Last time I talked about the power of warmth in Japanese literature. This time I want to write about the warmth contained in the details of Kore-eda Hirokazu's "The Walking" that I recently read.
Recently due to the epidemic, in addition to anxiously watching the news and looking at various numerical data at home, I had a chance to escape and heard a favorite playwright talk about movies, and what he talked about was "The Walking". . But before I thought about listening to the movie, I decided to watch the movie myself first, then I looked up the original work and watched it again, and then listened to the talk again. (The upstarts of time are so willful!)
The above, including the following, are all my personal nonsense to show respect for the wasted time.
At the beginning of 2019, I saw Hirokazu Kore-eda mentioned in the summaries of many people’s year-end books. At that time, I found his works from WeChat Reading and put them on my bookshelf. Haven't clicked on it. This time I clicked to watch it, and I regretted why I didn’t know to watch it before. I have only read two of his works so far (the other one is "Deeper Than the Sea". I hope to read several of his major works together and write about them next time), and I don't dare to evaluate his entire style. However, both works are tender dramas that express family themes, and are suitable to be watched in this precarious moment.
"Never Stop" is both a movie directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu and an original work written by him himself, so the degree of restoration of the entire novel and the movie is basically 1:1. The story told is very simple, or it can be said that the story never happened. One day in late summer and early autumn, the family gathered together to have several meals.
Let me tell you a few details.
Corn Tempura
We in China also pay attention to reunion. When we get together, eating is indispensable. The food culture also has a long history. I found that one characteristic of Japan is that it cares very much about things, and the food is also exquisitely prepared, and the portions are not much every time (a worry for foodies). In this work, several traditional Japanese foods are also covered, such as sushi and eel rice. But one food is particularly important in the work: corn tempura. What kind of thing is this? In fact, it is what we call corn roasting. It's a very common thing, but it has special meaning in the movie.
To give a little background information, the protagonist Yokoyama Ryōta took his wife and stepson back to his hometown. The movie captured their day and night when they returned home. Putting the plot of the story in one day may be a useful technique in dramas. Cao Yu's drama "Thunderstorm" also writes stories that happen in one day, but there are fierce conflicts to promote the development of the plot. But here, there is almost no obvious conflict, just the family gathering together to eat. But this was no ordinary meal. Liang Duo's brother Junpei died while saving a little boy at the beach fifteen years ago. This day is the anniversary of his brother's death, so Liang Duo's family and her sister's family returned to their parents' home. Liang Duo is a painting restorer, but he recently lost his job. On the way back, he specifically asked his wife Yukari not to let his family know. Yukari took her son from her ex-husband back to her hometown for the first time, and she felt uneasy.
Let’s continue talking about corn tempura, which is my brother Junpei’s favorite food. During the frying process, my father, who was always serious, showed a rare smile and squeezed into the kitchen to eat with his hands. In fact, this corn tempura embodies many beautiful memories of their family. Many families must have some special food that carries the memories of this family. They recalled that their family once secretly picked corn from a neighbor's field and went home to fry tempura. The neighbor sent corn, and their family was embarrassed. At this time, Liang Duo said: "Mom, if I had known we didn't have to go to the market, Let’s buy corn.” This solved the embarrassment. But every time their parents tell this joke, they always say that this beautiful sentence was said by their brother Junpei, which makes many people feel unhappy. Later in the evening, Liang Duo finally clarified to his father that he was the one who said this.
Why do Liangduo care so much about who said this? At the beginning of the movie, when Yukari mentioned things at home, he repeatedly emphasized that he was the second son. He has always been disliked at home because his brother Junpei has always been better than him and can inherit his father's career. His father is a doctor and his brother was already a doctor before his death. Even though his brother has passed away, his position is still very important in the hearts of his family.
Therefore, Liang Duo has never had a sense of presence at home. He probably also wants to be recognized by his parents, but the reality is that he is not the ideal son in the eyes of his parents. Especially his father, who looked down upon his work and made fun of him for not making money. We always think that children born from the same parents should receive the same amount of love, but this seems not to be the case in reality.
Hundred Day Red
Hundred Day Red is also a crape myrtle flower. Late summer and early autumn is the season when the azure flowers are in full bloom. There are many scenes of Hundred Days Red in the movie, and there are also special mentions in the novel. There is an azure plant in the yard of his hometown. It was planted by his father when his family moved here. It happened to be when his father opened a clinic here. Therefore, his father cherished the whooping red tree very much. Even when his grandson and granddaughter played the game of smashing watermelons in the yard, his father would shout loudly to stop him, for fear of hitting his flowers.
There is a beautiful scene. After lunch, three children ran out to play with snacks. They encountered a whooping plant. The sister picked up her younger brother and touched the lace-like pink of the whooping plant. colored petals. In the summer afternoon, there are cicadas chirping, there are thick shades, crape myrtle flowers are in bloom, and there are cold watermelons soaked in the water. It is really a beautiful daily life.
When the three children came back, they brought back a crape myrtle flower. Mrs. Yokoyama kept her in a water cup. When she was weaving lace at the dining table at night, there was a scene where Liang Duo got up to drink water at night. , caught a glimpse of the crape myrtle in the water glass, and gave the silent crape myrtle a close-up. In fact, this long shot is also a process of many memories, because when they first moved here, he broke a crape myrtle flower on the way to school. He brought it back and gave it to his mother after school. The next day he saw his mother. Place the crape myrtle flower in front of the Buddhist altar. At that time, Xiao Liang probably thought that he had been approved by his mother.
"The hundred-day red flower in front of me now is as bright and beautiful as it was then. Only that beauty is the same as it was thirty years ago. Everything else leaves almost no trace. The land has changed. "What has changed? The passage of time, growth of age, situation and mentality, etc., inevitably changed, especially the death of his brother and the aging of his parents. This flower caused a sense of "things are different and people are different" for no reason.
Last summer, I took photos of crape myrtle flowers on the roadside
Yellow butterfly
The yellow butterfly appeared three times in the movie, which has a religious meaning . For the first time, Liang Duo and his mother went to the cemetery to pay homage to his brother. On the way back, they saw a yellow butterfly. His mother said that as long as the white butterfly survives the winter, it will turn into a yellow butterfly. After dinner, a striped yellow butterfly flew into the house. My mother stretched out her hands to chase the butterfly, insisting that it was the one she saw in the cemetery in the afternoon. The mother's lips trembled and her eyes were sad, but also shone with an unusual light, as if she saw something that no one else could see. Finally, the butterfly landed on the frame of his brother's photo in the Buddhist niche, folded its wings and rested. This convinced his mother that his brother's soul was possessed by a yellow butterfly and came to visit his family. The third time it happened, many fathers and mothers had passed away, and he took his family home to worship. On the way back, I happened to encounter a yellow butterfly. He told his daughter what his mother once said to him, "The white butterfly will turn into a yellow butterfly after it survives the winter." A butterfly connects reality and memory, expressing the grief of the living for their deceased relatives.
Whether it is corn tempura, whooping red, or yellow-striped butterfly, they are very ordinary, and their appearance may be accidental, but in the movie, Kore-eda Hirokazu gave them love and warmth. As time goes by, memories become fresher, and bits and pieces of memories of deceased relatives are projected onto small and ordinary things.
The theme of death is also implicitly expressed in the movie. Because the whole family gathers together on the anniversary of my brother’s death, it is not a happy holiday like the New Year, so the scene of a warm family reunion is always shrouded in a faint layer of sadness. Just a touch will fill the air with sadness. For example, when we look at photos together, my mother's expression twitches when she sees the photo of her brother, and the tears well up in the corners of her eyes inadvertently.
Corn tempura, whooping red, and yellow butterflies are all very bright colors in the film. This bright color is the background of life, and it is death that highlights the weight of life.
Their family also has this conflict, but this conflict is like an undercurrent under the calm river. The children who have not become ideal adults, the adults full of regrets, the forced separation, the separation between life and death, all the contradictions are constantly moving forward. China had to be reconciled. Although this reconciliation was a bit slow, it seemed a bit too late. Since life is like this, then keep walking and seize the day.