In a list of the ten most moving films of the 1990s in the United States selected by professional film critics, a small production film that cost only $100,000 - "The Cure" is on the list. I once bought the VCD of this film for five yuan from a near-defunct audio-visual store in Tianjin, and there was a lot of dust on the disc seal. If it wasn't for the Hong Kong translation of the title "Crocodile, Sneakers, Walking in the World", which was too special, I would probably have missed it. I remember watching this film at home, when only the scrolling subtitles were left on the screen, and there was only soothing, beautiful and sad music in the background, and my tears were still flowing. Later, I learned from the information that this film was released in Hong Kong , the propaganda words in the newspaper once reminded the female viewers of the film to bring more tissues.
——No beautiful set costumes, no expensive props, no support of cutting-edge film technology, not even a big-name movie star to help out, the director’s shooting method is extremely simple, the protagonists of the film are only two children——Ten One-year-old Durst, and his neighbor's child, Ari, the same size as Durst. However, because of the excellent script and theme, plus the natural and innocent performances of two child actors, and the "low cost" and high output, it still creates a rare masterpiece in American literary films.
Of course, we cannot fail to praise the film's director Peter William Horton's simple and smooth narrative and poetic film language. The film tells the heartfelt and touching emotional story between two single-parent children, Durst and Ari. Durst is a young patient infected with AIDS due to blood transfusion. Ai Rui is not only withdrawn, but also a naughty "problem boy". The two met by chance and became good friends. In order to find a prescription for Durst (The Cure), Ai Rui picks various wild herbs and boils medicine for Durst to eat in a whimsical way, but it is self-defeating and almost poisons Durst to death. Afterwards, they privately took Durst down the Mississippi River in a rubber dinghy , looking for a prescription . Along the way they have the most unforgettable summer trip of their life, and Arie does everything he can for Durst. When they met the bad guy, Durst bravely snatched the knife in Ai's hand and cut his wrist to frighten the bad guy away. Their emotion began to sublimate, it turned out that the poisonous blood has wonderful uses. In the end they went home and went back to the hospital. In the last days of Durst, Ari was by his side every day and brought endless joy. The children were just naive and naughty. They always held their breath to tease the doctor again and again. While teasing the doctor, Durst lay there quietly and never woke up. Ery certainly didn't think Durst would leave him. How he wished Durst jumped up as usual to scare the doctor, but nothing happened. He was puzzled. The last thing he wanted to happen happened was his buddy who was the same age as him who played with him for a summer and slept like this Never get up there and never play together again which is quite a blow for a kid.
The most emotional scene in the film appears at the end: the dead young Durst lies quietly in a wooden coffin. When Ai Rui walked out of the room alone, Durst's mother was stunned to find that Ai Rui, who left silently, was wearing only one sneaker, the other sneaker was in Dester's arms, and the one Durst was wearing The new leather shoes are gone. Durst's mother may never have imagined that it was a secret the two children kept together: Late at night on the banks of The Mississippi River, Durst was cold and afraid: "I'm so afraid of being alone when I fall asleep. A world is gone, I can't see anything, I'm afraid I won't wake up again." Ai Rui took off one of his sneakers and stuffed it into Durst's arms: "Don't be afraid when you hold it, you want it to be here. How could another world still be holding Ai Rui's smelly shoes!"
Ai Rui gently put a leather shoe like a small boat into the slowly flowing The Mississippi River .
After watching this film, I couldn't help but feel sad for this tragic story, and also moved to tears for the fate and sincere emotions of the two children. However, after further investigation, my view on this film is: "The Cure" is not only a masterpiece of literary and artistic films, but its seriousness is more worthy of recognition. In this film, the protagonists from beginning to end are two lovely, naive and regrettable teenagers, but another "actor" who appears and disappears, The Mississippi River , has in fact always played the more important role. Character, it is not only the background, but also the center. For Americans, The Mississippi River is the "father of national thought" in the United States, and any literary works (including plays) about this largest river in the United States must reflect the traces of ideas. It is reasonable to think that the script writer of "The Cure" was deeply influenced by the American literature master Mark Twain . If we open Mark Twain's acclaimed The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer , we find a common river - The Mississippi River . We can even see this description - "He had to run away, he got in a canoe and he went down the river and on the way he met Jim -- a runaway nigger. Two runaway children together at The Mississippi Wandering around the river , evading tracking, fighting the crooks and murderous gangsters who uncovered the liar 'King' defrauding the three sisters' estates, only to be chased by the bad guys."
If you have a little understanding of the United States of America , you will find that The Mississippi River - it originates in the mountains of the northern part of the Rocky Mountains in the northwest of the United States, runs through the America plains from north to south, and flows into the Gulf of Mexico , with a total length of 3950 kilometers. The entire water system flows through 31 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states and two in Canada. The entire basin covers an area of 3.22 million square kilometers, most of which are in the United States, accounting for about 2/5 of the total territory of the United States. In the world's major river basins, it ranks third in the world and is twice as large as China's Yangtze River basin. "The Mississippi River" is the name of the Indians, which means "big river" or "father of waters". Its other famous title is " Old Man River ".
Apparently, The Cure's screenwriters deliberately chose The Mississippi River as the film's backdrop because it's where the American spirit lives. One thing that cannot be ignored is that the major problems that plagued American society in the 1990s included AIDS, single-parent families and a serious lack of interpersonal affection. This is not unrelated to the further establishment of the ideals of independence, freedom and adventure in the American spirit. And this film captures these issues firmly. Although other films of the same theme are often reflected, "The Cure", the "prescription" is not only a way to cure AIDS, but also a conscience discovery and a loud cry that urgently need the American spirit to return again——
This long-standing river should wake up!
