the thai film "grandma's grandson" is a hit, revealing the hidden pain and truth of east asian families
2024-09-04
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
as the summer season draws to a close, a small- to medium-sized thai film has emerged as a dark horse and has become the top box office hit.
"grandma's grandson" is the highest-grossing film in thailand and singapore so far in 2024, and the highest-grossing asian film in indonesia's history. the film landed in mainland china theaters on august 23, and after 12 days of release, the box office exceeded 80 million yuan, becoming the second-highest thai film in mainland china. on douban, 100,000 people have given it a high score of 9.0. this score is rare among the films released throughout the year.
the structure, conflicts and emotions of chinese families shown in the film are very similar to ours, so it is easy for the audience to see their own situation or think of a past relationship with their loved ones. sobbing can often be heard in the cinema. a douban netizen commented: i cried not because i was moved, but because i looked in the mirror.
love and legacy
the hong kong translation of "grandma's grandson" is "full-time good grandson", the taiwan translation is "golden grandson's guide to getting rich", and the english name "how to make millions before grandma dies?" directly points out the plot: an, an unemployed young man from a chinese family in thailand, sees his cousin inherit a property because of taking care of his seriously ill grandfather, and he also becomes interested in his terminally ill grandmother, hoping to replicate his cousin's "road to wealth" to obtain a million-dollar inheritance.
after moving into his grandmother's house, ah an, who used to only think about playing games, began to recall the familiar daily life of his childhood, and also sensitively captured the real motives behind the seemingly indifferent interactions between relatives. can ah an surpass his two uncles and successfully win the heart of his grandmother? is the active act of care out of practical considerations of interests, or is it from the heart? in the final analysis, can feelings be measured by money?
the film explores the daily life of this thai chinese family from the perspective of the grandson, and the audience can also look back at their own family relationships through his eyes. the issues reflected in the film, such as empty-nest elderly, long-term care, inheritance distribution, and preference for boys over girls, are also important issues in daily life.
"sons inherit estates, daughters inherit cancer." is a line that is often quoted by the audience. sons are always the first in line for inheritance, while daughters always seem to be the ones who give the most affection and care.
the eldest son became increasingly estranged from his grandmother after marriage, and the younger son only came to bother her when he was short of money, but they still enjoyed the most care and worry from their grandmother. only the daughter took the initiative to switch to night shift when her grandmother needed care, which resulted in a dispute between mother and daughter. how much of the eldest son's selfishness and the younger son's laziness are related to the mother's partiality and indulgence? isn't the daughter's understanding and consideration, as well as the grievances she has suffered, a kind of inheritance from generation to generation?
there is an episode in the movie where grandma takes an to her brother's house. after they hug each other and sing a song, grandma's brother coldly rejects her. it turns out that grandma was once the one who gave the most and received the least in the family. behind the warm and affectionate relationship between relatives, the calculation of interests has never been far away. this model will be passed down, affecting the way grandma handles her own family relationships, and may also become a mirror, reflecting her to treat the next generation more gently and appropriately.
the director raised the question just right and concluded it harmoniously in the end. the grandmother's love for her children and grandchildren seems unfair, but it will always be expressed in different ways in the end. after the undercurrents and the tensions, it is of course not only the interests that maintain the family relationship, but also the inseparable blood ties.
this phenomenon is particularly true in east asian families. to some extent, material and emotional are not completely opposite, especially in the east asian context, people often express their emotions in a tactful and restrained manner. the dispute between mother and daughter, the anger between mother and son, may seem to be an antagonistic relationship, but behind it are often feelings that are difficult to express.
after the ownership of the property was settled, grandma told mother: "i don't know who ranks first in my heart, but i want you to be with me the most." mother told an: "it is more reassuring to give than to receive." this is not just a helpless self-consolation for women, but also reveals the true meaning of family affection - the meaning of love has never been a relationship of equal exchange.
this way of interpretation from a female perspective is not particularly easy to understand in contemporary society where neoliberalism prevails, but it does raise the possibility of transcendence.
misplaced emotions
in the movie, grandma mentioned that every year on the second day of the spring festival, when everyone left, the refrigerator was full of leftovers. she felt very lonely when she thought that these leftovers would go bad without anyone eating them. after an went to live with grandma, his mother also felt this loneliness. "it was only then that i understood my mother's feelings."
there is a special thing about intergenerational relationships: the things and feelings experienced by the previous generation may take 20 to 30 years for the next generation to stand in the other's perspective and truly understand the other's feelings. this emotional time dislocation is often accompanied by endless regrets.
the younger generation may not have a true sense of death, because the elders always stand closer. facing the approach of death, grandma always seems to be indifferent. she insists on getting up early every day to sell porridge. when she comes back from the hospital, she passes by the store of ayu, who also suffers from cancer and has no children, and says in a calm tone, "do you know? i have also been infected, and it is already the fourth stage."
this grandmother, whose tongue was as sharp as a knife, would also reveal her fear of death when she woke up from a dream in the middle of the night. she worshiped devoutly in front of the guanyin statue, and when she was tortured by illness, she murmured and begged her parents in heaven to take her away. the grandson witnessed all this, feeling both distressed and helpless. the companionship during this period also allowed the grandson to get closer to the inner world of an old woman full of rich emotional levels.
grandma's piety and her emphasis on rituals are due to the cultural traditions in which she grew up, and also because her parents, husband, and friends have all passed away. her yearning and expectation for another world corresponds to her longing for the deceased and the past era, and perhaps also means that she is preparing to face the end of her life. at the same time, in order to settle her inseparable feelings for her children and grandchildren, she still hopes to bless future generations.
the grandson, who could not speak teochew at all, learned a lullaby in minnan dialect and sang it to his grandmother softly when she was dying. at this moment, the misplaced relationship was reunited and family affection achieved a leap in time.
the film echoes the beginning and the end, with ah an throwing flowers on the grave again. he remembered that his grandmother once said, "when i die, if you continue to throw flowers like this, i will come out and scare you." at this time, ah an knew that his grandmother's love had turned into a blessing from another world.
box office success
the box office success of "grandma's grandson" is phenomenal. as of 13:00 on september 3, the film had earned 80.28 million yuan in the chinese mainland, surpassing "more than friends" in 2019 and becoming the runner-up of thai films in the chinese mainland, second only to "bad genius" in 2017.
before it was released in mainland china, "grandma's grandson" had already achieved great success in southeast asia. it was released in thailand in april and topped the box office for four consecutive weeks. it was then released in indonesia, malaysia, brunei, singapore, vietnam and other countries and regions, and the box office has exceeded 1 billion baht, becoming one of the top five box office films in thai film history. it will also be released in north america, south korea, the united kingdom and ireland, the netherlands, belgium and india.
director pat bonetti undoubtedly played a role in the success of "grandma's little big women". he is good at analyzing the life and psychology of the younger generation. his past representative works include the tv series "bad genius", "diary of a toddler", "skateboard", etc. "bad genius" is a tv version of the popular movie of the same name, focusing on how cheating has become a good business under the meritocracy system. the other two stories tell the love-seeking journey of a lovelorn boy and how a depressed boy finds the meaning of life through skateboarding. he can always find a unique narrative angle to attract the audience's attention and tell the story in a way that combines warmth and laughter.
putipong asaratanakong (chinese name ma qunyao), who plays the leading role of aan in "grandma's grandson", is a top star in thailand, so he also attracted many fans to watch the movie. although it was the first time for ma qunyao to star in a movie, both ma qunyao and the amateur actor usa samekham, who played the role of the grandmother, presented a sincere and natural performance, which deeply touched the hearts of the audience.
director pat mentioned in an interview that he wanted to make this film because he wanted to know what love is and how love continues in the relationships of east asian families. his thoughts and answers have undoubtedly received positive recognition and response around the world.
we will also wait and see whether chinese films can learn from their successful experience and create works that have both practical significance, artistic value and commercial success.
(this article comes from china business network)
