Movie set to examine key social issues

The upcoming movie "Remember Me," scheduled to hit domestic theaters on Friday, will unite Hong Kong veteran Kara Wai and young actress Liu Haocun on screen.

A remake of the 2016

South Korean film Canola, the Chinese adaptation tells the story of an elderly villager, portrayed by Wai, who raises her young granddaughter alone after the death of her son. Tragically, the girl goes missing during a routine outing on the street.

Twelve years later, the grandmother is overjoyed to be reunited with the long-lost girl, who reveals that she was secretly taken away by her biological mother, who had remarried but died in a car crash years ago. However, the actual truth turns out to be more brutal and complex.

Zhao Minghui, the producer, said the movie was launched in 2021, filming began a year later, and post-production wrapped up in 2023, during a seminar held at the China Film Association's office in downtown Beijing.

Narrated with a meticulous and detailed portrayal technique, the film aims to integrate exploration of social issues like left-behind children, campus bullying, and elderly care into a heartfelt tale, added Zhang.

Lu Haibo, a professor of movie and TV studies at the Central Academy of Drama, said that the script is filled with moving details, spanning from the grandmother delicately removing tiny fish bones to feed the girl to tender moments of washing her feet.

Speaking that such details reflect the emotional expressions typical in Chinese families, Zhong Chengxiang, a researcher at the China Central Institute for Culture and History, commented that the movie pays tribute to the traditions of Chinese cinema, highlighting the psychological state of Chinese people in navigating intergenerational relationships.