【影片簡介】危巢 When the Bough Breaks
【正義思辨】篇 Ways to Justice
危巢
When the Bough Breaks
中國大陸 China︱ 2011︱ 110 min︱季丹 JI Dan
2012 鹿特丹國際電影節
International Film Festival Rotterdam
2012 溫哥華國際電影節
Vancouver International Film Festival
北京近郊的垃圾掩埋場邊住著一戶拾荒人家，他們生活在自己搭建的小屋中，穿用著撿來的物品。家中一對孿生姐妹霞、玲，和他們的弟弟剛，原本仰賴學校對移工子女的學費減免就讀於初中，如今卻因故失去資助，面臨無法升學的窘境。
他們年邁又不得志的父親雖然堅持讓孩子們受教育，卻根本負擔不起，姐弟三人只好在課餘時間自己籌措學費，甚至遠赴湖北參加高中會考，爭取免費入學機會。為了讓家中至少有一人能上高中、上大學，日後出人頭地，最年長的霞甚至自願放棄自己的學業，為弟弟打工爭取學費。然而，這個決定挑起了她與父母之間日益嚴重的衝突；霞會不會因此和失蹤多年的大姐步上相同的後塵？而始終被姐姐們維護的剛，又是否願意背負全家人的期待？
儘管鏡頭下充滿著「底層」生活的廢墟，《危巢》卻以人物鮮明、飽滿的意志力觸動人心，彷彿將觀者也捲進風暴之中。而家族成員間撕裂般的衝突與親情矛盾，更使人久久不能忘懷。
Not long ago, Beijing’s Daxing District used to be filled with landfills out of which neighboring scavengers eked a living. With the tumor-like spread of skyscrapers and subway stations in Beijing’s recent urban development, the landfills have been filled, and the bright lights of the city shine upon them. Only one wobbly little shack still stands against the winds of change. This film documents one stormy year in the lives of its inhabitants.
Living inside the shack are twin sisters Xia, Ling, their younger brother Gang and their parents. The teenage children had been receiving tuition funding for migrant children, but are now facing difficulty in continuing their studies after the funding was pulled from the local school. Without sufficient tuition funds and sponsorship, these kids have to look for other sponsors while still studying in junior high school.
In order to have at least one of them attending senior high school, Xia, the eldest among the three children, even proposes to give up her own studies, only to be able to support their younger brother Gang’s tuition fees. This decision not only triggers tension between Xia and their father who feels his authority is threatened
by his headstrong daughter, Gang is also ungrateful of Xia’s sacrifice and is unwilling to take on the burden of the while family’s expectation…
When the Bough Breaks offers us a rare chance to look into the lives of an unusual family, whose struggles and love for each other we can all relate to.