Sudan, the third largest country in Africa, was once rated as "the most unstable country in the world". Due to the long-term impact of colonial rule and civil war, the development of Sudanese films has also been very bumpy: it started in the 1950s, reached its peak in the 1970s, and seriously regressed due to political turmoil in the 1980s. It was not until the independence of South Sudan in July 2011 that it gradually Be restored and revitalized.
In 2013, the Venice International Film Festival launched the "Final Cut" project to provide financial support for countries including Sudan that do not have a well-established film industry. A number of Sudanese films that adopt a transnational cooperation model have emerged at the international film festival, such as the documentary "When We Were" When Talking About Trees" and "Death at 20", etc.
Among them, "Goodbye, Julia" became the first Sudanese film in history to be shortlisted for the official section of Cannes and won the Freedom Award in the "Un Certain Regard" section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival. In this year's 26th Shanghai International Film Festival "Belt and Road" Film Week, it was also successfully shortlisted for the most popular film among the audience. Currently, the Douban score is 8.4.
This movie uses the friendship between two women to outline the complex social picture and huge social turmoil in Sudan, with tenderness and delicate yet grandeur.
01
Mona, a woman from northern Sudan. She comes from a wealthy background, is beautiful and elegant, and her husband is a factory owner. It stands to reason that Mona's life should be colorful, or at least peaceful and fulfilling. But in fact, she and her husband were as indifferent as strangers, and they had nothing but necessary conversations.
Because she could not get pregnant for a long time after marriage, Mona often went to the hospital to check her health. One day, Mona learned from the doctor that she had premature ovarian failure and polycystic ovary syndrome, and the possibility of pregnancy was extremely low. After understanding the situation, she drove home in a depressed mood and accidentally knocked down a little boy on the roadside.
Under normal circumstances, if you hit someone, you should get out of the car immediately to check the situation and call the police. Mona originally planned to do this, but as soon as she opened the door, the child's father chased her to check on her child and banged on her car window fiercely. So Mona quickly got into the car and locked the windows, then drove away in a panic.
This is about the story background of the film. Around 2005, Sudan was in the shadow of the civil war in Khartoum. Since the north and the south had been "divide and rule" since the British colonial period, and the north was thick and the south was thin, they were in civil war for a long time and eventually split.
There are huge differences in religious beliefs and racial culture between South Sudan and North Sudan: the former is mainly black, with tribal religions prevalent, and a few believe in Christianity; the latter is mainly Arabized Nubians, who mostly live a good life and enjoy Privilege, mainly Islam.
Therefore, in the context of the civil war, when driving alone and facing black people from South Sudan, Mona's escape was not a simple escape from responsibility, but out of a huge fear - the film depicts the North and the South several times. In a combat situation, once she got out of the car, she might die.
Seeing Mona speeding away in her car, the man turned around and got on his motorcycle, chasing Mona all the way. While escaping and being chased, Mona arrived home. She quickly shouted her husband Akram's name and said that a black man was chasing her. So Mona's husband took out a gun and shot the father of the child who was chasing after him without thinking about anything. The father died on the spot.
It seems that this was a manslaughter and an accident, but in fact it reflects the huge contradiction that exists between the north and the south. As a "superior person", Mona's husband did not bear any responsibility for killing anyone. The shooting was classified as "justifiable defense", and he himself had no reflection or guilt at all.
Mona’s original intention was not to ask her husband to shoot the man, but she just wanted him to scare him with a gun. She could hit him on the ground or in the leg, but things got out of control.
02
Mona is a habitual liar, which has become a means of self-protection for her to deal with her husband and life. She did not tell her husband that the man chased her because his child was hit, and his death was not directly related to her, but she still felt guilty and was determined to compensate his family.
So, she met Julia, the man’s wife, and the little boy who was hit. Because Mona was not driving very fast at the time, the child’s health was not serious.
Mona did not tell Julia that her husband had passed away, and she always thought that her husband had just run away from home. Using the excuse that the family lacked a live-in maid, Mona deceived Julia and her husband, and naturally took the mother and son home.
Mona did her best to take care of the two of them, and Akram would also take the little boy to do carpentry with him on weekdays to train him. When the boy was old enough to go to school, Mona used some money from her inheritance to send him to an expensive private school near home.
In this strange family combination, issues such as race, gender, and the gap between rich and poor emerge one after another. North and South Sudan once had huge conflicts over the slave trade. People in North Sudan often have a certain degree of racial discrimination, even Mona has it.
When Julia and her son first moved into their home, she specially found a set of tableware and marked the bottom. This behavior itself had racial discrimination. In a conversation with Akram, the other party pointed this out and reminded Mona: Akram blatantly discriminates against black people and does not hide it at all, but Mona’s so-called fairness often also contains a This kind of implicit discrimination is a kind of hypocrisy.
It can be seen from here that Akram is not a purely bad person. He just accepts the established social rules wholeheartedly as a vested interest: South Sudanese are inferior to others, and women are inferior to men. He did not whitewash or cover up any of this, but seemed very candid.
After this conversation with her husband, Mona completely changed her hypocrisy and pretense, and gradually established a friendship with Julia. The two did housework together, went to church together, and became each other's closest friends.
At the same time, Julia was also healing Mona, and the master-servant relationship between the two gradually reversed. Before getting married, Mona was a slightly famous singer. She was beautiful and generous, had an outstanding voice, and loved singing. However, she had no choice but to give up her career because her husband did not allow her to show her face.
Julia has always encouraged Mona to continue singing, and Mona also encouraged and funded Julia to go to college that she had given up before because of financial and marital problems. Two women from different races and social classes come together under the oppression of patriarchy and give each other breathing space.
03
Later in the film, the two women discuss the issue of lies. In Mona's view, the quality of a lie depends on the intention. Lying has become her survival tool, and only in this way can she avoid her husband's cross-examination and the ensuing quarrels.
When we are looking forward to how the film will show Mona telling Julia the truth, the truth is more complicated: Julia actually knew that her husband had died in the first year when she moved to Mona's house, and Mona was with her. It cannot be separated. If you think about it, you will understand. Who would provide himself with a job that provides him with adequate food and clothing for no reason, and also provide himself and his children with schooling?
Julia knew everything clearly, but she didn't say anything. She needed this help and needed to raise her son. Otherwise, like other compatriots, she would be expelled and imprisoned, and her son would have a hard time getting an education.
It turns out that Julia, who seems weak and weak, is actually the most sober and powerful person in the whole movie.
In this society without law and justice, Julia, who has a poor family, cannot seek justice for her dead husband. She can only resort to tricks to keep herself and her children alive, and to allow Mona to gain inner salvation.
"Goodbye, Julia" uses a crime to bring together two families from different social classes, races and beliefs, and outlines a dynamic contemporary picture through the relationship between the two women: Sudan's The struggle between the North and the South, similar gender pains, the moral dilemmas of the human heart, and religious differences are all revealed in one story, both lightly and heavily.
This is the first work of director Mohamed Cordofani, but the film's lens language is very mature. It is difficult to imagine the embarrassment and difficulty behind the production of the entire film.
The two female leads are also non-professionals, but their performances are natural and smooth, adding a strong sense of reality to the film.
At the end of the video, the two women hugged each other. This hug is the friendship between you and me, and it is also understanding and relief. Mona finally decided to divorce her husband and bravely pursue her singing career, while Julia also began to face a new life.
The separation between the two people not only marked the end of a wonderful friendship, but also meant the end of the Sudanese civil war - in 2011, the Republic of South Sudan was officially established. Women and the country must rush towards a better future.
pillow cloud
editor-in-chief Chai Yingrui
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