2019-06-18

Golden Goblet Awards Competition Films | MANY HAPPY RETURNS: Analogy of Life with Animals Reflect E

Cast Meeting of the film MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Today, the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival ushered the screening of MANY HAPPY RETURNS, the Golden Goblet Awards Competition Film. Director Carlos A. Morelli, the hero Mark Waschke and other production teams attended the post-screening meeting to interact with the audience.

The story of MANY HAPPY RETURNS comes from the real experience of director Carlos A. Morelli: One day, the little boy who appeared at his son\'s birthday party caught the attention of the hero Matthias and his ex-wife Anna. In order to make the little boy return home successfully, Matthias set forth on a wonderful journey with the strange boy. At the end of the film, Matthias realized that he should pay more attention to his family and son, and even make reconciliation with his son at the spiritual level.

The creators of MANY HAPPY RETURNS interacted with the audience

The film is connected in series with three chapters: "Man", "Cat" and "Elephant". The exquisite black-and-white photography adds fantasy and mystery into the ordinary daily scenes. As to why black-and-white photography is used to present a family story, the director explained, "Black-and-white films have a long history and can cross time, place and country to create an \'unrealistic\' state." In the view of the producer, black-and-white images can bring different viewing experiences to the audience. "Black-and-white film is only a form. We hope to tell a big theme with a small story in the film. In black-and-white images, the audience can feel the complexity of the relationship between the characters in the play."

MANY HAPPY RETURNS is a brand-new exploration and attempt on parent-child relationship and family relationship by the director. "I used many images to reflect the struggle within the family in the film. In my opinion, the image itself is a mirror that reflects our real life." The director is also the father of two children in life. He got a lot of inspirations from his children. "My little son likes elephants very much, so I use elephants as metaphors in the film. The older elephants represent the father and little elephants represent the son." He felt greatly by shooting this film, "It is a challenge and a responsibility for us to take our children into a completely new world", he stressed that the most important thing in the family relationship is "communication and trust". He said, "Don\'t force children to do things they don\'t like, but also establish a good trust relationship with children."

The hero of the film MANY HAPPY RETURNS, Mark Waschke

The powerful performance between the hero Mark Waschke and several other actors impressed the audience deeply. He believed that the use of animal images such as elephants and cats in MANY HAPPY RETURNS made the film full of meaning. "Sometimes we want to become an elephant and live a slow life. But we are like a cat more often and need to make decisions as soon as possible, which will also hurt others." In response, Mark Waschke called on everyone to treat others gently, "Not only treat others gently, but also treat yourself gently."