Life for a parent is a bad deal. You raise someone for 20 years and then are abandoned by them to face death for the next 40 years. Strangely, it's the only selfless thing we do as human beings. But it seems so unfair, someone takes care of you, you should take care of them as well right?
That is the central idea of A Simple Life. The story is about Toh Jie, transliterated as "Sister Peach" (played by Deannie Yip), is a household maid who has worked for the Leung family for 60 years. She still currently takes care of the young master, Roger (played by Andy Lau). Her health deters and now she in need of Roger to take care of her.
Deannie Yip owns this role. She reminded me of my grandmother at times, who is currently in an old folk's home. She has the physicality of an old person down, the little tics and the way you lean to take off weight when you walk. She deserved that Venice Film Festival award. Heck, give her more!
Andy Lau has come a long way since his younger days of "playing-a-heartthrob-who- dies-at-the-end-of-the-movie-to-his own-pop-soundtrack" thing. He has learned how to use the subtlety of his face and knows when to chew up a moment. There's one noteworthy scene where Roger is hanging out with his childhood friends and they all decide to give Sister Peach a call and reminisce about the great food dishes she used to make for them. This aches Roger as he realizes this is basically how people will remember her. And I urge people to watch Andy Lau in that moment.
There is a little detail with the layout of the old folk's home I wanted to address: it had an open door at the entrance. Many times the old people just opened and closed the door and exited freely. My mother and I debated the reality of this, usually these old folk's home have a exit button that unlocks the door for safety purposes. There are scenes where Sister Peach and other elderly people are opening and closing this door without supervision. What's worse is the old folk's home is right across from a mechanic's shop! Thinking more about this, it dawned on me: this is an aesthetic choice. It is probably unrealistic but what that aesthetic choice lead me to consider how dangerous the situation was for the elderly people.
As I realized this, there was many aesthetic choices in the story that were designed to raise a discussion about how we should treat and handle elderly people. I admired its subtlety. For example, there's a scene where Roger and his sister discuss how Sister Peach's expenses should be handled and it gets pretty dark as it starts to sound like a business transaction.
There are a lot of funny moments in the movie and thank goodness for it. It is very grim to watch old people suffering and deteriorating in an old folk's home. The film knows that and shows that there is indeed laughter in their lives, and Sister Peach does not have it too bad. The story is not about how the whole world is against her. We never linger on her suffering. Things are never dialed up to eleven. It retains a lot of realism (a lot of the old people in the old folk's home seem to belong there) and still manages to find drama within it. Good work, Ann Hui!
That's one major thing I appreciated about this movie: it does not set out to make you cry. It could have easily done so using melodramatic sensibilities and it does not set that as it's goal.
I did not cry at the end, but I felt the touching cleanse of a cry. I left the theater thinking about how I should treat my grandparents, my parents someday and even the elderly in general. Sometimes they need help walking down from a bus, someone to talk to or simply they just need to feel needed. The film's heart is in the right place and I ultimately agree with it's sentiments: nobody that raised and took care of you deserves to die alone.
For more reviews, please visit my blog @ http://hkauteur.wordpress.com
That is the central idea of A Simple Life. The story is about Toh Jie, transliterated as "Sister Peach" (played by Deannie Yip), is a household maid who has worked for the Leung family for 60 years. She still currently takes care of the young master, Roger (played by Andy Lau). Her health deters and now she in need of Roger to take care of her.
Deannie Yip owns this role. She reminded me of my grandmother at times, who is currently in an old folk's home. She has the physicality of an old person down, the little tics and the way you lean to take off weight when you walk. She deserved that Venice Film Festival award. Heck, give her more!
Andy Lau has come a long way since his younger days of "playing-a-heartthrob-who- dies-at-the-end-of-the-movie-to-his own-pop-soundtrack" thing. He has learned how to use the subtlety of his face and knows when to chew up a moment. There's one noteworthy scene where Roger is hanging out with his childhood friends and they all decide to give Sister Peach a call and reminisce about the great food dishes she used to make for them. This aches Roger as he realizes this is basically how people will remember her. And I urge people to watch Andy Lau in that moment.
There is a little detail with the layout of the old folk's home I wanted to address: it had an open door at the entrance. Many times the old people just opened and closed the door and exited freely. My mother and I debated the reality of this, usually these old folk's home have a exit button that unlocks the door for safety purposes. There are scenes where Sister Peach and other elderly people are opening and closing this door without supervision. What's worse is the old folk's home is right across from a mechanic's shop! Thinking more about this, it dawned on me: this is an aesthetic choice. It is probably unrealistic but what that aesthetic choice lead me to consider how dangerous the situation was for the elderly people.
As I realized this, there was many aesthetic choices in the story that were designed to raise a discussion about how we should treat and handle elderly people. I admired its subtlety. For example, there's a scene where Roger and his sister discuss how Sister Peach's expenses should be handled and it gets pretty dark as it starts to sound like a business transaction.
There are a lot of funny moments in the movie and thank goodness for it. It is very grim to watch old people suffering and deteriorating in an old folk's home. The film knows that and shows that there is indeed laughter in their lives, and Sister Peach does not have it too bad. The story is not about how the whole world is against her. We never linger on her suffering. Things are never dialed up to eleven. It retains a lot of realism (a lot of the old people in the old folk's home seem to belong there) and still manages to find drama within it. Good work, Ann Hui!
That's one major thing I appreciated about this movie: it does not set out to make you cry. It could have easily done so using melodramatic sensibilities and it does not set that as it's goal.
I did not cry at the end, but I felt the touching cleanse of a cry. I left the theater thinking about how I should treat my grandparents, my parents someday and even the elderly in general. Sometimes they need help walking down from a bus, someone to talk to or simply they just need to feel needed. The film's heart is in the right place and I ultimately agree with it's sentiments: nobody that raised and took care of you deserves to die alone.
For more reviews, please visit my blog @ http://hkauteur.wordpress.com