The Bambini Train

Among the films I watched recently, the two most tear-jerking ones, "My Favorite Cake" and "Child's Heart Train", are both directed by women. To be honest, I didn't pay attention to who the director was before watching them, but the impression is not deceptive. "Even if there are no descriptive, bloody, violent, or war scenes", it can still make people want to watch it deeply. It is almost the work of female directors. I am not dragging it down, but the female perspective is different. The language of love is outlined in the details, but it is never too sensational. It is restrained at the right time and the camera is restrained. It is probably a kind of female psychological language: because women understand love too much, when they really depict the scene of love, they leave many meaningful fragments and aftertastes, instead of directly cutting the picture in front of you, which is as boring as uncovering the answer. There are many great male directors, including those with scene arrangement and grand worldview, but when describing love, they seem to lack a kind of imagination. It is so interesting. When watching a movie, you are tasting the director's subconscious projection and emotional pattern, and who is behind the camera lens? This emotion cannot be hidden.

Or let's put it this way, when male directors film maternal love, they always use the theme of "sacrifice", that is, the mother dies for her child, or the mother sacrifices the happiness of the rest of her life for her child, or the mother gives up something. The purpose is that a mother must be strong, and motherhood contains too much content about self-sacrifice and carries too many private implications.

However, stories of maternal love shot by female directors are always more "gentle" to women. Letting a child go is love, accepting a child is love, sometimes coldly pushing a child away is love, but "not forgetting to live your own life" is also love. Female directors are good at shooting women who "live according to their own wishes but also love their children."

So I understand that we really, really need more female directors.

We need more female directors to shoot "women". For example, the role of "mother" has always been shot by male directors, with all kinds of private goods in patriarchal narratives, and is suffocated by the definitions of "sacrifice", "virginity" and "selflessness". If more female directors shoot women from the perspective of women, then the definition of the word "mother" will move towards new connotations in female narratives.

More female directors are filming "what is motherhood" instead of male directors defining what motherhood is. Whoever holds the camera to express ideas is a kind of power in itself.

It is hard to say that his biological mother does not love Amerigo. He only heard from his biological mother that his father went to the United States to work and was a good man. His biological mother was naive, romantic, and kind-hearted. It is likely that she fell in love when she was young and accidentally got pregnant. His biological father abandoned her on the pretext of going to the United States to work. After giving birth to a child, she raised him alone and still had a longing for love and a boyfriend. People who have never been loved will hold on to lies tightly. For them, even lies can make their miserable lives full of hope.

The love of the biological mother for Amerigo is reflected in the food. Because of poverty and food shortage, she had to give up her own meals to her growing son. After leaving the registration office, she gritted her teeth and decided to spend money once. When she bought pizza for Amerigo, she was distracted several times when looking at the food. She also wanted to eat, but there was only so much; she gave her porridge to Amerigo and said that she was not hungry; before getting on the train, she stuffed him with an apple; love can make people overcome the instinct of hunger. It can also make people overcome the desire to survive and possessiveness. The man who helped her moved away, and she lost her source of livelihood. She had to pawn Amerigo's violin for 30 lira, and the price of a mouse was 100 lira. She had never received love, and could only grope like a pony crossing a river, although this love was mixed with human selfishness and short-sightedness formed by material scarcity, and the depression that had nowhere to vent after being tortured by suffering. She said he was God's punishment for her; she suppressed his dreams; she was jealous of the southern mother who easily won her son's heart, but she would also choose to let go for her son's future. She stood on her own cognition to the greatest extent possible and chose a less difficult path for her son. Human nature is always so three-dimensional and complex.

Amerigo is like the son that the southern mother should have. She doesn't know how to raise a child and resists hugging, but she will treat him as an equal, listen to him, and rely on him. The unrequited love creates a real and deep connection between her and Amerigo.

Although their living standards are different, the two women are equally great. Spiritual abundance and material abundance nourish people's growth.

After Amerigo entered middle age, his experience allowed him to understand his biological mother's true heart hidden beneath poverty and deprivation. This was also the true reconciliation between him and his mother, the world, and himself.

Among the many films released this year, "Child's Train" has become a masterpiece worth savoring with its profound theme and delicate narrative techniques. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name and directed by Italian female director Cristina Comencini. It tells a touching story about a poor mother who was unable to raise her son after World War II and sent him on a train to be raised by a communist family in the north. The film not only restores the social conditions in post-war Italy, but also shows the complex interweaving of family, growth and humanitarianism in the context of that era through the eyes of the protagonist Emery.

1. Farewell in the War

The film opens in Italy in 1944, when World War II had not yet ended. Although Italy had surrendered to the Allies, it was still under constant air raids. Against this backdrop, the mother took young Emery to find hope for life in the ruins. The image of the mother is particularly prominent in the film. She never gave up her love for her son despite the difficulties of life. However, the cruelty of war and the difficulties of life eventually forced her to make a painful decision: to send Emery on a train and let a communist family in the north raise him to get through the most difficult period.

The film depicts the parting scene between mother and son in a touching way through delicate lens language and music. When the train was about to start, the mother held back her tears and watched her son go away. This scene not only made the audience feel the greatness of maternal love, but also highlighted the endless pain that war brought to ordinary families.|

2. Exploration and Growth of New Life

After arriving in the north, Amory was placed in a Communist family. Life here was completely different from his previous life in Naples. He was able to have enough food and clothing, go back to school, and feel his love for music for the first time. Especially when he firmly told his neighbor's wife that he wanted to play the violin when he grew up, the dream seemed to become a real goal. This passage not only shows Amory's growth and changes in his new family, but also conveys a yearning for a better future through his love for music.

However, Emery's growth was not smooth sailing. In his new family, he still felt the pain of separation from his biological mother, and this pain reached a climax when he went home to visit his mother. His mother's reaction was complex and real. She felt ashamed because of the huge economic gap between her and the other "mother". Unable to change, her emotions turned into anger, and she even pawned the violin that Emery regarded as a treasure. This move was not only a blow to Emery's dream, but also a profound revelation of his mother's inner struggle.

3. The collision between dreams and reality

After Emery left home in anger, he experienced a long period of reflection and growth. He began to realize that although his mother was strict with him on the surface, she actually had endless struggles and pain in her heart. This understanding not only gave him a deeper understanding of his mother, but also gave him a clearer plan for his future.

At the climax of the film, Emery returns to his mother, and after a series of twists and turns, the mother and son finally reach a certain degree of reconciliation. However, this reconciliation is not a simple reunion, but is based on mutual understanding and respect. Emery understands that although dreams are important, family affection and responsibility in real life should not be ignored.

IV. Reflection on History and Outlook for the Future

The ending of "The Train to Innocence" is not only a sublimation of the theme of the film, but also a profound reflection on history. Through Emery's story, the film shows the hardships and hopes of post-war Italian society, as well as the indomitable spirit of people in difficult situations. Especially when Emery finally decided to stay with his mother and change his fate with his own efforts, this move was not only an affirmation of personal growth, but also a celebration of family, social and humanitarian values.

Shortcomings: In terms of narrative, although the plot is compact and the rhythm is brisk, some details are a bit rough, such as Emery's adaptation process in the new family and his interaction with the foster family, which have not been fully displayed.

In short, the profound revelation that "Child's Train" brings to the audience is that it makes us re-examine the value of family, growth and humanitarianism. Through Emery's story, the film tells us that no matter what kind of difficulties we are in, we should not give up the pursuit of a better life. At the same time, it also makes us realize that the collision between dreams and reality is inevitable, but as long as we have the courage to face it and work hard, we will definitely be able to find our own path.

——Excerpt from the public account "Civil Servant Tree Hole"

Story summary:

The film begins with the adult Amerigo receiving the news of his mother's death, and the story unfolds with his memories. In order to help her eight-year-old son Amerigo escape poverty, his mother Antonietta sent him to a foster care program so that he could learn skills. Amerigo resisted but still boarded the train to a foster family in northern Italy. In the north, he gradually developed a friendship with his foster caregiver, Derna, and showed his talent for violin. The latter also learned to love him after overcoming the pain of war.

Viewers are complaining:

Italian films in continental Europe are very good at filming stories of ordinary people in the shadow of war. War destroys people's lives, but it also becomes an opportunity for people to grow and find hope. This film is no exception. Family relationships become fragile and tough under the dual pressures of war and poverty. The love and hate between Amerigo and his mother, and the adjustment between the children and their new family, growth and redemption are also the themes throughout the process. After experiencing all kinds of things, Amerigo gradually understands his mother and achieves self-growth; on the other hand, Delna walks out of the sadness of war in the interaction with the children, learns to love, and completes the redemption of the soul.

The character of Amerigo in this film is particularly impressive. He looks skinny but quirky (the joke about the child dyeing white mice to sell for money is both funny and sad), and has both the innocence of a child and the faith of an adult. He longs to become a music master, and this dream has never been extinguished in difficult circumstances, proving his inner tenacity. His mother Antonietta has a very three-dimensional personality: the trauma of war and the hardship of raising a child alone made her do everything she could to survive, and she hardened her heart to send her beloved son away (which was also the best solution at that time and place), but she was still worried about her son after he left.

I also want to praise the beautiful scenery of Italy, which adds a touch of color to the film. Although it is not as visually impactful as some famous films, it still has a unique charm that complements the atmosphere of the story. In terms of music, elements such as the violin performance add a lot of color to the film and further enhance the emotional atmosphere.

Overall, this film uses a child's growth experience as a clue and delves into many themes such as war, family, and growth. It is suitable for audiences who like historical themes and growth stories.

The Italian film "Child's Heart Train" tells the story of a poor mother who sent her son to the north for foster care after World War II. The foster family unexpectedly awakened her son's love with sincerity. After the son returned to his biological mother, he continued his poor life until he found that his mother deliberately concealed the letters from the foster family and secretly sold the violin given to him by the foster family. He resolutely returned to the foster family. This theme is very contrary to China's family culture, but it is very delicate and I was entangled after watching it. At first, I thought it was poverty that restricted maternal love, because how could a mother let her son go to someone else's home for foster care? Later I found that this was the problem. What kind of social structure would allow relatives to be separated? What caused the huge gap between the rich and the poor in a country? This film, which explores the relationship between maternal love and material conditions, may not simply criticize poverty, but show how people in difficult situations make difficult choices and the impact of these choices on their children. The last two lines of the film explain the helpless choice of the biological mother, possession and letting go, which not only shows the contrast between desire and love, but also further explains that the essence of love is to give a sense of belonging, not blood or sacrifice. So I think that if adults want to get something in return for all their efforts for children, then the greater the expectations now, the greater the disappointment in the future. Because the essence of possession is to demand, it is based on the ownership relationship, and the ownership relationship will definitely change with the change of facts. For example, before children reach adulthood, they think that their parents are their heaven, but when they start a family, their feelings will naturally shift. Therefore, the ownership created by ethics will change with the change of ethics, and will definitely become diversified, and will never be the only one. Instead of possessing, it is better to let them be free at the appropriate time.