Two years ago, when I was reading Li Ruijun's "Home in a Land with Rich Watergrass", it was almost like "booking". However, after the recent release of Twenty-two, Passing the Future, and Daohuaxiang, the number of people watching movies has increased significantly. More and more viewers are no longer satisfied with popcorn movies, and begin to pay attention to and like documentaries or dramas with stronger real colors. This is really gratifying. "Dwarf Woman" came out at this time, catching up with a good time.
When we are talking about the smell of rice flowers, some people talk about faith, some talk about education, and some talk about cultural collision. So is Dwarf Woman. From the perspective of left-behind children, it may waste the multiple meanings of the film. I think the sociological significance of My Shorty can't be ignored. The film tells the life story of a "short woman" Xiao Yunjie. Her life in the countryside with her grandmother and sister, and some experiences of going to town with her parents after her grandmother died. This story reflects the basic situation of a group. Sister Xiao Yun's parents go out to work, and it is often difficult for them to integrate into the city and live on the edge of the city. Xiao Yunjie and his grandparents stayed in the countryside, and the withdrawal of a large number of mature laborers aggravated the decline of the countryside. Jiang Nengjie said at the premiere: "One of my core ideas in making this film is: a city that can't stay, a country that can't go back." If you have seen his previous films, you will find that he has always presented the real life of his hometown. Let's subdivide the hometown people: migrant workers, left-behind children and the elderly. Of course, some people don't go out to work, and some take their children out, but very few.
If you think the reason why migrant workers are difficult to integrate into the city is that they have no culture and no ability. Then you should really look at the investigation report about white-collar workers and "ant tribe" and see how they integrate into the city. White-collar workers and the working class occupy the vast majority of society. If most of them find it difficult to integrate into city life and enjoy basic citizen treatment, and their children find it difficult to enjoy basic education rights, do you still think this is caused by personal incompetence? Some people may say that if you can't integrate into the city, then go back to the countryside. Then I'd like to ask you to pay attention to the prices of food, fruits and vegetables, and then look at tuition and medical expenses. They went out because of family problems. The working group is a group that has been created. They created left-behind children and left-behind elderly people.
Sister Xiao Yun is very clever and sensible. She washes dishes, boils water, cooks and does housework at home, and also goes to the fields to do some farm work. Like a little adult. Compared with her sick grandmother, Yun Jie is the pillar of the family, a short mother-in-law. Even if their parents go out to work, the life of Yun Jie's family is very hard. Breakfast is often sweet potato. My sister's new clothes for the performance gave grandma a big problem. Even the school bus can't afford to go to school, so we have to walk back and forth. Not to mention grandma's serious illness. Ordinary days are easy, catching up with things, and the influence of parents' absence is amplified. Even an ordinary rain will bring a lot of trouble to families in Yun Jie. She needs to get up in the middle of the night and catch the leaks everywhere with pots and pans. Without the help of relatives and neighbors, it is impossible to catch up with the rice harvest.
It is natural that she should behave badly in school. Only in the evening do you have time to finish your homework, no one can ask for advice, and only when the teacher may run away at any time can you get good grades. At least Sister Xiao Yun is still studying hard. Many of his classmates secretly put their minds on going out to work. In another work by Jiang Nengjie, Children in the Village, a child directly said, "My dream is to go out to work." In the movie, Sister Xiao Yun saw the eyes of her classmates sitting in the car and going out to work, which was unforgettable.
There are two references to death in Dwarf. One is a child drowned in a pond, and the other is a grandmother who died of pneumoconiosis. It's hard not to feel the director's concern. After grandma died, Sister Xiao Yun went to town with her parents. Later, Yun Jie's mother accompanied her two sisters back to the countryside because she could not enter school smoothly. I once made a survey in a school for migrant children outside the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing, and talked with parents about their children's educational plans in the next few years. They either haven't considered it yet or decided to go back to their hometown. Because it is difficult for children to have a student status here, they can't take the college entrance examination in Beijing, and the content and methods of learning are not the same as those in their hometown. In the reality that mothers decide to go back to China to accompany their children, education for children is a good solution.
Jiang Nengjie's films didn't involve his mother's life after Yun Jie and his sister returned to their hometown. "The Smell of Rice Flowers" is like a continuation of the same topic of "Short Woman". We can have a peek. What will happen when mom comes back?
Many people say that this film shows them another side of left-behind children. Indeed, the concept of left-behind children really reminds us of pain, poverty and hardship. And "The Smell of Rice Flowers" let us see the lively side of playing games and eating snacks in the Buddhist temple. Jiang Nengjie's film One Plus One also shows the heroine Jia Yi playing hide-and-seek with her brother and dog. There are also many scenes to play with classmates. But I think the lightness and even humor in the film language is an expression. Will not weaken the seriousness and heaviness of the theme. After all, you always use a sarcastic narrative, which is easy to get bored. It is easier to write heavy things and move people's hearts.
No matter how many narrative clues are hidden in the film, the interaction between Ye Nan and Conan's mother and daughter is still the main thread of The Flower of Rice. Although the material life in Dai villages is much richer, Southern Yan, who has stayed behind for many years, still has many bad habits. She lied, stole money from Buddhist temples and was addicted to online games. What worries me most is her relationship with her mother. When Ye Nan just got home, the conversation with Nan Yan wrapped in a quilt was really heartbreaking. Q: "Southern Yan, why are you hiding under the covers?" Answer: "It's better to listen to the sound." It is not easy to re-establish a daughter's trust and attachment to her mother. When Ye Nan found her daughter playing games in the Internet cafe all night, when her daughter was taken away by the police for stealing, and when she learned that her daughter's grades were not good, she had the impulse to run away. But in the end, she never left her daughter. Because of this persistence, she regained her daughter's love. However, how many mothers have Ye Nan's patience and determination? How many mothers live in rich and beautiful places like Dai villages? Of course, we hope that Xiao Yun can all become Southern Yan, but who can guarantee that they won't become nanluxiang? The poor girl had to see her parents only after she was seriously ill. How many left-behind children cannot escape her fate?