In an era where entertainment is paramount, everyone has a microphone, but there are still some social topics that receive no attention.
The recently released theatrical movie masterpiece " Under the Day " rarely focuses its perspective on invisible corners.
The film is directed by Jian Junjin , produced by Er Dongsheng , and stars Yu Xiangning, Lin Baoyi, Jiang David and others.
With its excellent production and profound thematic connotation, the film caused a sensation in the society after it was released in Hong Kong at the end of last year. It was also nominated for 16 awards at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards. Several leading actors won the awards for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively. This is undoubtedly the best recognition of the quality of the film.
"Under the Day" is adapted from real social events in Hong Kong : In 2015, the Cambridge Nursing Home in Tai Po, known as Hong Kong's "six-star luxury nursing home", stripped 12 elderly women who had lost the ability to take care of themselves on the rooftop. bath.
In 2016, six people died mysteriously in another nursing home called Kangqiao Home within half a year. In addition, the director was also suspected of sexually assaulting residents. A 14-year-old boy with autism and moderate intellectual disability in the hospital fell to his death.
The successive exposure of the dark inside stories of these nursing homes has also attracted the attention of director Jian Junjin. He integrated and adapted these shocking cases and filmed "Under the Day".
Jian Junjin used a lot of upward shots in this film, which is like looking at the sky from the bottom.
The scene moves from a cramped and dark residential home for the disabled to the sunny Victoria Harbor and buildings outside, highlighting the gloomy lives of these disadvantaged groups.
At the beginning of the movie, the true face of disabled institutions is exposed to the sun. The newspaper where reporter Ling Xiaoqi (played by Yu Xiangning) works receives a clue: Caiqiao Home, a disabled institution, is abusing disabled people.
So, Xiaoqi pretended to be the granddaughter of Tongbo (played by Jiang David), an elderly man living in Caiqiao Home, and sneaked into the home to investigate.
An investigation found that Caiqiao Home has a serious shortage of staff. In addition to the dean, there are only two regular employees. Normally, disabled residents living here need to do odd jobs to subsidize their accommodation expenses.
There are indeed abusive behaviors in the management of the nursing home staff, such as using staplers to staple the arms of residents and electric shocks to residents; there are also completely disrespectful behaviors, such as feeding the elderly with food on the floor, using water hoses and rubber gloves once Sex showered a dozen old people tied to wheelchairs.
After Xiaoqi obtained enough evidence, she conducted a news report. The news shocked the entire Hong Kong, but Caiqiao House was not substantively punished. It wasn't until the dean, Zhang Jianhua (played by Lin Baoyi), violated Xiaoling, an intellectually disabled girl in the hospital, that things took a turn for the better.
Before taking charge of Caiqiao Home, Zhang Jianhua served as the director of three residential homes for the disabled. He was accused of assault in all of them. However, because of the intellectual level and mental disorder of the assaulted girl, she was either unable to testify in court or could not testify effectively, so the cases failed. end.
Even though Xiaoqi presented very convincing evidence this time, the Department of Justice still chose to withdraw the case. Zhang Jianhua even accused Xiaoqi of false reporting, saying that he was a victim of trial by news and public opinion.
At the end of the story, Xiaoqi resigned from the newspaper, Caiqiao Home was cancelled, Zhang Jianhua was at large, the original residents of Caiqiao Home lost their place to live, and the warriors who pursued the truth seemed to have become sinners.
Yes, there is no bright ending in this movie. Just like the world is not only black and white, these private disabled homes are inherently gray areas.
Social resources are limited, and excessive supervision may lead to more people becoming homeless, and the results may not necessarily be better than they are now; blind indulgence will allow maliciousness to spread, causing people like the dean to act more recklessly.
So in the end, we will find that most of the problems raised by the movie are unsolvable. The anger and depression in our hearts are like the heavy rain, pouring down uncontrollably...
Jian Junjin talks about the film and creative concepts Shi said: "We have always pursued social stability and prosperity, but some people cannot even meet basic living requirements and survival dignity.Movies may not solve problems, but they should at least raise questions to the world and make more people think. "
"Under the Day" is a mature commercial film that condenses the complexity of real society in about 100 minutes. Every character, every industry, and every position has the possibility of being "understood" .
Residents’ family capabilities are limited, and their families cannot invest endless money and affection. In a sense, the relatives who need to be taken care of are a burden in their lives. For example, Mingzi’s mother felt relieved after he jumped from the building. It's not in line with mainstream values, but it's understandable.
Although society has public welfare institutions, it faces a serious shortage of resources. The Hong Kong government has no choice but to transfer these people who need care to private welfare institutions. When running a business, some evils will inevitably arise.
Private nursing homes are short of staff and have many problems. But without it, some of the elderly, weak, sick and disabled people will not even have a final destination. This is the most realistic result. The hospital's operating qualifications were revoked and it could be re-opened with a different brand. Similar things will happen again.
The outstanding aspects of "Under the Day" are firstly the social care and secondly the actors' acting skills. It's a test of acting skills, but this movie is all online. If the Academy Award adds an "Ensemble Performance Award", it must be awarded to
actor Lin Baoyi, who has changed his popular image of a doctor and lawyer in the past and played a pervert this time. Dean, gives the audience a lot of freshness and contrast. The most important thing is that we can see his cunning side from this blind dean, and we can also feel a little sincerity in caring for similar groups.
The heroine Yu Xiangning. It's a big surprise. The newspaper reporter she plays is not perfect, has a bad relationship with her mother, has a bad attitude towards her subordinates, is depressed but full of ideals. The mood changes between joy, anger, sorrow and joy throughout the film as the plot develops, but Yu Xiang is still there. Every part is performed perfectly.
Among the supporting roles, Xiaoling, a girl with an IQ of only 6 years old, is the most difficult role in this drama. Her dialogue is not much, and she can only rely on body movements. and facial expressions. Liang Yongting's performance made the audience feel deeply immersed in her role.
In addition, there are only a few scenes of the elderly patients played by veteran actors Jiang David and Hu Feng. Can piece together their respective life stories;
The caregivers played by Bao Peiru and Gong Ci'en are not ignorant of the crime. They are very aware of what they are doing and hope that the status quo can be changed more than the reporters.
In recent years, there has been no shortage in Hong Kong. Realistic movies focusing on marginalized people.
"One Thought of Ignorance" focuses on bipolar patients living in narrow subdivided rooms; " Mailuren " focuses on the homeless people in 24-hour fast food restaurants; "Drifting in the Turbid Water" tells the story of Rough sleepers wandering the streets of slums.
This is also the value of realism movie . We cannot change the world immediately, but at least we have the courage to face up to those shocking social realities.
Even if it is useless to speak a thousand times, you still have to choose to speak again.
, like " Suyuan " and "Melting Pot", directly promotes national legal reform. Such things are rare, but attention is still useful.
On March 25 this year, Zhang Jianhua, the former dean of Kangqiao Home, one of the prototypes of the film's story, won the lawsuit in which he sexually assaulted a female resident, and the victim was awarded NT$1.194 million in compensation. To a certain extent, justice has been achieved. It is undeniable that this movie has played a positive role in promoting it.
During the day, shocking crimes never stop happening. Even so, we still have to pay attention and fight. Guarding the light should never be just one person's effort. As long as there are people who continue to speak out, the darkness will eventually be dispelled.
pillow cloud
editor Chai Yingrui
