Father's archaeological diary, mother and daughter clinging to each other, boats drifting on the lake, swaying candlelight, drowning whales... what happened in front of the camera was a story rich in the brilliance of maternal love.
The movie "Mom!" " is a 2022 movie written and directed by Yang Lina. The movie tells the story of an old mother and daughter whose ordinary lives changed one day. As her 65-year-old daughter suffers from Alzheimer's disease, her 85-year-old mother once again assumes the responsibility of taking care of her daughter. This film uses life-like scenes of the daughter's deteriorating condition as the main line, and uses the truth of her father's death buried deep in the daughter's memory as a hidden thread, to show the daughter's concern for her mother, the mother's care for her daughter, and the daughter's guilt for her father. The presentation is vivid and exquisite, making the film more infectious and the theme more distinct.
The entire film is divided into three parts: "Chrysanthemum", "Velvet", and "Church", three words that appear at the beginning of the film to prove whether she has Alzheimer's disease: "A daughter's longing for her father", " Daughter's atonement for her father", "Daughter's repentance for her father".
"Chrysanthemum" - a daughter's longing for her father
The day when the protagonist was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease was also the anniversary of her father's death. On his way home, he met a father and daughter at Tongli Bridge. The middle shot of the father and daughter living in harmony forms a strong contrast with the subsequent long shot of the protagonist crying alone by the bridge. In this way, the director highlights the daughter's longing for the past days with her father and her grief for losing him. In front of him was a loving father and daughter, but he could only stand alone on the bridge, holding his late father's favorite chrysanthemum in his hand.
Alzheimer's disease causes the protagonist to forget the anniversary of her father's death. However, the protagonist who came out of the hospital still held a bouquet of chrysanthemums in her hand, because that was her father's favorite flower during his lifetime. The director used a medium shot of the protagonist's regretful expression when he saw the calendar and remembered his death anniversary after returning home and a close-up of the chrysanthemum, emphasizing that even though the daughter forgot the date due to illness, she still remembered the flowers her father liked, directly and clearly showing the father's love for his daughter. importance in mind.
In this part, although the protagonist has been confirmed to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he can still take care of himself. So she arranged her mother and life as meticulously as possible. The protagonist's orderliness and tough attitude in action are also in sharp contrast to the later chapters, where he is unable to take care of himself and becomes weak due to the deterioration of his condition.
"Velvet" - the daughter's atonement for her father
is the opened door, the polite welcome, the velvet in the bathtub, and the daughter's atonement for her shame.
As the protagonist's condition worsens, the guilt towards his father buried deep in his heart gradually emerges. Through the hidden thread in the film, we can learn that the protagonist’s father felt remorseful because he was misunderstood by the protagonist once when he returned home and was kicked out of the house by the protagonist, and finally committed suicide by jumping into the river. The self-blame for this incident is also reflected in the protagonist's behavior when he fell ill:
One night, the protagonist saw a vision of his father outside the door. The director expressed the protagonist's excitement that he couldn't wait to meet his father through a series of close-ups of the protagonist's hurried movements. Later, through the illusion of his father who finally opened the door but disappeared, and the protagonist's self-examination in front of the mirror, it was confirmed from the side that in the protagonist's heart, he was the one who killed his father. This also created the scene in the next morning: sleeping on the floor with the glass door, and the daughter sleeping on the bed, quietly waiting for her father to come home. But the father did not come back, leaving only the guilt of his daughter.
Father's archaeological diary has been published. On that day, the protagonist said a lot about the archaeological diary, including the sentence "I still have velvet to give you." The next morning, as my mother followed her, the toilet was covered with white velvet. The protagonist lies in a bathtub filled with velvet. The director used a metaphor here to compare the protagonist sleeping in the bathtub to his deceased father who drowned in the river, expressing the protagonist's guilt and desire to die in his father's place. From this we can see the protagonist’s desire to atone for his sins.
"Church" - Daughter's confession to her father
"I am guilty. I killed someone when I was very young."At the end of the film, the protagonist confessed, "If I had opened the door that night, let him go home, drank hot water, and smiled at him, he wouldn't have been like this. "At this point, the truth about my father's death finally emerged. Among them, "My mother is also very pitiful. But I don’t think I’m worthy of loving her” also explains why the protagonist doesn’t want to admit that her mother is beside her. The worsening condition prompts the protagonist’s subconscious to tell the truth. As all the protagonist’s memories go with the sea, she also She waited until her father arrived. Her punishment was over. She was forgiven.
Although the movie "Mom!" is based on maternal love, its undercurrent of father-centeredness is also very exciting. The two complement each other and constitute this A touching movie.
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