前进天堂2002

 I have to say, after I watched the heartwarming and terrific film In America, I was deeply moved by the loving family. For a long time, I can’t get out of their struggling story. Without any glaring special effects, just through a ten-year-old girl Christine’s narration, In America beats all the American blockbuster, in my eyes.

 At the beginning of the film, the shakily photographed opening scenes gives me a deep impression, which deliberately symbolizes the uncertainty of the future. Through the camcorder, the oldest daughter Christine sees the huge and brightly colored Big Apple. No one knows what’s waiting for the family, even for us… Around by the wows of the two kids in the car, let’s forget all the pains we had, facing the brand-new world.

To escape from the sad memories of their little son Frankie’s death, the young couple with two adorable daughters move into the U.S illegally, with dreams of a better life for their family. They are so poor that have to live in the slum of Manhattan, which is populated by junkies, drag queens, and assorted low-lifes. The new house is just passable, but the family are excited, with their aborative decoration, the house is filled with warmth. This is the point that touched me a lot, no matter how bad the real condition is, they never lose the heart. So, to some extent, In America is actually an inspiring film.

However, the loss of Frankie haunts every single one of the family. There are three plots I remember clearly until now. The first one is that when the immigration officer asks how many children they have, the dad still answers 3, in fact his son has been dead. And the second: after the mum gives birth to a new baby, she cries to the dad, looking for her lost son. The last one: before Christine gives a blood transfusion to the baby in danger, she announces seriously to her father, “Don’t ‘little girl’ me, I've been carrying this family on my back for more than a year.” Through the plots above, we can see the guilt and blame plague the couple all the time, and even their young daughters bear the family’s pain and try to heal their parents. Christine has been talking to Frankie every night, recalling the happy time when the family are in together. This is a children’s world that is often ignored by the adults. The director Jim Sheridan notices it, that’s commendable.

Besides the love between the family, In America gives us a glimpse of the true friendship. On their first Halloween in the states, the two girls dare to knock on the door of “the screaming man”,a black named Motell, in their building and played “trick or treat” with him, softening the dying man’s heart. Gradually, they develop a

sincere relationship. The family pull him out of his depression at the end of his life, show him their love, and make him have the last happy time. Unexpectedly, the kids’ opening arms, the whole family’s kindness finally pay off—Motell pay their debts to hospital as the last gift. We ache for him when his end comes. God bless him.

Undoubtedly, In America is a tear jerker in terms of its theme, about memory, secrets, love, loss, wishes, dreams, families growing stronger, starting over, and America as the land of opportunity, etc. Also it is elevated by strong performances by everyone involved. Paddy Considine plays Johnny, excellently showing a father who is devoted, protective, compassionate, a little crazy and weighed down by grief. And, needless to say, Samantha Morton, the famous actress, gives a stunning performance driven by the despair in her eyes. She captured every emotion a grieving mother goes through, and her nervous breakdown in the hospital is so emotionally gripping. But the most surprise is the real-world sisters, the genuine article of child actors, Sarah and Emma Bolger. They seem completely transparent, not just simple ‘cute kids’, but leave the impression they are not acting at all. When Christine sings “Desperado” at a school talent show, I nearly weep. It haunts me all the week, tugging my heartstrings.

And finally I want to add something else in the part of the text structure and the art of narratology. There are Christine’s three wishes and the image of ET throughout the whole film. The three wishes Christine prays to Frankie form the main frame of the film. And the image of ET emerges in the film several times, at a street fair, the dad wins an ET doll for the kids; a black man who calls himself an ET befriends the sisters; and the ET passes the moon like Santa Claus at the end of the film. In my opinion, maybe the ET represents the miracles, if you believe in hope and love, your dream will come true someday.

All in all, In America gives me so many levels of human emotion, purifying my soul. If only one word to describe it, that is, bravo!


http://ceh-870925.blog.163.com/blog/static/340173672008102322820365/

    一个别人家的故事.遥远但是真实.我的屏幕虽然暗了下来，但是他们的生活应该仍然在地球的另一端继续.不记得怎样开始,也不会有结束.
    <新美国梦>里面有太多温情,幸与不幸都恰倒好处,巧合和奇迹也都适可而止.就好象我们的生活，公平的谁也别想占到什么便宜.就是这样的分寸，让我愿意相信它的真实.
    这是一种不同于以往的感动.似乎没有什么煽情的场景对白.没有大起大落的情节,没有大喜大悲的心境.只是电影一开始,看见克里斯蒂没有笑容的美丽的脸,就觉得莫名的忧伤和担心.磕磕绊绊的生活中似乎还隐藏了巨大的不幸没有现身:( 然而意外的是,他们最终也并未遭受什么巨大的不幸,只是生活保持着不怎么顺利的状态.也许正是因为这样吧,没有特意地要感动谁,反而深深地打动了人心.孩子天使一样的笑脸和声音让我忍不住为她们祈祷,上帝不要对她们太残忍.
    难忘几个片段: 克里斯蒂在台上轻轻唱着的歌."" 好温暖的声音,唱得出的希望:)
    父亲投球换E.T娃娃的那一段.从一开始兴高采烈的想要试试,到最后掏出所有积蓄作为赌注.我相信我可以想象和理解，人在长久受压抑后暂时想忘记理智的冲动.
    小艾瑞尔的柠檬糖:) 我想那是换做是谁都愿意相信的魔法!
    快结束时在阳台和法兰奇说再见的那段.爸爸的表情变化令我感触颇深.他终于可以面对和遗忘了:) 是啊,心是空间有限的容器,装满了伤心的往事,期盼的幸福要放哪里呢?!
    
    总的来说，是个基调不怎么快乐的电影吧.看的时候是小心翼翼的.甚至没有机会松一口气.但是片尾曲响起字幕出现的时候,心里觉得很安静,也很放心.不需要眼泪，不需要太多思考.没有觉得夸张到好笑,没有明显的情节漏洞让我失望.亦没留下遗憾和悬念~~~这是最让我满足的一种观影感受.

欢迎来到美国
　　那朦胧的星条旗，还有被遮蔽的太阳，有着无数的想象和未知。而伴着复杂和紧张的心情，来自爱尔兰的约翰尼一家来到了美加边境，美国已就在眼前。
　　边境处让人虚惊一场的警察，未见其影先闻其声的曼哈顿（纽约），约翰尼一家驾车经过的灯火酒绿都与他们无关。他们在吸毒者和异装癖混杂的贫民区找到了一个安家的地方，为了稍稍布置这个以前被鸽子占领的地方，他们还卖掉了越境用的汽车。终于来到了美国，而这家人要面对的未来依然艰辛。
　　最大的问题就是钱。妻子莎拉原来是个教师，现在在快餐店当了服务员。而丈夫约翰尼是个演员，但屡次试镜不得后开起了出租车。纽约也到处是演员，都在寻找和等待着机会。一个家伙在出租车上发泄式的唱起了ＲＡＰ，被他厌恶的赶下了车。
　　稍稍安顿后，一家人一起出去放松一下。吃饭看电影到游乐场玩。为了为小女儿赢得那个ＥＴ的布偶，他们压上了身上所有的钱。这些钱早就远远超过了布偶的价值，但他们不仅要让小女儿不失望，更要借着这个非常心痛的胜利表达一种信念，一种无论多大困难都能挺过来的信心的象征。这也是无论遇到什么事，他们也都要在女儿们面前表现的乐观的原因。在明摆着的困难面前，信心是最重要的。

难以忘记的过去
　　与一般寻梦的故事略有不同的是，这一家人还背负着巨大的精神创伤，这也是他们要寻找新生活的动机和原因。从散落在影片各处的线索，可以还原痛苦的原由。他们的小儿子弗兰克，因意外从楼梯跌落而诱发了恶性的脑瘤，经过几年的挣扎最后还是去世了。这是一个让人无法接受的大不幸，给了这一家人巨大的打击，甚至让他们动摇了自己的信仰，一年多来都无法从中释怀。于是，他们来到美国，打算一切从头开始。
　　虽然面对全新的生活，但家庭那残缺的部分始终挥之不去。过关时警察询问，而后甚至夫妻俩难得空闲了做爱时，竟也想起了死去的儿子。一旦有人捅破了心照不喧的沉默，悲伤便又泛滥开了。痛苦就要发泄，发泄的方式之一就是反复在不幸的最初原因上，而无论是责怪自己还是责怪对方，都只会让悲伤更加沉重。
　　妻子又怀孕了。而体检的时候却被告知，怀孕就意味着危险，到时候母子很难都保全。这是上天给他们的安慰，还是又一次的不幸呢？冲突又起。丈夫害怕悲剧又一次重演，那将是无法忍受的苦难。旧怨未除又添新患，绝境中这位父亲竟在小女儿的眼里完全成了一个陌生的人。妻子选择了坚持，于是给了这个家一次重新振作的机会。
　　这样的一次“寻梦”之旅，有些特别，在刚开始的时候我们甚至可以就把它当作是一种逃避，借由那谁也无法预料的新生活来逃避过去。事情不会就这么简单，冲突和困难反而有时加深了痛苦。但这也的确是一个方法一条途径，来到一个新的环境，当面对困境面对压力的时候，生活必须继续，很多事情也必然发生，逃避不得反而获得了解脱。

美国的符号美国的人
　　多次在电影中出现的ＥＴ，代表着美好的希望。在游乐场赢得的ＥＴ，让他们树立面对新生活的信心。而后来又在飞往月球的ＥＴ的幻想中，符上了对逝者的思念和告别，也真正完成了对过去的告别。
　　另一个是万圣节。孩子们穿着自制的简陋服装参加学校的活动，一面遭到了所有人的鄙夷的眼光，一面又在活动最后获得了安慰性的创意奖。这真是一个生活的缩影或者说写照，是残酷和难言的无奈。
　　万圣节的另一个活动是“Trick or treat”，孩子们敲开了所在大楼里一个神秘人的门。那是个来自尼日利亚的画家马蒂奥，身患绝症，整日闭门不出，给人的唯一印象是被病痛折磨时发出的巨吼。虽然讨厌被人打扰，但同为移民的他还是友好的接待了她们。无论怎样，移民和本土的人群总是存在着隔阂。而同为移民，虽然来自不同的国家不同的民族，但相同的景遇让他们容易走近。马蒂奥和约翰尼一家有了来往，虽然也有误会，但久违的友谊和亲切给他人生最后的一段时光带来了温暖。而他为他们付清了莎拉生产的巨额医药费，作为他的最后的礼物。
　　另有一个邻居，常常向约翰尼要钱，而在约翰尼穷窘的时候他主动给出代用券以示帮助或着说友好，让人感觉似乎有些温暖。但好戏还在后头，为了钱，后来他还是将刀子架到了约翰尼的脖子上。边缘人，底层人物的心态和作为，残酷又有些可怜，虽然不是全部，却都是为了生存的挣扎。

克里丝蒂和她的三个愿望
　　10岁的大女儿克里丝蒂，有着和年龄不符的冷静。当她说出“别叫我小女孩，从弗兰克死后，我担起这个家也已经一年多了”，真是让人五味杂陈。
　　常常有导演会让小孩在电影里去承担相当重要和有特别意义的角色（还有如我们熟悉的杨德昌的《一一》里最后的那段独白），虽然可能有悖于现实中孩子的形象，但于电影而言，在深化主题等方面往往更具力量。
　　在电影中克里丝蒂拿着ＤＶ，ＤＶ里面储存着关于过去的记忆，同时又记录着现在生活的点点滴滴。它扭结着过去、现在，静待着未来。克里丝蒂还是影片的叙述者，当她说出“别叫我小女孩”那段话的时，听者也许会惊讶或不以为然，但在她自己看来，正是她帮助着这个家一步步走过来。
　　她是如何做的呢？每到紧要关头，克里丝蒂就用向死去的弗兰克的许愿，帮助这个家（家人）度过难关。
　　她的第一个愿望用在了过境要进入美国的时候，这是要开始新生活必须的第一步。第二个愿望是在游乐场投球的时候，这时为了不让小女儿失望，一家人已把身上所有的钱都压在了那最后一球上，这是面对新生活树立信心的关键时刻。由于数量有限，愿望一定得用在最关键的时候，当母亲生产时面临生命危险的时候克里丝蒂都没有舍得用，她的第三个愿望是让父亲对弗兰克真正说再见，在生活的波折暂告一段落后，是完全卸下过去的包袱来面对未来的时候到了。
　　真的是愿望在起作用吗？当然按理性分析来说显然不是，但对小孩子而言，愿望便是她对生活的信念和向往的一种表达方式。在困顿的景况下，愿望便也成了一种有力的思想武器。另外，导演也通过这样有些特别也很有意思的方式，标记了电影里的或者说影片主人公经历的一些重要时刻，进一步点明和深化了主题。

　　这样的电影，煽情的难免，结局的必然。而导演在处理的时候，较好将各种元素融合在电影中，没有过分依赖某一种情绪。主题和细节、主体和个人也都抓的分明，这一次寻梦也是自救的过程，有始有终，让人感悟。

电影的表现手法很隐忍，又很坚持，无声的挣扎，“脆弱”的大人和“坚强”的小孩，感人的诉说。我不知道Frankie Sheriden是不是导演的儿子，但可以感觉到他通过电影温柔的看着Frankie：）

After a long journey, finally the Sullivan family enters the United States. The director chooses to start the story at this moment. The moment for the family may be a chance to restart to some degree. And also to us spectators, it can be an easy resource to look into the protagonists’ life.

Johnny and Sarah, with their daughters Christy and Ariel, have settled in a tenement in Manhattan which is occupied by drug addicts and transvestites. However, they are still filled with joy. Sarah finds a job in a restaurant as a waitress to support the family while Johnny can go on taking part in screen test to try to get a role. Nevertheless, Johnny can never find the emotions that the stage director has expected. So he has faced a lot of failures.

With the story promoting, we are told that there is a heavy stone hanging over the family. It’s the accidental death of the young son Frankie. Everybody in the family feels sorrow and guilty. Though they seldom mention it, they haven’t forgotten it for even one minute. That’s the reason why Johnny can’t feel true feelings----he had lost them all at his son’s death. And the movie here brings out an other important protagonist---the Nigerian artist and photographer Mateo. His early actions make us think he is a ferocious guy. But the turning point comes at the Halloween Day. Christy and Ariel knock Mateo’s door for the tradition “thick or treat”. Mateo has treated the girls friendly. This makes the family gradually accept this black friend, even knowing he is dying of AIDS.

Sarah is pregnant again at the risk of losing her life. Mateo falls down stairs and his life is in an emergency situation. Finally, on the one hand a baby is born prematurely and in poor health. On the other hand, Mateo pays off the family’s hospital bill before he passes away. And at last, with the birth of the new baby and the death of Mateo, Johnny finally gets over with the Frankie thing and recovers the ability of feeling things.

Life goes on.

Despite of the various complicated emotions, at my point of view, love is the key word in defining the theme of this movie. Because of loving Frankie, the family has been in deep desperate. Because of loving his wife and daughters, Johnny tried to thrown the ball to the hall over and over again. Because of loving the family, Mateo has learnt how to open his heart and treat others kindly. Love exists everywhere, connecting the Sullivan family, the white and the black, the death and the alive. Love, like warm sunshine, has filled the crevices of people’s hearts.

Just as the <Bible > says:” Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends”.

Among the conspicuous protagonists, I prefer Christy most. Most people may love Ariel more for she is actually a cute and active girl. Compared with her, Christy seems to be inner going, silent and mature. With less unconscious words and less impulsive actions, Christy has adopted the camcorder to hide herself behind the lens. However, she is only a child. She believes she has been granted three wishes by her dead brother. She used to talk to Frankie at night until she realized she was talking to herself. She gave Mateo the CPR at once not considering his AIDS. She is used to keeping her feeling in her heart in order to comfort her parents. People are easily interested in Ariel. On the contrary, Christy’s sensibility demand is often ignored. This is an important factor that has influenced her character. All in all, she is a little girl who is kind-hearted, sensible and lonely. She is like the moon, not dazzling as the sun, still bringing the surrounding light quietly.

As her singing in the movie:
” Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be raining', but there's a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you, before it's too late”

That’s also what I have found from the movie. Love is a boat, driving our migratory hearts landing home.

好久没看电影了，也好久没有给出5星了，没想到，今天一给就是两个。
很感动的片子，不是简单的励志片而已，很感动的大女儿劝爸爸的话：不是只有你有压力，我也是，都一年多了！但是得要放下！（大概的意思吧）
面对压力，除了直面之外，还要选择必要的放下！
对Franki说再见！