Introduction: The growth of a child is placed under the framework of family life, and what is most needed is the warmth of family affection. When parents give their children only pure material satisfaction and ignore the most basic care and care, then the child will largely treat the family with rebellion. Whether it is family affection or friendship, spiritual communication between people is very important, and the subtleties reflect special emotional connections. The Singapore film Mom and Dad Are Not Home, released on 19 May 2013 at the Cannes International Film Festival, tells an ordinary family story that shows the bitterness behind an increasingly depressed middle-class family in the context of the financial crisis. It breaks through the shackles of the times and cultural barriers, makes people feel the strong warmth and human touch, and reflects the delicacy and commonality of Chinese culture.
The content of the story is not new, but the plot is simple and true, telling the daily life of ordinary people in the economic environment. By paying attention to a family that has encountered difficulties through a delicate underlying perspective, you can experience the warmth and coldness of human feelings under the hardships of life. Set against the backdrop of the financial crisis that swept Through Asia at the end of the last century, the families' respective living conditions under the family crisis joined a special master-servant relationship after the arrival of the Filipino maid.
There is no old routine of Deliberately selling jokes in Singaporean films, but the rare middle-class family theme is portrayed so calmly and solidly, there are both sharp problems describing the harsh reality and delicate and sensitive moving points. Judging from the emotional main line that runs through the beginning and end of the film, it is plain and sincere, restrained and warm.
Singaporean director Tan Chel Yi personally polished the script and reflected his sincerity in directing in the praise of the audience. The small story brings great emotions, and the narrative technique of seeing the truth in the details is very similar to the style of Ang Lee and Yang Dechang's predecessor directors. It is this simple and simple sense of rhythm that makes it easy for the audience to integrate into the plot and have some feelings.
The film was quite a success. After the film was released in Singapore that year, it performed well, and won the third place in the annual box office for S$900,000. In terms of awards and honors, he not only won the 50th Golden Horse Awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best New Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Feature Film, but also won many awards at international film festivals such as Cannes and London.
Everyone has their own growth story, but behind the family life is endless helplessness and bitterness, learning to grow in difficulties, which is also the theme that this movie wants to express.
This film rooted in family relationships and conflicts is very delicate in emotional expression, and the director's portrayal of the character image and the actor's precise control of the role make this film ordinary and simple but also introspective, especially in terms of plot setting, it seems flesh and blood, and it is in place in the details and emotional display.
A wealthy family close to the middle class, but there are two emotional states with very different identities and statuses. One is the kinship between mom and dad and son, which is thicker than water, and the other is the employment relationship between sons and maids based on money. However, the little boy likes the maid more than his parents, friendship is more than affection, what is the crux of the problem?
The crisis of this family began in that special era background, and many families under the financial storm were struggling to survive. The story of a maid and a family reflects the imprint of an era. In this case, the financial anxiety of the parents is exchanged for the lack of affection of the son, and the care and affection of the maid fills the gap.
Therefore, contradictions are inevitable, and the collision of family affection and master-servant love has become the core content of the movie. Between the lonely boy and the troubled parents, there is a love of affection. Through the perspective of the little boy, it focuses on expressing the friendship between the master and the servant who is difficult to give, and gives the audience a real and unforgettable viewing experience. Close to real life is worth savoring, and the lack of family affection makes people reflect.
The little boy Jiale played by Xu Jiale is the key role in witnessing love and growth in this film, and the emotional bond of family affection and master-servant friendship is strung together in him. With superior family conditions and no worries about food and clothing, he lacks the company of his parents and brushes his sense of existence through mischievous mischief at school. The lack of fatherly and maternal love makes his character do as he pleases, completely disregarding the feelings of others.
Knorr represents a special group of rebellious teenagers who lack parental care in the process of growing up, who have no intention of going to school in school, play tricks and mischief; at home, they are very repulsive to the maids who are invited to take care of him, and often bully him with various small means. The incompleteness of his childhood life made his character flawed, basing his happiness on teasing others.
Angeli Bayani, played by Terry, is a Filipino maid in the film, a very common occupation that earns her money through her labor to support her family. Being kind and diligent and considerate has become their professional label, and it is her love for Knorr that has become one of the most dramatic characters in the film.
Terri represents the ordinary people at the bottom of the society who are struggling to survive in society, in order to support their families, they have to send people to the fence, regard other people's homes as their own homes, and take care of the food and clothing of the employer's family. The boys' and maids' relationship with each other from the initial hostility to the final attachment shows the warmth of their profession of kindness and dedication.
Yang Yanyan's mother, Hui Ling, is an ordinary employee in the factory, and in order to make the family have a stable income, she still insists on going to work in a pregnant state. At the same time, she also has to take care of her family, and this dual role makes her exhausted. Under the ravages of the layoff crisis, she had to be careful to keep her job, ignoring the feelings of her children.
The role of Hui Ling represents a very contradictory group in modern society, and it is necessary to make trade-offs between housewives and professionals, rather than both. On one side is the disobedience of her son, on the other hand, she is also the main role that leads to the lack of family affection.
Chen Tiantian's father Ade is the pillar of the family, but in the film, he is a tragic character. Originally, the economic environment was not good, the job was lost, the house leaked overnight, and the stock speculation was a miserable loss, but he did not dare to tell his family about this, so he had to work as a temporary worker and part-time to make a living.
Chen Tiantian represents this group of the most social pressure, middle-aged men who support their families. Whether it is the busy mother Hui Ling or Chen Tiantian, who is on the verge of unemployment, what is given to Jiale is simple material satisfaction, in exchange for the quiet and endless family estrangement, but also makes Jiale face an embarrassing growth dilemma. Whether it is family, occupation, or growth, it shows a problem.
An ordinary family with relatively good economic conditions, but under the influence of the economic crisis, the anxiety of parents, the naughtiness of children, and the thoughtfulness of maids constitute a delicate relationship. As parents running for the family, the child feels the maid's "mother's love", which is also a kind of irony.
From the initial tense confrontation to the later inseparable, this kind of master-servant friendship that spans family affection is naturally heart-warming, but behind it reflects the child's desire for parental companionship, which can give people an intuitive feeling, urgent and real.
Of course, the kinship relationship that blood is thicker than water cannot be changed from the moment the child is born, but the warmth of the family affection cannot be felt in the child's growth process, which involves the problem of family education.
The lack of discipline for the child for a long time makes the family relationship tense while allowing the child to form a rebellious personality. Parents' distrust of maids can be seen in many scenes, but, in practice, they also rely on maids to replace family education with life care.
The portrayal of the master-servant friendship in the movie is still very in place, the family eats dinner, the father's contemplation, the mother's different eyes, and the boy and the maid have a scene of talking and laughing, which is impressive. Along with the growing master-servant relationship, it brings about an increasingly tense family relationship.
The ending of the film is not reversed dramatic, and the separation of the boy and the maid becomes the finishing touch of the film. Although the child has been taken care of and cared for, in the end, it is necessary to return to the framework of family affection in order to grow up healthily, and the lack of family affection is worth reflecting on.
The life mode of a family is relatively fixed, and under the current national conditions, family members play their own roles, male outside and female inside. Fathers run for their livelihoods and earn money to support their families; mothers run housework and are responsible for the education and care of their children.
In this case, there is no lack of affection, and the child's emotional world will not become paranoid because of the lack of love.
Home is a warm place to provide family companionship, and all the joys and sorrows are reflected in the daily life of family members. Although the pressure from all sides is very great now, we cannot ignore the affectionate care of our children.
Take time, find the right opportunity to accompany your lover, bring your children, and enjoy this rare leisure time together. Let children feel the warmth of family affection at the same time, learn to be grateful to their parents, taste the difficulty of life and understand the truth of dealing with people.
The movie "Mom and Dad Are Not At Home" depicts the changes of an ordinary family with warm brushstrokes, and the warmth between the little boy and the maid is induced through the anxiety and uneasiness of the parents under the financial crisis. Behind the bitterness of the family, the boy learned respect, convergence and self-confidence in getting along with the maid, harvested love and growth, gave people a strong sense of substitution, and had positive social significance.