Film Name:灿烂的她/Remember Me
《Remember Me》 is one of those rare films that is truly a “family film”.
The film features a pair of grandparents and grandchildren, showing the love of elders from the grandmother’s point of view, the difficulty of growing up as a teenager and the longing for love from the child’s point of view, as well as all kinds of parents and teachers who are either kind or selfish, highlighting the diversity of human nature. This kind of realistic subject matter across age groups will resonate with many viewers.
The warmth of the film comes from the true nature of each character.
The traditional and cool grandmother: she tries her best to warm up the younger generation.
Hui Yinghong’s Grandma is full of the qualities of a traditional woman.
After her son’s accidental death and her daughter-in-law’s remarriage, she is determined to take on the heavy burden of life at her age. Uneducated, she works hard to support her only granddaughter by catching fish in the sea.
Many of the moving details in the film are the very embodiment of the previous generation’s love for children. For example, when the grandmother sees that her granddaughter loves drawing and wants expensive crayons with more colours, she doesn’t hesitate to exchange very expensive fish to satisfy her granddaughter’s wish.
When her granddaughter likes to eat yellow croaker, she always shaves off the spines and the head of the fish, gives her the meat, and shaves the bones herself.
When she bought clothes for her granddaughter, the saleswoman said she could still wear them next year if she bought them too big, but the grandmother said firmly, “My granddaughter needs to wear clothes that fit her.
She knows that her granddaughter is going the wrong way home, but she stays with her because she respects her choice and believes that she may have another purpose.
She gives her granddaughter only ordinary things, but this unreserved favouritism is priceless.
This warmth of willingness to give her all is also the key to the later development of the story. The granddaughter is forced to be separated from her grandmother for ten years, and when she recognises her granddaughter by the dolphin necklace from that year, the grandmother’s love is reawakened.
Her heart for her granddaughter remains unchanged, and she has a vision for her heart. She knows that her granddaughter has grown up and needs more than crayons, yellowtail fish, and pretty dresses; she needs a teacher’s nurturing, enough money for her education, and the chance to go beyond her fishing village to study abroad.
Even though her ability is limited, she has paved the way for her granddaughter, waiting for her child to fly farther under her support.
Surprisingly, the character of Grandma is not just a traditional fishing village woman. Due to the limitations of her time and environment, she can only be a person who quietly pays for her family, but many details tell the audience that she must have had a story when she was young.
In her private life, Grandma was also a cool woman who “smoked and drank”. Every time she went to the kiosk, she would secretly buy alcohol, and when she was upset, she would also have a couple of cigarettes. She was never weak when things went wrong. She never gave up looking for her granddaughter for ten years, and left clues in all sorts of ways. When her granddaughter was blackmailed and her reputation was ruined at school, she used her wit to help her solve the problem. She likes to sing “Walk gracefully once” as if it were her own persona.
Traditional mothers seem to be obedient, sacrificing for their families all their lives, with no one caring about their preferences and personalities. In fact, every mother’s life is wonderful in its own way.
In the film, there is also an ultimate exploration of “love”: is it because of blood ties or because of the time spent together?
While the grandmother is giving her all to love her granddaughter, the granddaughter is caught in the “identity doubt”. The grandmother is torn between giving up on the girl and helping her. Of course, she eventually made the choice with love.
At present, we need this kind of hope and warmth to support us to continue to love the world.
Last but not least, I have to praise Hui Yinghong’s acting skills, as she can play a female big shot, a policewoman, and also an ordinary woman in a fishing village. She is both tough and soft, kind and individualistic, and is definitely the most distinctive character of elderly women on the big screen this year. At a time when domestic films and TV dramas rarely focus on middle-aged and elderly women, Hui Yinghong’s portrayal of Grandma has once again enriched the image of women on the screen.
The granddaughter who travelled through the darkness: once illuminated, she also warmed others with her faint light.
Liu Hao Cun’s granddaughter is also a highlight of the film. She is not a passive white flower waiting for her grandmother to give her love, but a strong girl who crosses the darkness.
The granddaughter who reappears in front of her grandmother is no longer the pampered little girl, but a “problem girl” with many holes in her body. For Liu Hao Cun, receiving a role that is half kind and half problematic also brings a lot of room for play.
This young girl was threatened to engage in illegal live broadcasting, was forced to steal, and managed to escape from the clutches of the physical and mental trauma. Liu Hao Cun’s portrayal of her disdain on the surface and vulnerability in the heart is spot on. Each crying scene also cried out differently, it is difficult not to tear up.
The granddaughter appears in her grandmother’s world with a stubborn attitude. Underneath her bright and girlish appearance is a closed heart, a picture of unwillingness to integrate into the world. The art teacher asks her to paint, and all she paints is gloomy and windy. Her past experiences have made her not believe in light, not to mention that there is hope if you work hard.
Her grandmother’s unreserved love makes her feel that a person like herself deserves to be cared for and taken seriously, which makes her understand the meaning of her existence in this world again.
Thus, when the darkness that once was enveloped her once again, she also used her thin body to block these injuries, not allowing her grandmother to get involved in them. In this moment, she also understands what love is.
After the grandmother’s health gradually deteriorates, the granddaughter becomes the one who takes care of her again. Many of these contrasting episodes are also very tear-jerking, as what the grandmother once did for the granddaughter, the granddaughter now does the same for the grandmother, becoming a true mutual healing.
The grandmother and the granddaughter are actually an intertextual pair. The grandma is traumatised by the loss of her son, and her granddaughter is the healing antidote for her, enabling her to face the loss of her son. The granddaughter, who has been hurt by her family and society in the course of growing up, is again the grandmother’s love that enables her to reaffirm her own value and to see the existence of light again.
To reap and to give, this is the meaning of life.
Comedy + Warmth + Healing + Suspense, a mix of genres for a rich experience
In terms of the film itself, 《Remember Me》 belongs to the category of “effortlessly good-looking”, meaning that there is no burden during the viewing process, and you only need to gradually get involved with the development of emotions.
This is due to the film’s integration of various genre elements. There are many tear-jerking and touching scenes between the grandchildren, but there are also comedic elements to balance them out, such as the grandmother’s resourcefulness in repelling the blackmailer, and the simplicity of the surrounding relatives, friends and villagers, all of which add a sense of joy to the film. Many familiar “minor character professionals” join the film, giving it a life-like tone.
The setting of the “real and fake granddaughter” in the film also gives the film a suspenseful colour, and when the result is known, the audience will be able to understand the clues laid out before, and at the same time, the emotion is also pushed to the climax.
At a time when the big screen is happier to tell stories about young people, it’s rare to find a film that analyses family, growing up and intimacy. What could be more healing than watching a hopeful film with your family in the spring.
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