"Life and Death" tells the story of two single-parent families coping with death and grief. However, the significance of this film goes far beyond that. Although the film is set against the backdrop of the current popular webcast, the story itself never goes out of style, because at any stage of life, we need to find sustenance and learn to grow.
The title of the film, "ShengSheng" (Wu Zhixuan), is the name of the little protagonist, whose brother Zhuangzhuang has died, and he rummages through his brother's living things, trying to keep his memories. Through his brother's mobile phone, he saw the webcast of his grandmother Lily (Bao Qijing), who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Doctors predicted that Lily would not live for more than 3 months, so she decided to use the live broadcast to prove that she could "live more than 100 days" or more. Shengsheng and Lily become friends through live phone broadcasting, and try to cope with the inevitable death in their own way.
As long as you accept this tear-jerking story carefully designed by director An Bang and co-screenwriter Zhang Yingmin, you will be immersed in the unexpectedly understated narrative of "Sheng Sheng". In addition to the general concept of "living 100 days", the film is full of a large number of subtle sub-plots. As Lily's image gradually became noticed by the media, the distance and estrangement of her daughter from all this became more and more obvious. The loneliness and misery of the mother of shengsheng also contrasts with the unforgettable friendship between shengsheng and Lily, who is also bearing the fact that zhuang is dead in her own way.
It's hard to find other co-stars like Wu Zhixuan and Bao Qijing. However, compared with Bao Qijing, a veteran Hong Kong drama bone who has been on the screen since the late 1960s, the relatively unknown Taiwanese actor Wu Zhixuan (in fact, his acting career began with the short film "Filial Piety Children" in 2015) is not inferior. There is a beautiful set of shots in the film that deliberately shoots two people sitting back to back in the bookstore, interestingly exploiting this difference. At the same time, bao Qijing's strong grandmother who goes her own way and drives a taxi has always been admirable.
While we often want life to be smooth sailing, at some point in our lives we will all grieve over bad news and misfortune. Director Anbang handles this very well because he knows that accepting death is not a linear process, and everyone experiences something different in the process. Shengsheng finds Lily to find out what his brother was thinking in the last days of his life, while Lily discovers the lack of intimacy between herself and her daughter.
"Life and Death" brings us a touching movie-going experience that deserves to be appreciated by all of us.