Staying at home during the Spring Festival, watching this "Parents Are Not At Home", the fatigue of the second-child family was vividly expressed. We often say, I'm sorry, kid. Pick up the job, can't hold you, put down the job, I can't afford to raise you.
Although the background is in Singapore, which is known as the livable Lion City, the oppressive feeling still comes to the fore and makes people feel extremely familiar.
In 1997, against the backdrop of the Economic Crisis in Southeast Asia, an ordinary middle-class family inevitably declined.
Dad lost all the family's savings in stock speculation, and did not dare to tell his wife that his wife wrote a resignation letter every day in the company, and she did not know which day she would take her turn. His son Jiale is ten years old, but he is still ignorant and naughty, and from time to time he is left in school to call his parents. The child can not ignore, the school must go, go to school, teach the son, be late for work, and be warned by the boss, be careful, do not lose your job.
Mother Huiling is pregnant, facing the older and older son, she does not want to accompany, but after work tired, the inner annoyance and pressure make her unable to calm down, her way of discipline of jiale is also simple and rude. Jiale is not close to her inside, the estrangement between parent-child relationships, not overnight, the couple was busy with work before, accompanied by only grandpa, when grandpa passed away, although parents are at home, but no one, can really go to the heart of Knorr, the adults in the family have their own troubles.
Before Terri arrived, the atmosphere of the family was tense, the relationship between the husband and wife was flat, and after a tiring day, both were exhausted. When you go home, you have to cook, do laundry, check your children's homework, want to pay off your mortgage, and the noise downstairs is annoying. Think about the time when I bought the low floor for the convenience of Knorr's grandfather to go downstairs, but now the old man has passed away. But the living have to endure this noise and noise day by day. Hui Ling's head was about to explode.
Can do more than ten years of administration in a company, the company can handle things big and small with ease, go home, face the housework and son, but it is a chicken feather. The couple decided to bring back a Filipino maid to take care of the house music and housework.
The arrival of Terri, for her mother Huiling, is a mirror image of each other, and she can glimpse the lack of her own family from Terri.
Starting with the bag of old clothes that her mother gave to Terry, Terri wore Huiling's clothes and took care of Huiling's son. It was as if it was another Hui Ling's doppelganger.
Why did the disobedient bear child Knorr get better and obedient in the hands of Terri before it didn't take long?
But it was Terry's day and night companionship, Terri's patience. When Terry takes care of Knorr, she is very gentle and careful, and when Knorr makes mistakes, talks nonsense, and disrespects the deceased, Terri does not even think about slapping her.
Terri is both an older sister and a mother. When her parents were worried about their own affairs and couldn't take care of Knorr, it was Terry who accompanied and cared for them all the time.
And Terri, as an outsider, also discovered the beginning of this family early, the man's cigarette butt in front of the door, secretly changed the guard uniform at night, Terri kept this secret.
When Knorr secretly smoked, Terry scolded him: Do you still think that your family does not have enough problems?
As Terri and Knorr's relationship becomes closer and closer, her mother Huiling feels more and more uncomfortable, obviously she invited Terry to take care of her son, Terri is doing a good job, but she is not happy in her heart, Terry does better, as if to show that she is doing a very bad job as a mother. It also made her more and more nervous.
When she suddenly asked Terri one day, how do you wear my clothes? Terri said: Didn't you give it to me?
Hui Ling realized that she was too nervous.
The economy is getting worse and worse, neighbors are jumping off buildings, more and more people are unemployed, selling large houses, moving to rental houses, and Huiling is getting closer and closer to the due date, and the car has begun to have frequent problems.
People always have to face the truth and face reality.
In the evening, the couple confessed to each other, and the husband said: I am unemployed, and I have lost all my savings by speculating in stocks. The wife said: I already knew. The wife said: Just now the successful liar on TV, you said that a fool would buy this kind of course, I am the fool who bought the course for two months.
It's all come to this point, and I definitely can't afford to invite Terri.
The things that Jiale is most worried about have happened, and what he is most afraid of is that the people who take care of him will leave him one by one. Last time it was Grandpa, this time it was Terry.
He wanted to win the lottery so he could keep Terry, but his good fortune ran out.
There are many things that he can't do without growing up. Like the chicks that were originally used as his birthday present, he and Terri grew up feeding together, but they became food on the table, and he wanted to keep the last chicken, but still couldn't.
Sending Terri to the airport, he still did it in a boyish way, not getting out of the car, and even cutting a strand of Terri's hair with scissors. Mom slapped him angrily.
Mom gave Terri a lipstick, which was a blessing and apology to Terri.
Terri is gone, the three people in the family seem to have a more harmonious relationship, the mother gave birth to the second eldest, although life is still difficult, but the eldest son has begun to understand.
Why "Mom and Dad Are Not Home"? Mom and Dad are obviously at home, not unwilling to care for children, but the burden of life always has to be borne by someone, in the face of the economic crisis, seems to understand children who do not understand, and even feel that jumping off the building is cool, Jiale can only see the world from his own point of view, when he learned that Terry put his one-year-old child in someone else's home for foster care, he was very excited, asked Terri why is so cruel, and Terri replied, Your mother also hired me to take care of you? He did not know the crises and problems facing his family, and his parents could not tell him. If it wasn't Terri who said: "Isn't there enough problems in your house?" Knorr is still ignorant.
But the changes in the home, Knorr is also gradually felt. The family car is very shabby, often broken, there is no money for new ones, and finally the car is gone, the chickens given to him by his father on his birthday have become a delicious food on the table to improve his life, and his father has returned from injury and lost his job. And Terri has to be far away from home, away from her children, and bear so much hardship and grievances in order to earn income and support children. But in the end, Terri didn't even have such a job opportunity, and she had to leave.
When the truth of life is presented to this child one by one, he slowly grows up and understands things, although he is still expressed in a stubborn and unique way, but it is also grown up.
This growth became a special memory in his heart, and when he grew up, this child filmed this story and touched countless people.
The director is the Singaporean director Chen Zheyi in 1984, "Mom and Dad Are Not Home" is his first feature film, but also a film with childhood projection, the film is plain and natural, smooth and moving, the first film won the Golden Camera Award at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, won four awards at the 50th Golden Horse Awards.
It is not easy for a child to grow up.