The rubber forest in Shanghai Daughter retains traces of the life of our fathers.

A Ming came to Xishuangbanna, wanting to get close to her deceased father again.Here are the forests and fields that my father saw when he joined the queue to settle down, and there are also old friends who still remember him.When she reached middle age, she tried to use her own eyes to see the life that once belonged to her parents' generation.

"Shanghai Daughter", currently showing in theaters, is Shen Zhongmin's first feature film.Her personal experience of going to Yunnan to follow the footsteps of her late father formed the basis of the film; the true oral accounts of local interviewees in Xishuangbanna connected her personal recollections to the broader history.Shen Zhongmin herself is also a “Shanghai daughter”, and the “Shanghai daughter” identity she bestows on A Ming not only points to her relationship with Shanghai, but also includes the curiosity and awe of younger generations as they try to get closer to the era of their parents.

Although it is about educated youth, the film does not go towards the kind of melodrama driven by human conflicts like the TV series "Debt" in the 1990s.As a person born in the 1980s who grew up in the post-educated youth era, Shen Zhongmin started from the perspective of this generation: first seeing the mountains, forests, villages and residents of Xishuangbanna today, and then imagining how his parents lived here back then.Which parts of local life have changed and which ones have continued, come into the picture as A Ming walks; the memories of different real people gradually piece together the image of “Shanghai's educated youth” and her father.Shen Zhongmin regards this unintuitive image reshaping as a re-examination and supplement to the narratives of past educated youths who experienced it.

The natural landscape quietly preserves traces of human activities, reminding people of Apichatpong's movies: the old houses carry the customs of local residents, and the white sap that flows out after the rubber trees are cut is evidence of the pioneering production of educated youths here.Rubber trees were planted after the arrival of educated youth.They have been cut repeatedly and still ooze juice, which reminds people of the resilience of the previous generation in facing life and destiny.

The same image does not necessarily evoke the same reaction.Different ages, genders and growth backgrounds lead to different feelings from the audience; even educated youths of the same generation as the director's father, or even from the same work unit, may have completely different understandings after watching the movie.Some people are not used to this unfamiliar visual language, while others recognize their own years in the people A Ming has met and the roads he has walked.

The son of the former farm director, his father's old friend, a botanical expert, and the mother-in-law who lived in the old house all appeared with their own language habits.The farm director's son often ends his words with “gamo”, but the botanist's stories are much calmer.These conversations that took place at the moment of the shooting, while looking back on the past, also point to the life that is still going on.

Much of the information they provided had been heard by Shen Zhongmin during the preparation period or even earlier.Letting these people sit in front of the camera again and retell it in their own way not only serves the purpose of the drama, but also gives the narrator a chance to re-examine their memories.The look and smile on the farm director's son's face when he saw A Ming left behind a tender feeling that doesn't need to be fully explained.

A Ming, played by Liang Cuishan, ate at the same table with the real person who appeared in the scene, talked about his father, and also talked about how the comradeship of the past continued.The line between professional actors and ordinary actors becomes less clear in these moments.The camera captures the yard, food, dining table, and the action of eating, drinking, and chatting, and the boundaries between documentary and feature film are loosened.Although there is a change in the fate of a generation behind it, the film does not rely on fierce interpersonal conflicts to advance. The trivial daily life and details of local life occupy more space.

There is “Shanghai” in the title of the film, but there is no humanistic, geographical and realistic landscape of Shanghai on the screen.A Ming has been driving, searching, visiting, and passing by in Xishuangbanna, trying to feel everything her father once felt, and gradually she was able to face her father's generation and history calmly.

There is another “Shanghai daughter” who is not shown: a Yunnan woman whose biological father is from Shanghai.She is indeed a real person, and Shen Zhongmin once met her; she completed her reconciliation with her father earlier than A Ming.

Ah Ming sheds tears while driving in the end. This treatment may seem familiar, but there are memories, expectations and relief at the same time, which is closer to the mood of "Why Should We Cut the West Window Candle Together".During her journey, she unexpectedly touched upon the relationship between man and nature, as well as the ultimate destination of life.These encounters also exceeded the original imagination of the director who first came to Yunnan with a wishful thinking.