This is one of the saddest film I have seen. It's so real and moving that I felt very heavy when was watching the film, whispering: please, please don't hurt each other anymore.
It's a film by Paul Newman. I always find Paul Newman very very good looking, along with my fascination of the cinema of the 70s. However, I really respect him even more about this film, so as to all the actors (especially the mom and the little daughter) for their brilliant performances.
It's about a single mom and her two daughters. It is about how life can turn out to be very different from you expected, when you were young. It's about how cruel the world is, and how more cruel it can be if we don't love each other and take care of the ones we love and should love. I felt very very sorry for the little daughter. She's so bright, so good, and yet she doesn't get the love she deserves from her mom, even though she keeps trying and trying her best. I really don't like the older daughter and the film doesn't really provide any ground for her annoying behaviour except for the fact that she might had horrible experience before and she is ill.
I felt so sad because in this film, every one is a victim. And it is not like you can blame anyone for the other person's misfortune. It must be very tough for the mom to bring up 2 daughters on her own, possibly without a job; it must be very tough to look up to such a mom, so corrupted by her miserable life and bitter disappointment; yet, she must loves her daughters, or else that she is just losing grip with everything around her. Even though she doesn't seem to be trying a lot in the film, her bitterness is all over the film and even though she's not really a likable character, you can't be angry with her.
For me, this is a film about disappointment in this world. I guess it is all too easy to get disappointed by little things, like when the older daughter wants to go to this date while ignoring every single responsibilities she should take for the family members who she should love. She hates her mother, hates all the old people who lived and died in the house. Unlike her, the little daughter is quiet and mature, taking care of her family while showing interest in science. As innocent and kind as her is, she can't save herself from disappointments: from her mom, from her favourite science teacher, from her sister (probably) and the world.
However, there is hope, even though at the end of the film I could only see the pain of everyone, especially the one of the little one. She told her mom: No, I don't find this world hard to live in, and I don't hate it (paraphrasing). That's her view before the climax (the absense and craze of her mom during the science fair, the death of her only affectionate object). Would she still be so strong after all these? We don't know.
I hope she can.
An excellent film. I can't really put my thoughts and emotions together and write straight. Sorry for the messy comments. (6 stars, everyone who cares about real emotions and lives should go see it).
No comments:
Post a Comment