Gray N. Gray
Breaking the Silence is a wonderful story of a modern Chinese family in Mainland China. A family that has to deal with the reality that they are different and they have to deal with life in a very different way. This is the first movie in America about the morals and attitudes on disability in China; the first Chinese movie with the main character has a disability.
This
great movie not only shows how difficult it is to fit into a society that
is homogeneous but where everybody must fit in. It also shows the affects
on both parents emotionally and physically. Breaking
the Silence
shows us that all around the world parents have to deal with the many
challenges of having a disabled child. Some parents do well while others
can't stand the emotional strand. These parents deal with questions being
asked by friends, the child’s grandparents, and other children about their
special disabled child.
The
Question in this movie is how do you become homogeneous when you have
a disabled child? Disability forces these parents to realize that
you are very different in a society that seldom accepts differences. This
family overcomes every obstacle placed in front of them and moves on with
their lives.
I
had forgotten about this fantastic and moving movie until it was released
again last Friday. It was at San Francisco Asian Art Festival last year
and that is where I viewed it for the first time. I will once again see
it this weekend when it returns to America to be viewed again in many
Bay Area Area theaters.
Breaking
the Silence
is a story about a very young Chinese boy dealing with school bullies
bugging him, teasing him, calling him dummy, and, yes, even beating up
on him just because he is disabled. This still happens in our American schools with our disabled
students. We just don’t talk about it enough; maybe this movie going mainstream
might start us talking about disabled student abuse again.
This
is also a movie about a father leaving the family because he cannot cope
with the fact that his only son is disabled. In many minority families
this happens too frequently. Fathers want their sons to be perfect and
like them.
While the child's
mother is a loving, caring mother who is trying to help her son cope with
his disability, she does not know what to do to help him. The super mom
is a constant theme in minority families with a disabled child.
The mother has to become caregiver, wage earner, and father too.
Thus SUPERMOM, some mothers carry this off
very well, while for others the task is overwhelming.
Gong Li is one
of my favorite Chinese actresses [next to Joan Chen]. Gong Li has been
in many other Chinese films. A few of Gong Li’s films are these: Ju
Dou, Red Sorghum, The Banquet, The Story of Qiu Ju, Raise the Red Lantern,
Awaking, Farewell My Concubine, To Live, and her last one was in 1999,
The Empire and The Assassin.
Gong
Li plays the mother in 1999 movie, BREAKING THE SILENCE, a mother
on a rollercoaster ride, up one day with joy of her son’s accomplishments
and down the next day, scolding him, berating him, even slapping him at
times for his mistakes. This could be interpreted as child abuse or very
close to child abuse, but she plays the role of a woman on the edge, ready
for a mental breakdown.
The
most defining moment in this movie is when the little student (Gao Xin)
tries to learn the story of The Thirsty Cow. He has to learn this story
before he can enter regular grade school. He has to recite it to a panel
of teachers who do not care about his disability or that he is doing his
best. The teachers have very little sympathy for this bright child.
I
enjoyed this movie because it does not give the happy American ending
where the disabled becomes a hero, but it’s also not your typical Chinese
sad ending either where the hero dies.
It
just tells the story of a Middle Class Mainland Chinese Family that has
to deal with the facts of living, coping, and loving a disabled person.
See
this film, but take your reading glasses because it is sub-titled.
