On Falling

Watched a movie called *On Falling*. A 104-minute movie about a Portuguese woman who comes to Scotland, UK alone and works in a warehouse, reflecting real life of many immigrants.

There are lots of scenes that can convey important messages: her working condition (the treatment from the company), her loneliness (especially compared to surrounding others who can have gatherings, even though she is sometimes invited), her social status (what one of the pupils who are visiting the warehouse treats to her), her financial status (what she eats daily), and her loss of self (asked by what she does when she is not working)…

As an immigrant from Hong Kong for more than three years, I can relate to these above situations faced by most people who move to other countries. It’s not an easy decision to leave my home country to start a new life, and it’s not easy to stay in my country of origin.

And on the way to settle down in a new country, there are, of course, new connections and new opportunities, but followed by more breakups, false hopes and disappointment. Back to the starting point and endlessly start over.

One of the scenes I love in the movie, is what you see in the last shot of the trailer. Frustrated but still need to keep moving, although I think I can do more than earning a living to see if I can make something happen, and if they are real hopes or not.

The movie, at the end, suggests having support and trust even in a workplace. Even a small emotional one can be so powerful. I worked in fast-food restaurants before and most of the time things shouldn’t be made unnecessarily difficult…