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English Title: The Younger Generation
Starring:
Ivy Ling Po & Yeung Fan
Rating:
Plot Summary
Young and in love, Shu-ching (Ling Po) married Chiang Shao-wen (Yang Fan) despite her mother's objection. The couple settles in a small town where Shao-wen earns a living with his schoolteacher's salary. Marriage life is great and gets merrier by the years when children become part of the picture.
Ten years past, Shu-ching and Shao-wen are now parents of five kids. Working hard to support the family, Shao-wen begins to experience eyes problem. His vision is worsen by days as the doctor firmly states that he must not overwork his eyes or he might lose his eyesight forever. With his health condition, Shao-wen is forced to quite teaching and becomes a full-time factory worker.
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On his birthday, Shao-wen dies by an unfortunately accident at the worksite. When the news is delivered to Shu-ching, the young widow is left with five kids to support. She works days and nights until her strength runs dry and she quickly passes away. As if losing a father not enough, the children are now left without a mother. As they are on the edge of being separated, Shu-ching's mother find them in time. However, the oldest son, Han, refuses to come with his grandmother. Thus, he takes off...leaving her a note asking her to take good care of his brothers and sisters.
Review
'The Younger Generation' is a tear-jerking movie without a strong plot to support itself. The first half of the film deals with the main characters' marriage while slowly introducing their financial problems to viewers. What I was struggling to gasp is the fact that a young couple would want to have five kids without first questioning their financial capability. The audience can easily predict the a cause of doom from the beginning by clearly seeing that there is no way the husband can support seven members of the family, even if he works endlessly.
Secondly, why did Shu-ching die? There was no sign of illness. Yes, she worked extremely hard and had struggled to support five kids. However, I think the storyline would have flown better  if she was given some signs of sickness before the writer kills off this character. (Frankly, I find it hard the believe that a person would die chasing after a balloon). The whole point of killing of Ivy's character was only to dramatize the story, which was totally unnecessary - given how dramatic the story already is. I would have liked it better if her character was kept alive and the film ended with her and the children reunited with her mother.
Given that I have completely bashed the storyline...I must compliment the cast. Ling Po was good as usual in her role. It is a fresh change to see her in contemporary movies and not portraying male characters; especially when this is only my second Ling Po's contemporary drama. What really stands out in this film is the performance of those young actors who played Ivy's children (especially the eldest son). They did a good job acting as brothers and sisters. Viewers can clearly see the chemistry and bond among these kids.
DVD/VCD Information
Celestial Pictures Limited has scheduled for the master re-release of this film on September 11, 2003.
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