The Reason Why I'm Home 母亲入邪教拷打弟弟致死 [真实影像×VICE]- 大数跨境

The Reason Why I'm Home 母亲入邪教拷打弟弟致死 [真实影像×VICE]

真实影像

2021-05-20

导读：Her Brother Was Tortured to Death by Members of a Cult, Including Their Own Mother 她的弟弟遭到包括他们妈妈在内邪教

本文原载并发布于2021年5月3日《VICE》全球“REAL IMAGE COLLECTION 真实影像甄选 ”专栏，该专栏由中国真实影像传媒(REAL IMAGE MEDIA)力主与VICE合作推出，旨在向全球推荐华语国家和地区优秀的现实题材影像作品及所其关注的公共话题，希望世界对华语世界“眼见为实”。

“她的弟弟遭到包括他们自己妈妈在内的邪教成员拷打致死——《回家的理由》”，刊登于VICE

Her Brother Was Tortured to Death by Members of a Cult, Including Their Own Mother 她的弟弟遭到包括他们妈妈在内的邪教成员拷打致死——纪录片《回家的理由 The Reason Why I'm Home》

The documentary “The Reason Why I Am Home” shows a woman’s journey to reconnect with family after a harrowing tragedy.

By Lu Jia Lin of Real Image Media Translated By Koh Ewe

CHEN-YUN IN THE DOCUMENTARY THE REASON WHY I AM HOME. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REALIMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

In 2013, a woman in Taiwan made headlines for torturing her 18-year-old son to death along with fellow members of a religious group widely known as a cult.

In the aftermath of this disturbing family tragedy, the victim’s sister Chen-yun left Taipei and returned to her hometown Changhua for the first time since leaving the cult, and her family, five years before.

The 2019 documentary The Reason Why I Am Home takes viewers along on Chen-yun’s journey as she grapples with the death of her brother and complex relationship with her mother, a perpetrator in the crime and a victim of the cult. However, the film notably steers away from the details of the shocking incident, choosing instead to focus on Chen-yun’s emotional dilemmas as she returns to an estranged home.

ASON WHY I AM HOME. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REALIMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

Director Chang Ming-yu said that he made a conscious effort to redact details about the notorious case during post-production.

“People are most intrigued by why a mother would hurt her child, and the chronology of the event,” he said in an interview in April. “But The Reason Why I Am Home does not discuss the case itself, choosing instead to focus on how those involved handle the aftermath. This angle is more precious to me, since we seldom have the chance to see how people deal with their lives in the wake of such an event.”

“The lives of the living are much more important than the tragedy of death,” Chang added. “The intensity of the sister’s life story should not be diluted by the bizarre nature of the case.”

Throughout the ordeal, Chen-yun was constantly seeking a way to continue living.

As she wandered around her childhood home for the first time since leaving as a teenager, her eyes filled with tears at its familiarity, imagining the life that her mother and brother had lived.

“All the furniture is the same as when I left five years ago,” Chen-yun says in the film, eyes filled with tears. “So I know exactly how my mother and brother were living these past five years. This makes me feel sad.”

A good friend of Chen-yun’s, Chang volunteered to accompany her when she announced that she was going home to investigate the cause of her brother’s death.

“It wasn’t initially meant to be a film. I just thought it would be nice for her to have some company,” the director said, adding that he just wanted to be a good companion, someone Chen-yun could confide in.

In the film, Chen-yun and her mother are seen dealing with the fallout of a tragic death long after it was sensationalized and forgotten by the drama-hungry news cycle. Chen-yun said she never got an apology from her brother’s perpetrators, certainly not after she insisted on the forensic testing that eventually led to a conclusion on her brother’s cause of death. Still, Chen-yun attempts to come to terms with losing her brother and reconnects with her estranged mother.

CHEN-YUN AND HER MOTHER. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REAL IMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

When asked about the 4-year-long post-production process, Chang shared that he had left the footage mostly untouched due to emotional reasons. His close relationship with Chen-yun and the gravity of the subject matter made it difficult for him to approach the production process, which gave him many sleepless nights and serious anxiety.

“At 23 years old, it was a revelation to see the loss of a life and the birth of another,” he said, a reference to Chen-yun’s pregnancy. “I’ve participated in so much of her life, but not all of it has been captured on tape. How do I edit it into a film that does justice to both me and her? For four years I was avoiding the reality of producing this film.”

CHEN-YUN WHILE PREGNANT. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REAL IMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

For Chang, the trip to his friend’s hometown provided deep insights into the controversial figures behind the case.

“Initially, I did not dare to get close to her mother. Because news reports portrayed her as this horrifying figure. But after some observation, I realized that things can never really be black or white.”

And Chang thinks cases like this will continue to happen.

“Even as society progresses, people remain mentally fragile,” he said, pointing to a “spiritual void” that may be filled by dangerous indoctrination.

CHEN-YUN'S MOTHER AND BABY. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REAL IMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

Four months after moving back home, Chen-yun is married and pregnant. With her mom at the hospital as she endured the pain of childbirth, they both gained a new perspective on their relationship. As her mother helped Chen-yun out with chores and baby duties in the lingering absence of her husband, Chen-yun learns to sympathize with her mother, whose own husband had also been mostly unavailable. Ultimately, the documentary comes to a poignant end, as the pair sought solace in each other while healing from the tragedy.

The Reason Why I Am Home was the first runner-up in the Chinese documentary category at the 2019 Hong Kong International Documentary Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2020 Taipei Film Awards.

In partnership with Real Image Media Collection.

《Her Brother Was Tortured to Death by Members of a Cult, Including Their Own Mother

她的弟弟遭到包括他们自己妈妈在内的邪教成员拷打致死》Vice In partnership with Real Image Media Collection. 真实影像甄选

2013年的12月份，在台灣的彰化地區發生一起「沈溺日月明功，親生母親虐殺兒子」的社會事件，這起事件讓離家已久的女兒重返老家，一邊面臨至親離世的悲痛，同時間被迫面對與親人重聚的喜悅和不確定性。

已然破碎的家，似乎和自幼的幻想有些出入，要如何重新搭建心中完美的家，她並不全然清楚。

而回家總是需要個理由，這次她決定帶著長期在外逃避家庭的自己，伴隨著愧疚和對家的想像回家。

路途中充滿著太多的未知數，身為摯友的紀錄片導演，藉著攝影機的陪伴，一邊陪她追尋那些遺漏的情感，同時間更記錄下將自己一點一滴完全抹煞的過程，那一年，她23歲。從那天起她決定開始為別人而活，她不想再有自己了。

她，心甘情願地回家。

本片，2020 中國廣州國際紀錄片入圍；2020 美國聖地牙哥紀錄片影展獲邀參展；2020 台北電影節最佳紀錄片入圍；2019 香港國際紀錄片節華語紀錄片競賽長片組亞軍 2019 台北金馬獎最佳紀錄片初選入圍

“我這個世代的華人孩子，因著環境的優渥，父母親能給我們的很多，比起他們小的時候，那是天壤之別;但這些給予的過程中，也或多或少將他們自身的期望付諸在我們身上，尤其是他們所認為「完美家的樣貌」，更是從小就被無形堆砌起一道道高牆，而這一道道高牆讓我們永遠無法成為一個獨立的成人，在他們的心中，我們永遠都是個孩子。

即便我們從小就聽過無數父執輩自小就獨立的故事，但待我們到了如同他們能獨立的年紀時，他們依然告訴我們就是個孩子，不要輕易去外頭闖。

所以，我們選擇在外求學工作後，不輕易回家落地生根，想在外地植栽出一片屬於自己的田野。

於是，每一次的回家，總需要些理由，不是為了過節就是怕家裡的父母寂寞難過，而這些擔憂都成為我們在外地生活時的愧疚和罪惡感，什麼時候我們回家都需要一個理由來交代，而不是心甘情願地回到那個「完美的家」”

——導演 |張明右國立臺灣藝術大學電影學系碩士翼手龍整合行銷有限公司創辦人

[真实影像×VICE]

作者：卢嘉琳

英文作者及翻译：Jialin, Koh Ewe