Love yourself first

一部好的電影，讓人在看完的當下找不出能真正形容它的詞，只是浸泡在mixed的情緒里。

結束了《瑪莉 and Max》，眼中帶淚的快樂憂傷，然後其他就被拋擲在一片寂靜無聲中。

 

影片的基本顏色是黃褐色，灰色，黑色。即使色調再明亮，依然只有不同的黃褐色：burly wood , chocolate , olive , dark khaki 等等。唯一記憶裡的色彩是Max帽子上的紅色小球，small red pompom. 以致看到最後懷疑自己是不是色盲了，all full of the color of muddy puddles

 

影片裡的配角們都有小小憂愁的臉，除了Damian以及瑪莉的外公。大到爸爸媽媽，小到瑪莉的寵物雞Ethel….很諷刺的表情。

 

片子的開頭讓人想到了《天使愛美麗》，同樣是介紹兩個相隔十萬八千裡的人的家庭背景。旁白又讓我想起了《人魚朵朵》，好聽又有趣的恰如其分。

 

外公冬泳的褲子上印著：Life, be in it. Max創造的簡寫新詞。影片用龐大的數字及實物支撐，並不枯燥乏味。你說不出具體有什麼好的，但那些源於生活中的點滴，一次次衝擊著心靈。

 

瑪莉，一個沒有自信，充滿好奇，又希望能夠得到重視的女孩。Max，患有精神疾病，痛恨自己所生活的紀律不分明同時又有社會責任感的中年男子。通過寫信，交流著共同的疑惑，相同的愛好以及面對的困難。瑪莉的突如其來打亂了Max的生活均衡狀態，同時也讓他直視自己的內心世界，Max的回覆掌控著瑪莉的精神世界，她從他那裡得到答案並學會等待和認識自己。Max是幸運的，Stupid does stupid things. 同一個號碼讓他擁有了吃不完的巧克力和全部的諾布萊，他也收穫了友情，甚至是一份愛，遇到了一個可以為他收集眼淚的知己，在影片的最後，Max在離開的最後，學會了真正發自內心的微笑等待他的朋友。As same as 瑪莉.看過豆瓣上的一句話：愛不恆等於上床做愛生娃娃。

 

喜歡他們的交流方式和奇怪的問題，Max和瑪莉說「Woo」時的嘴型，還有寫完信得PS. PPS. PPPS.

 

Do sheep shrink when it rains?

Why do old men wear their pants so high?

If a taxi goes backwards, does the driver owe you money?

Humans were endless illogical. Why did they throw out food when there were children starving in India? Why did they clear the rainforests when they needed the oxygen? And why did they create timetables when they never ran on time?

The universe and man is stupidity.

 

橡皮泥的造型，很奇特。

 

片尾黑色螢幕上寫著：God gave us relatives, thank God we can choose our friends.也許主旨是關於朋友，但整部片子帶給我的遠遠不止這些。

 

（是學英語的好材料）

 

 

PS：以下是影片中Max給瑪莉的一封信，或許你能看出主旨

 

Dear 瑪莉,

Please find enclosed my entire Noblet collection as a sign that I forgive you. When I received your book, the emotions inside my brain felt like they were in a tumble dryer, smashing into each other. The hurt felt like when I accidentally stapled my lips together.

The reason I forgive you is because you are not perfect. You are imperfect, and so am I. All humans are imperfect, even the man outside my apartment who litters. When I was young, I want to be anybody but myself. Dr. Bernard Hazelhof said if I was on a desert island, then I would have to get used to my own company-----just me and coconuts. He said I would have to accept myself, my warts and all, and that we don』t get to choose our warts. They are a part of us and we have to live with them. We can, however, choose our friends, and I am glad I have chosen you.

Dr. Bernard Hazelhof also said that everyone’s lives are like a very long sidewalk. Some are well paved. Others, like mine, have cracks, banana skins and cigarette butts. Your sidewalk is like mine but probably not as many cracks. Hopefully, one day our sidewalks will meet and we can share a can of condensed milk.

You』re my best friend. You are my only friend.

Your American pen pal,

                                                                                         Max 傑瑞 Horowitz

 

 

 

PPS：以下是Damian給瑪莉的離別信

 

 

It’s been hard to watch you become a remnant of a person I once loved. You research into mental illness has been admirable but your idealistic pursuit to remedy it has been misguided. 瑪莉, you have to realize you are not a magic beauty cream you can smooth on the world to rid it of its wrinkles.

I love you, 瑪莉, but I loved Desmond more. I hope one day your heart will heal and we can be friends.

 

Yours compassionately,

Damian

 

 

 

PPPS： 其實一直沒明白Love yourself first. 的意義。我們終究如何學會先愛自己，抑或我們該從給予他人中體會愛的真正含義？愛的含義對於Max來說相當於沙拉三明治，也許沒人明白，只能體會了。