The Fifth Journey

Logline

My father passed away. I flew back to China, but I was forced to quarantine for 28 days. My mother was ill, my older sister believes that only marriage can reunite the broken family. Shall I give up my life in Europe to take care of my family?

Synopsis

In 2022, my father was deeply ill. I flew back to China, but I was forced to quarantine for 28 days. During these 28 days, my father passed away and I also missed his funeral. My emotion toward my father is complicated and sweet. I think my father was a great shepherd of my family, the only reason that I have freedom to pursue my dream in the west is that he took care of everyone well. Now, I am a roamed sheep who lost the shepherd. Shall I give up my career in Holland in order to take care of my mother and sister in China? Will my girlfriend, who is a French woman, join me?

My mother believes my father transferred a sweet ghost and stays in the village where he was buried, so she decided to live in this village. In this village, the God of death often took old men, and the cities often took young men. Nowadays, this village is full of widows and kids, they look for companionship and warmth in each other. Although my mother’s apartment in Beijing is warm, she only found this cold and poor village is the place for her to nestle along with my father’s ghost and other widows.

The widows take care of their grandkids because their own kids often work in cities.

In this village, my mother’s best friend is my aunt Tianju Chen, she is the wife of my father’s second brother. 40 years ago, my aunt Tianju was sold out for a marriage with my uncle, her price was only 100 Yuan(15 Euros). When I asked what she thought about her marriage, she said:”The feminine made people as cruel as wolves.” She takes care of her grandkids and my mother.

My sister is a lonely woman in Beijing. She runs an online dating app at home and has thousands of clients. She matches her clients, like a shepherd in marriage in the digital age. But she couldn’t find her own husband. She is 40 years old, she is full of anger and feels she is abandoned by men and even our own family. I advised her to see a therapist, but she believed only marriage can save her.

Years later, my sister started online dating with a man, after only one week, they decided to marry. Now, my sister is preparing to have a baby, she asks my mother to live with her again.

Will my mother remain to live in the widow village, or go to Beijing in order to embrace her first grandkid? Will marriage and being a mother be my sister’s rebirth?

“The Fifth Journey” represents Chinese society.