Chapter 289 - Dead When Awake, Alive When Asleep
After the film finished playing on the big screen, there wasn't a dry eye in the theatre. "Strong Yet Broken" was, in simple terms, a very depressing movie.
From the beginning to the end, a great sense of desolation permeated the entire film. Despite its almost unbearable atmosphere, the viewers could still feel the hope weaved seamlessly within the agony.
This kept them engaged and emotionally invested for the whole duration of the movie. The background music in every scene only intensified their already high-strung emotional states. Even when it ended in a tragic manner, it was still a form of release and relief from all of the anguish. A good portion of the audience wailed loudly during the ending, as the theme song "Phantom of Your Love" played.
Everyone needed some time to get a hold of themselves. Their emotions were so intense that they could almost touch and taste them in the air like a big viscous cloud floating all over them.
When they calmed down enough, the film's production crew and cast gathered at the front facing all of the viewers. Of course, Iris was included in the line-up. They all spoke one by one, talking about their experiences working for the film and thanking everyone for coming to watch.
The premiere night successfully ended. Iris, JJ and the others headed to the private after-party celebration. It wasn't lavish. Just a simple buffet meal in a private room at a restaurant. Tears of happiness were shed as everyone reminisced about their memories working together.
During the party, Guan Jintao's wife led him to speak to Iris. Iris greeted the sports legend with great respect. After learning about his life story, she admired him not only for his accomplishments as an athlete but also as a person. He was truly inspiring, even more so because of his disability.
"Miss Long, I want to thank you for your contribution in bringing my mother's story to life," Guan Jintao told Iris. "To tell you the truth, I was unhappy at first when I discovered that people wanted to make a film based on my mother's life. I felt that creating this film would only disturb her eternal rest because it would reopen painful memories. However, when the producer sent me the theme song 'Phantom of Your Love' and some of the music from the film score, I swear I felt my mother's presence again. At that moment, I knew that this film isn't a disturbance to her eternal rest but a respectful memorial to the life she lived instead. So thank you for bringing back a piece of my mother with your music."
Even though Guan Jintao had his eyes closed as he talked to her, Iris felt like he could see her and everything around him. There was a sharpness and intensity in his invisible gaze.
"Sir Guan, please, it's an honour," she replied. "Thank you for giving us your blessings for this film. Your mother was a very strong woman. Despite her tragic fate, I'm sure that she'll inspire a lot of people like me through this film."
"Indeed. Just like the film title, my mother was strong yet broken at the same time. Although the end she chose causes me pain for as long as I live, she's the strongest woman that I know. Her broken strength will forever live through this film."
The night drew to a close. Everyone in the after-party went home with a giddy feeling of accomplishment for completing the film they had worked on for so long.
However, they all knew that this wasn't the end. It was just the beginning.
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Although the films released around this time were fewer than during the summer season, "Strong Yet Broken" still had plenty of competition. There were other indie and less popular films, not to mention the highly popular big budget films that drew most of the moviegoers.
The competition at the cinemas were extremely fierce.
Compared to the big budget films, the line ups for "Strong Yet Broken" were pitiful. Their opening day and week was just a drop in the ocean compared to the massive crowds the big films were drawing in.
But as word of mouth started spreading and critic reviews were published, more and more people decided to watch "Strong Yet Broken". Both the star powers of Iris Long and Guan Jintao were also a big help in promoting the film to the general public.
LX Productions were also closely monitoring the growth rate of the film's viewership. As the viewership gradually increased, the production company was able to negotiate with movie theatres to increase showtimes for "Strong Yet Broken".
This was another unprecedented instance for an indie film. Many film industry insiders began paying close attention to the mysterious LX Productions. How could a newly created production company have such financial resources, connections and influence? Who was the person behind it? They didn't believe that the CEO running it was actually the person pulling the strings.The Black Stars and their comrades, the Pandemonium fans, watched in droves to support their Boss Iris. Even though Iris herself didn't appear in the movie at all, her film score was still the biggest star for them.
In all honesty, they didn't have that much expectations for the film at all. They had this misconception that all indie films were boring. They only watched because of their Boss Iris.
However, when they finally watched the movie, it was as if they were swept away by a tsunami of overwhelming emotions. It was so painful that it felt like they were drowning in their own grief. All of them were sobbing and wailing in the film theatres. It came to a point that the Black Stars allocated part of its funds to buy boxes of facial tissues to distribute to moviegoers watching "Strong Yet Broken".
Whenever a batch of viewers came out of the movie theatre, they were a sight to see with their teary eyes, snotty noses and red, swollen faces.
"What happened to all of you?" A curious passerby asked them.
"We watched a movie and it was so SAAAAAAAAD!" The person who was asked started sobbing again as she remembered what she just watched.
"What? A movie? I thought you all came from a funeral! What movie was it that made you look like that?"
"It's called 'Strong Yet Broken'. Wuwuwu! Go watch it. You're gonna cry so HAAAAAAARD!"
"What's it about?"
"The movie tells the life story of the mother of Paralympian Guan Jintao…""Strong Yet Broken" was about a pregnant young woman who was completely in love with her equally young husband. She grew up an orphan. That was why she was very excited to build a loving family with her husband. However, just months after she got pregnant with their child, she lost her husband due to terminal illness. It came so suddenly. Her husband didn't tell her until he was already dying. In the end, he died before she gave birth to their child.
Alone and depressed, she wanted to take her own life and follow her husband. However, he made her promise before he died to take care of their child. A few months later, she gave birth to a normal, healthy baby boy she named Guan Jintao.
Her depression only worsened after the birth. What she suffered back then was called postpartum depression in today's terms. But back then, nobody diagnosed her. They just told her to deal with it, suck it up and fulfill her responsibility as a mother.
When her son was about five years old, he began losing his vision, eventually becoming completely blind within two years. Not only was she a single mother, but she also now had to raise a blind child in times when the disabled were ostracized by most of society.
Public schools rejected her son, so she had to enroll him to a private school which catered to children with special needs. It was expensive. She worked multiple jobs while raising her blind son. It didn't help that Little Jintao was always being bullied. She did her best to comfort and protect him, even when she couldn't even protect herself.
Throughout all of these struggles, she was desperately trying to stay strong and deal with her depression by herself even though all she wanted was to give up and follow her husband.
It was during her son's puberty age that he showed signs of talent in swimming. She supported him with all she had. She would borrow money from her coworkers and neighbours just to support his training and competitions. She didn't really have any big dreams for him. All she wanted was for him to have some respite from all the bullying outside the pool.
In public, she was the most supportive mother but in private, she attempted to kill herself many times. Each time, however, her husband's dying words would play in her mind.
"Take care of our child for me."
She would cry herself to sleep after her failed suicide attempts, dreaming of happy times with her beloved husband until she had to wake up to reality the next day again. Dead when awake, alive when asleep.
This was how she felt for the rest of her life.