I look at this movie from a female perspective, and I personally think that the film has created the heroic aura of the role of the father too much, which may allow the audience to only see the bravery and sacrifice of the father, but it is easy for the audience to ignore that the mother is also a character in the family who has been silently suffering but has been dead to the end. In my opinion, Lin Zhilang's concealment of his wife's implementation of this plan and finally choosing to sacrifice for his son are all permeated with a kind of machismo self-righteousness and selfishness, don't forget that his wife is also part of this family, why did he make all the decisions without consulting with his wife???
Ah Ling's mother, played by Wen Yongshan, is remarkable, and she can feel the shock, helplessness and anxiety of learning that her son is sick as a mother. In the days of waiting for the heart to match, he worked steadily to maintain daily and medical expenses, borrowed money, pawned domestic property, sold houses... Running around seeking all sorts of ways to reduce medical bills, hoping again and again disappointed, the powerlessness of not knowing when death will come is enough to destroy the will of man. However, as a mother, Ah Ling is obviously physically and mentally exhausted, but she still has to die for her son and this family, silently bearing the earth-shaking changes in this family, which is the hidden tolerance of maternal love, deep and great.
A helpless and reclusive mother
The biggest feeling that Ah Ling's mother role gives me is helplessness - in the face of high surgical fees, I don't know if I can catch up with the matching heart, repeatedly ask for help to raise funds, to her husband holding the hospital hostage, her son being driven out of the ward, being forced to accept her husband for her son, kneeling in the operating room to pray for the success of the operation, every moment is overflowing helplessness, Ah Ling is silently bearing, really want to reach out and hug her.
Another point is that ah ling's wife role is too stoic, and there are three times of anger in the film. The first time was to be angry with her husband, and to apply for critical illness allowance and was told that it would take 40 working days, how much hope was it to go and have such a big anger? Some people may think that her anger is too unreasonable, but in my opinion, she seems to be angry at her husband, but it is more to vent the depressed emotions brought to her by the disappointment she has been suffering. In this world, who else can she vent the despair she feels to, except her husband?
The second time was to reach out to stop the family of the patient who came to drive away her son, at first I would think that she was not fierce enough, but then I thought about it, unknowingly, her husband became a robber, no one in the hospital understood her bending and endured, for the sake of her son to pull herself back from the brink of collapse again and again, how much strength could she have to say that shocking word? She didn't want to alarm her dying son, she could only suppress her anger and say with a fiery look: "Whoever dares to move my son, I will fight with whom!" Unfortunately, in the end, she could only choose to compromise, and she cried so crying so stoicly that she tried to cover up the traces of despair with anger.
The third time was the soul torture of Officer Zhang Zhengyi: "Have you really thought about saving my son?" It was a mother's heartfelt roar, but it was so helpless that she already knew the answer, so she couldn't fight for it anymore, and all she could do was to silently accompany her son. She might not be able to hold back at any moment, and when she saw the box of a heart being sent in, her eyes were full of hope again, and that phone call, she really made hopefully. Why do you treat a mother this way???
When she heard the gunshots, she finally couldn't hold back, collapsed and rushed forward in despair, but she was pulled because she was too weak. The camera does not tell us how when she knew that her son did not have a heart to change, how the heart that was deceived and played with by the powerful was strong, until she signed the consent letter for the operation of exchanging her husband for her son, no matter how many tears seemed powerless, she could only accept silently, kneeling and praying that heaven could save her son. After the operation, Ah Ling still has to bear the pressure of raising children and the high cost of surgery alone, which is not easy. But I guess the last request lin rilang asked the mayor to agree to him in the film should be to let the mayor bear the cost of his son's surgery and medical expenses, and hope that the mayor can fulfill his promise, otherwise Ah Ling is too bitter.