STU Professor Lin Junmin's Film Review Published in Nanfang Daily

Overview

Professor Lin Junmin (pen name A Pu) of the College of Liberal Arts recently published a film review titled “The Survival Epic Behind the ‘Love Letter’” in Nanfang Daily. The article offers a deep reading of the film “Love Letter to Grandma” (给阿嬷的情书) through the lens of Chaoshan “侨批” (remittance letters) history and the local concept of “赚食” (earning a living).

Key Insights

Lin argues that beneath the surface of a跨世纪 love story lies a survival epic of Chaoshan people who ventured to Southeast Asia (“过番”). Drawing on historical context — the 1943 Chaoshan drought and the 1948 conscription — he interprets the characters’被迫 departure and their struggle to earn a living abroad. The review suggests the film reveals how love was compressed into the shape of a remittance slip under the weight of survival.

Lin also highlights how the film uses the Chaoshan dialect to tell a distinctly local Chinese story, bringing regional experience into the national collective emotional memory.

Source: STU Liberal Arts College WeChat Account (View original)