Movie: Elizabeth Is Gone
Genre: Drama, suspense
Director: Ashling Walsh
Starring: Granda Jackson
Release date: December 8, 2019
Award: Best Actress of the 47th British Communication Journalists Association
A film that has been carefully sculpted by the creators hides many interlocking ideas and exquisite layouts, as well as details scattered throughout the plot like fragments, it is like a music box waiting for a person to open it, expecting to be found hidden under the shoes of the protagonist, which is destined to be a fierce competition for a very few people. To put it another way, because most people only need food to be "fed", only gourmets will taste it.
The movie "Elizabeth Is Gone" is a niche suspense drama film, which initially thought it was a battle between an old man with Alzheimer's disease and a "murderer" who mutilated his friends, but later found out that this was a lonely person's struggle for time and memory at the end of his life. Maud's memory of illness wanes, and her good friend Elizabeth suddenly disappears, leaving many suspicious traces in her friend's home, which she organizes into sticky notes cards to find clues.
However, the sister Su Ji, who disappeared 40 years ago, often "appears" in her life, and everything about her sister returns to her memory, what is the connection between the two?
The film basically uses Maud's perspective to narrate the story, setting up a two-line narrative, one is the current situation, Maude living alone is looking for the "missing" Elizabeth, and occasionally recalls Suji with his family; the other is the situation 70 years ago, Maud's sister Suji suddenly disappeared, becoming a suspense case in the family. The film also sets up a large number of details that echo each other for the audience to discover, such as makeup mirrors buried in the deep soil, blue silk dresses, crazy women in black clothes, zucchini flowers, etc., because Maude's memory is confused, the whole thing is even more confusing.
Anyone can age, this film has a strong social significance, more and more such elderly people need to pay attention, care for the elderly is to care about the future of their own. Maud has begun to forget her whole life, more and more people think that she is an "old fool", but behind her deviant behavior is the pain of illness and aging, she will cry bitterly when she is alone, very helpless.
A woman with Alzheimer's disease lives alone most of the time, nurses come to take care of her every day, daughters and granddaughters often come to see her, but in her heart the best is to see her son once or twice a year, which may resonate with many people. The family often can't stand her strange behavior when taking care of Maud, but it is also very painful to still want to love her.
The dexterity of the film is that it sets a deeper meaning: an unfinished event deep within you, even if you forget it, but your body remembers it. This gives the film a strong suspenseful but not terrifying temperament. Maud is a lonely old man abandoned by time, and she also has a young girl In her body who is deeply trapped in painful memories. In fact, Elizabeth did not disappear, she and Maud were injured and sent to the hospital while gardening, but in Maud's perspective, no matter how many times her family told her, she always forgot, so she thought that her good friend was missing, thus igniting her inner driving force, that is, to complete the unfinished events 70 years ago and find her sister Suji.
Rather than forgetting the trivialities of life, Maud gradually reconstructs in his mind the disappearance of Suji decades ago, Suji's comb, makeup mirror, zucchini flowers, broken glass, black bird specimens, Elizabeth's garden... Maud cried silently in the cracks of his memory, hoping to get help from others. Fortunately, her daughter Helen believed her words and dug up Suji's body from Elizabeth's garden.
Suki is a beautiful woman who often attends dances in the town, and her favorite song is "Powder Your Face With Sunshine." Su ji often borrows the tenant Doug's record player, back and forth, husband Frank suspects that they are infected, Frank often yells at Su Ji, can't stand the slander Su Ji decided to leave, the two in the argument, Su Ji hit the fireplace and was smashed to death by the decorative glass cover. Frank packed Suji's body in a suitcase and buried it in the place where they promised to create a new home together, which was the garden of Elizabeth's house 70 years later.
The film is very cleverly conceived, the ending is unexpected, the social topics reflected are very profound, the elderly need more and more care, and their spiritual needs need to be taken care of. Everyone will grow old, time will eventually take everything away, and the time together is particularly short compared to the long loss. The human body will "faithfully" record a person's life, it is much more reliable than memory, and it will also burst out of amazing power at the right time, and it is not a simple subject to cherish the body.