Shower

I would have enjoyed watching a film like Shower in Chinese literature class in college, in the course of pursuing a minor in Mandarin.  A lot of the films we watched and materials we read focused on the cultural revolution, but I didn't get a lot of exposure to Chinese history after that period.  I think it would have been interesting to cover the period of outsized rural development following the revolutions. I felt that the family-focused story line of this film makes for a "bite-sized" relatable and humanizing example of the effects of that period.
I enjoyed the comedic aspects of the film, especially as it was shown through the neighbors who benefited from the existence of the bathhouse.   I also particularly enjoyed seeing the close relationship between the father and Erming. I had never before seen a Chinese film that addressed caring for a loved one with disabilities; it was refreshing to see this represented.

What do we value - as individuals, as families, as communities?
Shower gives a view of just how far we will go to create ourselves, yet brings us back to the very things which comprise
who we really are. We can deny the value of our upbringing or embrace the things from it which give us meaning in life.
Da Ming takes the journey from where he is to where he has come from and reconnects with the very things he has distanced
himself from for most of his adult life.
While addressing serious issues relating to self, family, values, and community, Shower lends a comical and simplistic angle which
takes the edge off and allows the humanity of these situations to be shown.
A pleasant experience, a bit of skin, and very easy to relate to.

This short (90+ minutes) is about a young man who returns to his home from his modern city life. He is scornful of the traditional bath house business run by his father and is eager to return to his modern life. As the film unfolds, the neighborhood aspect of the local bath house and its value to the human scale of people's lives becomes clear to both the older son and to the viewer. Ultimately, though the bath house is torn down in favor of a modern high rise. The film is funny and warm and sentimental. Not the best movie out of China in recent years, but is still delightful. It is a good illustration of some of the conflicts facing any society.

Shower
A father and son, Erming own a shower (bath house) in Japan where local men gather to bath, congregate, socialize and gamble. Erming has a mental disability. He sends his older brother a drawing of the father lying on a bed with Erming sitting on the edge of the bed. The older brother misinterprets the picture to say the father is dead and comes to the families rescue only to find they are doing okay. The older brother ventures into the city to buy his ticket home and Erming goes with him but he is not watching him and Erming gets lost, but finds his way home on his own. The father is angry with the older son because of previous hurts and disappointments as well as loosing Erming. The father becomes ill and the older son misses his return home. The father says: “The houses are like old people, no matter how you try to fix them up, they are still old.” The father dies and the older brother leaves his life to stay at the shower and care for his brother. Community problems are solved at the shower. Everyone respected the father. Everyone respects the water. It is the common bond for the people of the community. As the brothers come to terms with the loss of their father and the loss of the shower, succumbed to re-modernization of the community, the older brother vows to be together forever. It is a touching tale of family and community. I enjoyed it.
Recommended for adults for language and nudity

This film is about culture and family. It opens with the older brother, a successful businessman in the city, receiving a letter from his mentally challenged younger brother with a drawing of his father lying in bed with the brother at his side. Thinking something terrible has happened to his father, the older brother leaves the city and comes home to them. When arrives he finds both of them doing well. In fact, the younger brother missed him and just wanted to see him. In the beginning, there is an underlying tone about why the older brother left them for the city life. The father doesn't understand and is angry.
The father and the younger brother run a men's only bathhouse. Mostly older men spend the day there in the baths, playing cards and talking. the father and the younger son have developed a routine that makes them look like a well oiled machine. They know their customers and greet them enthusiastically each day. They bath the customers backs, referee in cricket races and listen to their stories. At the end of the day the father and younger son clean the bathhouse in preparation for the next day and then play games such as who can hold their breath the longest under water and race around the block each night.
Frustrated, the older son doesn't understand why they still open the bathhouse for just a few customers every day. The bathhouse is in disrepair and every time it rains they have to go on the roof to cover the broken windows so the rain doesn't come inside. He wants his father to retire but this is the only life his father knows and the younger son needs his daily routine even though the father is aging and is concerned about the future for his younger son. The city has decided that they are going to tear down the houses on the block including the bath house for new development. This decision worries the father about the future of his younger son.
There are some interesting characters in this movie. One man, who lives nearby is always hiding from his wife who frequently comes to the bathhouse looking form him. The father hides him from her to protect him until one day he asks him why he is hiding from her. He shares a story about her chasing down an thief who stole her necklace while she was in a women's bathhouse. But she brought shame to him because she chased him while she was still nude, not taking the time to get dressed before she went after him. The father quickly has a solution to the problem and enlists his older son for help.
Another character loves to come in and sing his favorite song in the shower "O Sole Mi." He has a powerful voice but can only sing in the shower because he has stage fright. The father and brother try to help him through it and in the end when he is on stage and freezes, the younger brother finds a hose and sprays the water on him so he can sing to his hearts content.
From the movie one learns many things about the Chinese culture, but the number one lesson is that family is most important. When the father dies the older brother vows to keep the younger brother with him forever. He calls his wife to let her know he has a younger brother (he never shared that part of his life) and that he was retarded. He wants to bring him home to live with them. She hangs up on him. He remains at the bathhouse with his brother until the time comes to leave. They leave together with their belongings on a cart.
I would recommend this movie to an older audience.

Diane Hendrick Movie Review
Shower
A father and son, Erming own a shower (bath house) in Japan where local men gather to bath, congregate, socialize and gamble. Erming has a mental disability. He sends his older brother a drawing of the father lying on a bed with Erming sitting on the edge of the bed. The older brother misinterprets the picture to say the father is dead and comes to the families rescue only to find they are doing okay. The older brother ventures into the city to buy his ticket home and Erming goes with him but he is not watching him and Erming gets lost, but finds his way home on his own. The father is angry with the older son because of previous hurts and disappointments as well as loosing Erming. The father becomes ill and the older son misses his return home. The father says: “The houses are like old people, no matter how you try to fix them up, they are still old.” The father dies and the older brother leaves his life to stay at the shower and care for his brother. Community problems are solved at the shower. Everyone respected the father. Everyone respects the water. It is the common bond for the people of the community. As the brothers come to terms with the loss of their father and the loss of the shower, succumbed to re-modernization of the community, the older brother vows to be together forever. It is a touching tale of family and community. I enjoyed it.
Recommended for adults for language and nudity

Review by Mary Albers
Shower is a poignant story of an elderly Chinese man and his two sons. Da Ming, a successful business man and eldest son, returns to an old community in Beijing, where his father owns a bathhouse. His mentally handicapped brother works in the bathhouse alongside his father. Da Ming finds himself on the outside of a father-son relationship, looking in--at first voluntarily, and later wistfully. Over the days, he begins rebuilding relationships with both his father and his brother.
This is a heartwarming movie with dashes of both humor and sadness. Modern ideas often conflict with traditional values as relationships deepen between the three main characters. The roles of the "regulars" who patronize the bathhouse provide additional reasons for reflection as well as entertainment. Always lurking below the surface in the movie is the social relevance of the bathhouse in the traditional Chinese community and the symbolism of water as life. Although I did not feel that this movie was one of the best I've seen, I did enjoy it.
Recommended ages: adult
Notes: nudity and language