Searching for Love in Movies chapter 1

Child, turn around quickly!

Since Jerry, Marianne’s son, went to the Vietnam War, she had been growing older day by day. Jerry had just turned twenty this year. As soon as he joined the army, the Vietnam War broke out, and he went to Vietnam with his troops. At first, Jerry still sent letters from time to time, but five months ago, he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

To help Marianne pass the time and prevent her from constantly thinking about Jerry and that damned war, her husband would accompany her to the movies almost every night. Of course, before buying the tickets, her husband would always find out the main content of the movie first, so as to avoid any war scenes that might stimulate Marianne.

One evening, her husband took Marianne to watch a movie about figure – skating. Unexpectedly, a documentary about the Vietnam War was shown before the feature film. The film first introduced the latest American weapons, and then the camera showed several captured American soldiers standing in front of a Vietnamese prison.

As soon as the documentary started, Marianne clenched her hands and was sweating all over. Ignoring her husband beside her, she stared fixedly at the screen. Especially when the prisoners of war walked out of the prison, her heart beat even faster: Could Jerry be among them?

The prisoners of war walked out one by one. The last one only showed a back view, and that back looked incredibly like Jerry. “Turn around quickly, quickly,” Marianne was so eager that she almost shouted out, but the documentary ended right there.

After the movie was over, Marianne still sat there in a daze. She didn’t take in a single bit of the following figure – skating movie. All that was in her mind was that back that looked so much like Jerry…

In the next few evenings, Marianne secretly went to watch that documentary behind her husband’s back, but the soldier with his back to the camera never turned around. One evening, after she finished watching the documentary and walked out of the cinema, she happened to hear a conversation between two people beside her. One person whispered, “This film might have been edited. If you want to see the complete documentary, you have to go to Mexico.” Going to Mexico meant seeing the complete documentary! Marianne had hope again: Yes, she must go to Mexico.

After getting home, Marianne told her husband about her idea of going to Mexico. Of course, she didn’t tell the truth. She just said that she wanted to visit her sister who was married in Mexico. Her husband was stunned at first, then replied, “The company is very busy these days. I can’t spare the time. You can’t go there alone, can you?” He hoped that his wife would give up this idea. Intuitively, he knew that this matter must be related to Jerry.

“You go about your business. I can drive there by myself,” Marianne said calmly, but her expression was very determined. Driving to Mexico would take at least a month. With food, accommodation on the way and the ever – changing weather, it was really not an easy thing. Her husband opened his mouth in surprise, but he didn’t object. He knew Marianne’s temper too well.

Marianne firmly believed that the movie hadn’t been fully shown. But she wasn’t sure either. Even if the documentary wasn’t edited in Mexico, would the soldier with his back to the camera turn around in the movie? And if he did turn around, would it be Jerry? But no matter what the result was, she had to go and see for herself.

After a tiring one – month car journey, Marianne finally arrived in Mexico. Instead of going to find her sister Theresa first, she kept asking along the way which city was showing that American documentary. In this way, following the trail of the documentary, she finally reached the city where Theresa lived.

Theresa was very excited to see her sister. But her family was about to go on a vacation. Marianne told her sister it didn’t matter. She could take care of the house while waiting for them to come back. That evening, Theresa and her husband left for their vacation. As soon as they left, Marianne went out. She got in the car and drove straight to the Derby Cinema in the city. She had found out that the complete version of the documentary would be shown there.

Not long after she arrived at the Derby Cinema, the movie started. It was really that documentary, no mistake about it. Marianne stared intently, her hands tightly clasped together, and her heart pounding.

At first, the new weapons still appeared on the screen. But in Marianne’s eyes, she saw the corpses lying under these weapons on the battlefield.

Then, the prisoners of war appeared on the screen one by one. Marianne had already given them names. The one leaning against the prison gate, Marianne called him Chris. He was tall and thin, and there were shots of him throughout the film. Marianne murmured, “Poor child…” Unconsciously, she had transferred a little of her love for Jerry to Chris.

The next one, Marianne called him Walter. Walter had a red face and a handkerchief around his neck. “It seems he has a cold,” Marianne thought. Jerry used to catch colds often when he was a child, and this boy also looked a bit like Jerry.

The movie was coming to an end again. A hand appeared on the prison gate. The hand was rather big and wore a ring. He was the soldier who had never turned around. Marianne recognized that ring. It was very similar to the one she had given to Jerry’s father on their wedding day. The ring was indeed on Jerry now. Before he left, her husband had put the ring on their son’s hand himself.

The soldier finally started to turn around slowly, little by little. It seemed that his body didn’t move, but his face really seemed to be turning.

Marianne shouted in her heart: “Chris, Walter, call this boy and let him turn around quickly. His mother really wants to see him!” The soldier finally turned around. His face filled the screen, but there was no expression on it. He just stared blankly at the camera. Oh my god, it was really Jerry!

But Jerry’s face was expressionless, his eyes were straight. He looked like… like an idiot! Before Jerry left home, he was a lively and smart boy. His big eyes always sparkled with wisdom. But on the screen, Jerry bared his teeth, waved the hand with the ring, and stared straight ahead. He was really an idiot! Marianne fainted all of a sudden.

Marianne’s sudden collapse caused quite a stir in the cinema. Actually, she could still hear and see. A woman came up to give her artificial respiration, and then a man gently supported her and slowly walked her out of the cinema into the outside light.

At this moment, Marianne’s mind was blank. Jerry was a useless person. He was no longer the Jerry she used to know. Marianne kept telling herself this over and over again, and the tears couldn’t stop flowing. But anyway, he was still alive. Now he needed his mother’s protection. She must find him, she must.

Somehow, Marianne found the courage to write a letter to the president, asking him to save Jerry. The letter was sent to Washington.

In the following days, Marianne thought about that letter every day. Would it reach the president’s hands? Would the president pay attention to it? Would he regard this strange letter as a joke and throw it into the wastebasket disdainfully?

Marianne’s mood got worse and worse, and she started to be forgetful when doing things. However, she still forced herself to go to watch that documentary again and again. She carefully looked at the prison where Jerry was held. But then she realized that even if she knew where the prison was, could she go to Vietnam? Saving Jerry was just a crazy dream of this old woman.