If there was ever a film about gratuitous kindness in an
eldercare environment, it has to be “A Simple Life” (of “Sister Peach” or “Tao
Jie”) , a film made in Hong Kong (and Beijing) by Ann Hui.
For some generations since WWII, Ah Tao (orphaned during the
Japanese occupation of China) has kept house and taken care of the children of
movie producer Roger (Andy Lau). She is part of the family and a particularly
favorite companion of the family cat. One day, she suffers a stroke. After recovery, she says she wants to live in
an old folk’s home (assisted living center).
She moves in, and the movie has some touching scenes about the social
interaction among the elderly (as at dinner) in the home. (I’m reminded of “Quartet”.) But Andy wants to visit her, and have her
return so he can return the caregiving.
She resists. She is uncomfortable
with receiving so much personal attention when she really needs it.
Strokes are often followed by more strokes, and that may be
in the offing here.
The film does show a little bit of the internals of the film
business overseas, and the concerns about raising investor money and even
possible censorship.
The film is produced by “Focus Films” in part. Is that Focus Features? Why isn’t Focus the distributor. Instead, the distributor for the Netflix DVD is “China Lion”. Bona International is also visible.
The official site is here.
The film is largely in Cantonese. The pace is gentled, without surprises. But the film did not generate a lot of buzz
in the US in 2012. It probably should
have (from Universal and Focus in the US).
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