Film Name: 我爱你！ / Love Never Ends
It never occurred to me that the movie that touched me the most this year would be Love Never Ends, a rom-com that I rarely watch on a regular basis. Even before its official release, the movie had already had several rounds of screenings, and such an ambitious approach has been rewarded with a lot of positive reviews… Now it seems that it has indeed lived up to the hype.
Under the label of “twilight love”, “Love Never Ends” is also a movie about the elderly and their self-worth. It shows the pain points of our society, but at the same time, it also clearly conveys the change of value orientation, which can improve the quality of life and should be seen by more people. Personally, I think this is director Han Yan’s best work so far, the subject matter is just too good, coupled with the excellent acting skills of several outstanding actors, making it a great movie not to be missed.
[Friendly reminder: there will be spoilers below].
In terms of the social and universal nature of the subject matter, Love Never Ends is undoubtedly valuable – after all, we are in an aging society.
Many of the movie’s laughs, tears and plot advancement points are based on the keyword “elderly”. For example, Chang Wei Quang and Li Huiru’s acquaintance stems from their “same-sex attraction” in the plaza: Li Huiru piles up waste products to encroach on the plaza’s space, shirking her duties and delaying with the administrator; Chang Wei Quang, on the other hand, is a forceful advocate of the so-called “justice”, speaking out of turn and even shaking the whip… They both carry the “old man” in them, which makes trouble for others. … They all carry the attribute of “old pests” that cause trouble to others. But these unpleasant qualities, but also in their good nature and childish words and deeds in the softened, softened, turned into a blunt instrument that does not hurt people, such as two people reported to each other’s drama, put into the rich and strong young people in the body, that is a vengeance, while Li Huiru and often for the precepts of the softening of its lack of lethality to find trouble. Because they are old people with empty spirit and limited energy.
The turnaround in their relationship also stems from this – when Chang Weijiu realizes that he has overplayed his hand and feels guilty, he takes the initiative to help Li Huiru tie the scraps to the mobility scooter and offers to take her home. Of course, Li Huiru doesn’t want to accept the help of this nuisance, but she is a lonely old woman who lacks the means to refuse Chang Weijiu’s kindness and apology; she has no choice. The characters in Love Never Ends are by no means gimmicky, but are relevant to the overall theme of the story. The movie’s portrayal of the lives of the elderly and its compassion for the marginalized is only the first layer; its presentation of the psychological state and self-knowledge of the elderly is the most important narrative core.
The inner world of several old people in the film is made up of “regret” and “guilt”. Chang for the ring for neglecting his wife’s life before the disease and remorse, he feels that he can not absolve himself of the blame; Li Huiru regrets the shortness of the time with her husband, bearing in mind their own elopement behavior of the family’s failure, always feel indebted to Mr. Qiu to take in their kindness; Xie Dingshan and Zhao Huanxin has always believed that they did not do their duty, so that the youngest daughter fell into the hidden disease, and after the incident of bias to compensate for the daughter of the two sons chilled, the same is that they did not do a good job! …… We always emphasize more on one’s social family attributes than self-attributes, you are a father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter – the generations counting back from the 70s, that is, the elderly group, are almost all the same! -socially connected identities come before self-identities, in other words, older people always seem to be living for someone else. Love Never Ends takes this selflessness and its corresponding dilemma, and then allows a few old people to begin to learn to live well for themselves.
The most relaxing and enjoyable part of the movie is the quiet time after Chang Weiqiu and Li Huiru establish their relationship. Chang Weijiu takes Li Huiru with him to collect junk, and in his spare time he goes to playgrounds and zoos. Zhao Huanxin’s condition is also relatively stable, and Shan is infected by the “new couple” while relaxing, so the four old men spend a rare period of carefree happiness. However, for Mr. and Mrs. Shan, the process of trying to live for themselves is also the process of moving from “thinking about death” to acting on it. This is also determined by a certain quality of love among the elderly: even if they can be sensational and passionate, they can’t stop the natural aging and sickness that comes with age, and while young people’s breakups are only a matter of life, theirs are more likely to be a matter of death.
The heartbreaking thing is, even if they are “self” to the ready to commit suicide, Shan still can not let go of the social attributes of the body – he was afraid of their own children to be gossip, so to disguise as an accidental death, so that the old Chang to help him after the incident. Afterwards, often for the ring funeral is a very chewy scene: At first glance, it seems that the parents organized a large “happy funeral” son is not a thing, the old often look at the eye cursing, waving the unicorn whip to beat the unfilial son, that is a smooth, because we put ourselves in the old man’s position to empathize with. But if it is a different narrative angle, perhaps the flavor has changed …… mountain brother’s sons are not bad conditions, he insisted on selling scrap with his wife living outside, his independence and strong, in the eyes of the children may be eating the old – eventually they can kneel down to often for the ring, which means that there is also remorse and regret. It shows that there is also remorse and guilt, they are just heartless, impatient and angry children, not some big unfilial villains. Many viewers see the relief and enjoyment, while others see the horror and embarrassment, which is normal, because some generation gaps are destined not to be smoothed out, and some emotions are destined not to be shared, which reflects the necessity of “the elderly should live for themselves first”.
The ensuing problem is Li Huiru’s cowardice, and Shan’s imitation of an elephant knocks her back to her original form: “I’m afraid that one day, one of us will go through this kind of pain again.” She proposes a separation, so that the two of us can follow the example of Principal Chen and live as “wooden people” with some good memories. Many old people are like Li Huiru, so used to altruism and pain that they fear selfishness and happiness. But Lao Chang after all is not normal, although he also had a fear of single and hurt people, but every time to understand things are one step ahead of others, others dare not say what he dared to say, dare not do what he dared to do. Here we have to mention Mr. Qiu and Principal Chen, a pair of delayed half of the life of the lovers, a bird and fake windows to heal the wounds of a guarded wooden man dancing, but more compensation is the cure is not the root cause of the problem, regrets are regrets, only the “mirror reunion” in order to cut off the constant stream of pain.
What Love Never Ends says at the end is the attitude and determination of the elderly to live for themselves: not only to have once, but also to last forever, even if it is just one more day of joy, there will be one more day of fulfillment and happiness. Just like Lao Chang’s confession to Hui Ru: we are old, but as long as we don’t stomp our legs, then we have to continue to be manic, until we swallow this breath, I won’t separate from you.
Please specify：Anime Phone Cases » Love Never Ends 2023 Film Review: Live a good life for yourself