xiao Weaving to agree to be the little boss lady of the Spring House as soon as he met. Green plum bamboo horse, two small no guesses, simple and pure, carefree childhood is like the protagonist in "Flying House Tour".
Xiao Weaving followed her grandmother and began to learn to run a hotel. Koori's first contact with guests is a father and son who have just experienced the loss of their wife and mother. In this fragment, the contrast between father and son is very obvious: the father puts the portrait of his wife on the table, eats normally like a family of three, and there is no sorrow in the calm; the child (Xiao Qian) cannot accept this fact, has a fever, cannot listen to the words "to cheer up", and cries in the quilt with his head covered.
This is the first tear point, and if you have also sobbed in the bed because of the death of a loved one, you will understand what "empathy" is. Because, on December 8, 2020, the night my grandmother passed away, I was the same. Through the movie screen, I was surprised to find that in the face of common human emotions, we are all back to childhood, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, and others.
People want to eat sweets when they are sad, and their hearts are bitter, so at least they can make their stomachs sweeter! Dad said he was going to have a piece of cake, (maybe Akane's birthday?) So Oori ran out to buy cakes at night, but many shops closed their doors, and finally got inspiration from the chubby shiny aunt: hot spring pudding. Milk, eggs, flour, cream, and the pudding made by the little weaver are not delicious? When you are sad, go to the kitchen, knock and ding, and play a personal concert among the kitchen utensils and ingredients.
After the father and son left, the father, who was a writer, wrote a report, which suddenly made Harunoya famous, and many people came to visit. At this time, Xiaoori also met her older sister, Miss Mirying.
Grandma said that Miss Miling had not eaten for several days, and asked Xiaoori to see if she needed anything. The moment he pushed open the door, Xiao Weaving dropped his jaw in shock: This beautiful sister is a fortune teller! Soaking in hot springs, drinking cold drinks, wearing summer kimonos, and that imitation show, simple and happy little weaving, infected Miss Mirying bit by bit. So, the sister asked Xiao Weaving to go out for a walk.
Coastal roads, roadsters, shopping therapy walking! Unexpectedly, Xiao Weaving was in the car, seeing the oncoming large truck, the scene of her parents' car accident was reproduced, and the huge impact made her helpless. This scene, like Beth in the popular American drama "Rear Wing Abandoned Soldier", remembers her mother's last sentence before the car accident: "Close your eyes."
The two paintings are superimposed to form a second teardrop. Xiao Weaving is on the rocks by the sea and confides in Meiling's sister. At this time, Xiao Weaving is the original appearance of a child, before like a little adult, arguing with Xiao Qian, in fact, she is also using reason to suppress her emotions. Adults have said too much "you have to be strong, to cheer up", Xiao Weaving is undoubtedly subtly beating herself chicken blood, but she does not know that as a child, this is the weight of life that she cannot bear. So, she needs to vent, she needs to be released, she needs to find a proper outlet for her emotions.
During the conversation, Koori learned that Miss Miri had recently broken up. In the words of the beautiful sister herself: "Our match is very high, and on the day of the breakup, I calculated that the luck was the highest." "That bouquet of bright red roses was dazzling. But where can Koori understand? The interaction between people depends on the heart, not the so-called fortune!
Sister Koori and Mirin can become sisters who have lost their lives because they heal each other at the right time.
The bell monster said that Koori would slowly lose sight of them. This shows that Koori is gradually coming out of the bereavement, and she no longer needs illusions to soothe her spirits, but pays more attention to reality: how to make guests live comfortably, how to become a veritable little boss lady of Haru no Ryokan. Just like in the book "After I Left", the mother made a lot of list of agencies for her daughter, telling her daughter what she should do every day after she left. The deceased is gone, remembering the past, but not indulging in sadness, living well, and paying attention to the present, is the best consolation for the deceased.
The last family of three is undoubtedly the finishing touch. On the one hand, in order to find a recipe for "the same origin of medicine and food", Koori put down the shelf and asked Mazuki for advice. Watching the guests eat satisfactorily, Xiao Weaving also experienced a great sense of happiness. However, their stories piece together the truth of the parents' car accident: the father who was hospitalized and injured in the car accident in front of them turned into the reverse lane to avoid the truck, which directly led to the death of Xiao Weaving's parents.
The guest's conscience is uneasy and he plans to move to the Inn of the True Moon Family. But the children didn't care so much, "I like Little Weaver Sister, I just want to live here!" This is undoubtedly a dilemma for Xiao Weaving: intellectually speaking, as a little boss lady, it is her duty to entertain guests with her heart; emotionally speaking, how to face the "enemy" who takes the lives of her parents?
Adults may not be able to solve this problem. Putting it on a child is really hard, hard, hard. If I were the director, I wouldn't have given the answer so quickly, and I would have used long shots, sub-shots, or slow motions to show Koori's psychological struggle process and her final decision. Slow down, give Koori a little time, give the audience a little space to think: in exchange for me, how do I choose?
"Grandma used to say that the hot spring water of Hananoyu contains all life and heals all things." After making the preparation, Xiao Weaving said this sentence again, which will be more natural. Making such a choice also shows the growth of Koori, and then rises to a higher level: reconciliation with sadness.
Denial→ anger→ bargaining→ depression→ acceptance, and the five stages of grief are expressed in the film through different characters. Getting along with the three guests also reflects The growth path of Xiao Weaving little by little. I have always felt that the higher level of acceptance is reconciliation—a state of calmness, calmness, peace of mind, unfazed, and goodness. Reconcile with your past self, reconcile with your unaccustomed nemesis, True Moon, and reconcile with your enemies.
Xiao Weaving's change invisibly also affected the three elves and ghosts. The day you dance the matsuri dance, it's time to say goodbye. Just like the 22nd in the movie "Spiritual Journey", after wandering for thousands of years, wanting to experience life, he finally chose to reincarnate on the earth.
When we are adults in the next life, we must come to the House of Spring, and I want to eat hot spring pudding, at that time, will Koori recognize us? Hahaha ~ definitely. At that time, Xiao Weaving was a veritable boss lady, not a "little boss lady"!
【Afterword】
Now that I think back to this movie, there are other angles of interpretation, such as how to talk about "death" with children, and some people say that this is a Japanese Shinto version of "Dream Quest". Zi Yue: "Unknown birth, unknown death?" Therefore, in traditional Confucian culture, "death" is rarely mentioned. However, life, old age, illness and death are the norm in life. To face death is to better understand life, isn't it?
In addition, if I want to analyze the character image, I will choose the pink lace and the true moon who loves to quote the scriptures, because her personality is too distinct. Friends who have seen the movie, do you remember what quotes she quoted?