In the film, the mother shrewishly yells at the neighborhood chief, but then she considerately cares for her aging father and the members of her family both old and young, supporting a family that her scoundrel of a husband has abandoned and abused, showing the strength and vitality of Taiwanese women. The performance, Chiou's first on the silver screen, earned critics 'praise and a Golden Horse for best supporting actress.
飾演媽媽的邱秀敏在戲裡潑婦式的大罵裡長，上要體貼年邁父親、下要照顧一家大小，辛苦維持一個被浪蕩父親所離棄和折磨的家，展現台灣民間婦女強韌的生命力，讓邱秀敏第一次登上大銀幕，就得到金馬獎評審的認同，拿到最佳女配角獎。