“Everything that happens in life…has its own meaning.”
Ah Zheng crossed paths with a patient upon one of his trips to the hospital because he had a leg injury. On that person’s dying request, the man asked Ah Zheng to call his mother every year on the day of his memorial and give her courage. It was like looking over her so she would not think the wrong thoughts (i.e. suicide).
At first, he was reluctant to help because he did not know the other man. How could he fulfill such a strange request? What did it have to do with him anyway? However, he followed the man’s wish in the end to avoid the inevitable. Although Ah Zheng might not be leading the most desirable life to others’ point of view, he has a good heart.
As fate has it, he was the next victim of a similar fatal disease. It was now his turn to seek for someone who could look after his girlfriend, Xiao Yan. It was now his turn to pass on the same message that a dying man once passed to him. “Give her a call every year and give her a message”–as he instructed through his recording. Not only did he have to pass on his own story, but also the man who’d once entrusted that mission onto him to call the mother.
The phrase “The fact that our voices sound the same is definitely not a coincidence” was like the hallmark of this story. It brought upon a very mystical feeling, making you wonder what was out there.
I really like the directing and storyline in here because it did not give many details or explain why. But sometimes things just happened. There was no why. It was sudden and tragic but there was also hope. Not too much at all.
I’m not going into acting much since it was such a short story, to begin with. However, I must admit the story was very moving. If it was really Van Fan’s voice, he really gave it his all with the emotions. I was not even planning on crying until he was narrating to that ‘someone’ with all the instructions.
Part of the touching message:
Thank you, dear strange. If I do not wake up, please tell Xiao Yan:
Tell her I know she has to cry, but she has to eat too to maintain the energy to keep crying.
On the second year, please tell her that, “I’m practicing baseball down here. Hopefully, I’ll be better than Babe Ruth in the next life.”
On the third year, please tell her that, “I’m still wearing the sweater. But two sleeves are not even.” Tell her that she should practice more.
On the fourth year, please tell her, “The person who can eat more than twenty eggs at one time must be deeply in love with you.”
On the fifth year, please tell her, “There’s no Jedi Knight on earth. But he who’s willing to fight with you with Lightsaber all night long… If you’d met one once, you’ll definitely meet another.”
On the sixth year, please tell her that, “It’s dark in the elevator, but somebody’s going to open the door.”
On the seventh year, please tell her that “I’m going back to this world. These things happen. I was gone, but we’ll meet again. Thank you for missing me. But don’t ignore the whole world because you miss me too much.”
*Note*: This was the first story and part of the movie L-O-V-E.
*All images were scanned or captured by DTLCT
I must check it out. I generally enjoy stories with supernatural ande/or spiritual elements! Intriguing!