By Karen - 02 August 2021
"Mary and Max" may be the most simple animated film I have ever seen this year. The figure-making of clay and the technique of shooting frame by frame are very rare in the current movies that promote "technology" and "simulation". But this independent film without dazzling visual effects, heroism, and large-scale publicity has more shocking souls than any 3D blockbuster. At first glance, this movie may be slightly It feels dull, but it doesn't matter. Please settle your impetuous mood and watch it calmly. This movie is slow enough to wring out your heart and cut your nerve endings that are hidden intact scars. Good medicine is always bitter. If "Flying House Tour" is a refined adult fairy tale, this movie is a scalpel to analyze our spiritual world.
Max finally said: "I forgive you because you are not perfect, you are not perfect and neither is I, no one is perfect, even those who throw things out of the door, I wanted to become anyone when I was young. In addition to myself, Dr. Bernard Haashof said that if I were on an isolated island, then I had to adapt to living alone, with only coconuts and me. He said that I must accept myself, my shortcomings and all of me. We can't choose our own shortcomings, they are also part of us. However, we must adapt to them. However, we can choose our friends. I am very happy to choose you. Everyone's life is a long sidewalk, some of them are neat and tidy. And some are like me, with cracked banana peels and cigarette butts. Your sidewalk is like mine, but there are not as many cracks as mine. One day, I hope that your sidewalks will intersect and we can share a can of condensed milk. You are my best friend. You are my only friend."
I have read this dialogue over and over again and again, and I have almost memorized it.
The beginning of the movie introduces the general situation of the two people. When the color is bright and dark, the story develops along the two colors. Two people who did not have any intersection, one lives in Melbourne and the other in the United States, but because of an accidental opportunity they started to communicate. They are very similar. They love chocolate and noble animation. They both live in a lonely corner of the city. Lack of love, no friends, few smiles, they are strange and difficult to touch in the eyes of others, Mary is born with low self-esteem because of the birthmark on her forehead, Max suffers from mental illness all day long with fictional friends and goldfish. The encounter across the geographical limitation in the virtual world allowed them to find the person who knew them best. They kept confiding their views and understanding of society, love, friendship, sex and spiritual world through letters, and constantly introduced them to each other. My own preferences and experiences tell me everything I can't say and comfort each other. A sincere friendship heats up like this. Waiting for each other's letter to become the most anticipated thing in their lives, one letter after another, In the sloping cold world, the two people "hug" together and become the most loyal support in each other's world. Max's experience should be richer. After all, he is 44 years old. So when Mary mentioned some sensitive words, Max was as if he was crushed. Have you ever teased?", "Have you ever had love? Have you ever made love?" This sentence digs out the pain hidden deep in Max's memory like a knife with innocent doubts, making Max anxious and not at the same time. Without facing himself again, he seemed to have seen his childhood in Mary, and saw his adolescence throbbing too stupidly. And when Max's heart was put into the washing machine and was twisted, did you feel touched in front of the screen? Can you answer Mary's question? Do you feel the same way? Take off your suit, do you have a few scars? Adults have a fortress that they think is strong, and the mature world is already unbreakable, and only innocence can make it collapse. The young Mary had a crush on her neighbor, longing for love and eager to "make love", but she was hurt by love again and again. She said to Max, "I know that love makes me miserable, so I don't want to try it anymore. I think love is not for me. "Prepared", her life was full of changes. She lost her parents and lover, and in the end she almost lost the friend Max. But in the end Max forgave him, because Max firmly believed that he did not choose the wrong friend, and he only had such a friend, and at the moment when Mary was almost desperate for life, it was the forgiveness of this old friend that made her stand again. It turns out that in the past 20 years, the friendship between the two has long been polished and indestructible, which even surpassed the love and even family affection that Mary had.
The last shot of the film is the most sensational scene in the whole film. After many years, Mary finally mustered up the courage to go to Max, but only after entering the room did she find that Max had left the noisy world peacefully on the sofa. On Max's body is the pamphlet used to identify facial expressions. It seems that he is ready to welcome this old friend. The roof of Max's room is covered with letters from Mary for so many years. They hang there neatly and intact, at a glance, as time passes by quietly in front of them, and the old typewriter has become forever. It is a symbol of their friendship, sitting in the sunlight of the window. At this moment Mary watched all this and burst into tears. I think that in the process of exchanging thoughts between two people, they have already understood what love is, and they have practiced it more greatly and unforgettable than ordinary people.
We have been discussing the value of friendship all our lives. Some people say that friendship is the most enduring, some people say that friendship is fragile, love, friendship and family love always appear before us as multiple choice questions, and different people will give different answers. . In fact, the most important thing in the process of getting along is yourself. There is a saying that "how you are, what your world is like". You must be completely open to your heart before you can gain the trust of others. And identification, this may be a bit risky, but it is also the price that must be paid in this life. Just like in this movie, Mary didn't know who was on the other end of the letter, but she gave her the truest self. As a result, she received the same treatment from the other side and gained true friendship. Modern people have a strong sense of self-protection. In the process of choosing friends, many people are always pursuing the so-called perfection. They always set many so-called standards for choosing friends and do not easily give up their sincerity. And parents will often stand up and say "Who and so and so are not good children, don't play with him", these are pathological thoughts, like a wall that obstructs the passage of heart and heart, "This kind of hedgehog, who has ever Treating me well will bring injuries." We don't make friends for temporary pleasure, nor for gain, let alone the pursuit of so-called "equality". What we need is the innermost communication and communication. The friends we need do not accompany you every day to eat, drink and play but lose everything in you. Someone who abandons you and ignores you, but can slap you when you make a mistake, shield you from the knife when you are cut, walk with you through a long street when you are most confused, and can not speak but can Fully understand who you think in your heart.
Friendship is actually looking for another self, because only oneself will not betray oneself.
