演員與製作團隊 "Cast and Crew of Rosemead-21" by Bryan Berlin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
許久沒有一部電影「柔似蜜 Rosemead」讓我如此迴盪在心中，有一種沉悶感壓在心上，長達好幾天，後勁十足。
以下電影介紹擷取自金馬影展網頁
柔似蜜 Rosemead Instagram
入圍獎項：最佳改編劇本
丈夫驟然離世後，愛琳和兒子喬的生活也墜入迷霧。絕症纏身的愛琳獨撐一間印刷行，兒子喬則在精神分裂症的糾纏下失控浮沉。隨著喬對新聞報導的槍擊案越發痴迷，愛琳不得不痛下決定。資深攝影師林文德長片首作，改編真實事件報導，深邃聚焦洛杉磯聖蓋博谷的華裔族群，也透見青少年心理疾病。《艾莉的異想世界》劉玉玲製片，並搭檔大銀幕新秀壽恩城，演繹一對深陷創傷泥濘的絕望母子。
林文德 Eric LIN Instagram
導演林文德Eric Lin"Eric Lin Rosemead-06" by Bryan Berlin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
林文德，美籍台裔導演、攝影師，紐約大學電影碩士。曾執導紀錄短片《Music Palace》入圍學生奧斯卡。擔任攝影指導的代表作有長片《寂靜之聲》、《怦然心動的節拍》、影集《美國精神：為自由而戰》等。首部導演劇情長片《柔似蜜》入選2025年翠貝卡影展，並獲盧卡諾影展觀眾票選獎。
一場特別的觀影記憶
導演林文德Eric Lin是我大家族中的Uncle，難得的機會家族成員齊聚在金馬影展的電影場次支持Eric的作品，在看完影片之後，在影廳外的大廳Eric帶著滿足的微笑用有點口音的中文詢問某位親戚長輩說：「看完有沒有眼睛紅紅的？」，在那當下，我的眼眶沒有濕潤，反而睜的老大，感覺還陷在電影故事中，尚未隨著走出影廳而脫離場景，有一種極深的沉悶縈繞在心中。
順著畫面、故事中劇情的發展與流向以及電影的片長，你可以隱約預測故事的結果不是走向Happy Enging，但這也不令人意外，畢竟這是一個真實事件改編的電影，如果有先去了解原本的事件，對於結局的走向，你不會感到意外，但即使你沒有先做功課，也能夠隨著劇情推敲出可能的方向，隨著畫面的更迭，閱聽者逐漸走入故事裡，彷彿我們人就在柔似密Rosemead這個城市中，生活在其中，照著當地強烈的陽光，吹著當地的微風，心情也跟得情節起伏波動著。
看到亞裔華人受到文化的影響，總是報喜不報憂，即使在眾所皆知的憂中也會盡力去大事化小，小事化輕，可以的話總是希望雖然被高高提起，千萬要輕輕落下！
那些沒有被好好說出與被接住的情緒
但情緒的傷，需要的是被注意、被關懷、被照顧才能夠好好落地，我們可以從電影中看到，片中的媽媽與兒子、甚至媽媽與摯友、兒子與朋友、心理醫生與母子之間...等有著千絲萬縷的連結，但即使有很多的對話，無數的關心，還有人際圈外圍的閒言閒語...等，但很多時候「話」沒有好好說、「心情」沒有充分表達、「情緒」沒有穩穩地被接住，反而「擔憂」被餵養的充足、「痛苦」被無限的放大、「羞愧」被壓抑的很徹底，加上「健康」的無力回天，導致最後走上一條沒有迴轉選項的單行道。
「碰！碰！」：不露骨卻震撼無比的關鍵一幕
兩發槍聲「碰！碰！」，即使我早已預測到會發生，但當導演用一種不甚露骨的畫面呈現這一幕的時候，反倒創造出了一種極大的張力，閱聽者的我們沒有辦法看得很清楚，但每個人都理解得很明白，那一刻充滿震撼感，迴盪在心裡久久揮之不去，即使在看完電影好幾天的我，只要願意，那一幕會出現眼前，定格在那發生的房間裡。
故事沒有美好的結局，不偌商業電影中的絕地大逆轉，但這就是真實的人生，不是嗎？
而我們能否從悲劇中學到什麼？
身為人的我們著實有限，有時候困難總是不請自來，來挑戰我們的生命；遺憾發生在充滿善意與愛的人身上，卻不得不面對挫折與失敗的景況，而在當下只想呼喊「為什麼？」「為什麼？」「為什麼？」
生命可否有出路？
看完電影，我尋索著這對母子的生命可否有出路？可否有解方？
心想著如果他們認識上帝，生命是否會走向不同的道路上呢？
多年前，太太面臨生死交關的疾病，也是令我感到痛苦萬分，但很感恩當時的太太與我有上帝可以依靠、有家人可以扶持、有教會中的弟兄姊妹的關心與幫助，讓我們即使在生命的驚滔駭浪中，仍然不失去盼望，因為知道生命的源頭來自於上帝，而我們也知道生命的終點在何方，因此我們的眼光能夠穿過眼前風暴中的狂風暴雨、烏雲密布而看見那之後的生命之光-上帝，就像聖經約伯記中約伯說的「現在我親眼看見你」，在那之後，約伯對於之前生命當中的各種風暴與通苦，在那一刻起都不再讓他愁煩了，因此我們內心不再懼怕，反有安妥。
電影之外的行動：讓影像成為改變世界的起點
導演Eric、演員Lucy Liu (劉玉玲)與其他表現傑出的演員群、電影製作團隊們能夠完成這樣的電影，除了高品質的作品、故事本身的價值以外，也帶來極大的社會價值，不僅喚起公眾的關注，也引起社會對於相關議題的認識與後續的行動...等，透過一點一滴的影響，讓世界開始不一樣，而我們自己也可以透過看完電影之後在內心與腦中所產生的影響，讓我們去思考可以在自身所處的場域中做些甚麼、發揮甚麼樣的影響力、進行何種行動來擴大影響範圍。
It’s been a long time since a film like “Rosemead” lingered in my heart so deeply. A heavy, suffocating feeling pressed on my chest for days — its emotional aftertaste was powerful.
The following film introduction is excerpted from the Golden Horse Film Festival website.
Rosemead
In a race against time, an ailing woman is stricken by the discovery of her teenage son's violent obsessions and must go to great lengths to protect him, and possibly others, in this portrait of a Chinese American family. Inspired by true events, Rosemead marks acclaimed cinematographer Eric Lin's feature directorial debut and showcases tour-de-force performances by Lucy Liu and newcomer Lawrence Shou.
Eric LIN
Eric Lin holds an MFA in Film from NYU. His short film, Music Palace, screened at numerous film festivals, and was a Student Academy Awards finalist. As a cinematographer, he shot twenty feature films, including I'll Be Your Mirror, The Sound of Silence, and Hearts Beat Loud.
A Special Movie-Going Memory
Director Eric Lin is an uncle in my large extended family. It was a rare occasion for all of us to gather at a Golden Horse Film Festival screening to support his work. After the film ended, we stood together in the lobby outside the theater. With a satisfied smile, Eric asked an older relative in his Chinese—with a noticeable accent—“Were your eyes a little red after watching it?”
At that moment, my eyes weren’t misty at all. Instead, they were wide open. I felt as though I was still inside the story, unable to leave the scenes behind even after walking out of the theater. A profound heaviness lingered in my heart.
As the images, narrative flow, and pacing unfold, you can faintly sense that the story will not lead to a happy ending. But this is hardly surprising. The film is based on a true event. If you happened to research the real case beforehand, the outcome wouldn’t shock you. Even without prior knowledge, the story gradually points toward its trajectory. With each scene, the viewer is pulled deeper into the world, as if we ourselves were living in Rosemead—walking under its harsh sun, feeling its gentle breeze, our emotions rising and falling with the characters.
Seeing how Asian American families are shaped by cultural norms—always reporting good news but hiding bad news—felt painfully familiar. Even in widely known sorrow, we still try to shrink it: turning big problems small, and small problems lighter. If possible, we hope that even when one is lifted high, they are placed down gently.
The Unspoken and Unheld Emotions
But emotional wounds can only heal when they are noticed, cared for, and properly tended to. In the film, we see the many threads connecting the mother and son, the mother and her close friend, the son and his peers, and the psychiatrist’s relationship with the family. There is so much dialogue, so much concern, and even the whispers and speculations from people on the sidelines. Yet so often, words remain unsaid, feelings remain unexpressed, and emotions are left uncaught. Meanwhile, worry is fed to fullness, pain is magnified endlessly, and shame is thoroughly suppressed. Combined with the helplessness of failing health, everything funnels the family onto a one-way road with no chance to turn back.
“Bang! Bang!” — A Subtle Yet Devastating Moment
When the two gunshots sounded—Bang! Bang!—I had already braced myself for that moment. Yet the director chose not to show it explicitly, which instead created immense tension. We couldn’t see the scene clearly, but we understood completely. The shock of that moment reverberated in my heart and would not fade. Even several days after watching the film, that scene still flashes before my eyes whenever I allow it—frozen in that room where everything happened.
The story ends without beauty, without the miraculous reversal we see in commercial films. But isn’t that real life?
And can we learn anything from tragedy?
As human beings, we are profoundly limited. Hardships often arrive uninvited, confronting us without warning. Regret falls heavily on people filled with kindness and love, yet they must still face failure and loss. In those moments, all we can cry out is: “Why?” “Why?” “Why?”
Is There a Way Out of Life’s Darkness?
After watching the film, I kept searching—was there any way forward for this mother and son? Any possible solution?
I wondered: If they had known God, would their path have been different?
Years ago, my wife faced a life-threatening illness. It caused me excruciating pain. But I am deeply grateful that at that time, she and I had God to rely on, family to hold us up, and brothers and sisters in our church to care for us. Even amid the terrifying storms of life, we never lost hope—because we knew the source of life is in God, and we knew where our journey would ultimately lead. Our eyes could see past the fierce winds and dark clouds toward the light of life—God Himself.
Just as Job said, “Now my eyes sees You.”
After that moment, the storms and suffering in his life no longer tormented him as before. Likewise, our hearts were no longer filled with fear, but with peace.
Beyond the Film: Let Films Spark Real-World Change
For Director Eric, actress Lucy Liu, the outstanding cast, and the entire production team to complete such a film—beyond its cinematic excellence and the power of the story—it carries tremendous social value. It not only raises public awareness but also deepens society’s understanding of the issues and inspires subsequent action. Through gradual, subtle influence, it begins to change the world.
And for us viewers, whatever this film stirs within our hearts and minds can shape how we live. It can prompt us to reflect on what we can do in our own environments, what kind of influence we can bring, and what actions we can take to expand that influence further.
