"A Dog's Mission" is the director of the film "Hachiko", a film created by Ras Holstrom in 2017. The film shows the subtle emotions of dogs and humans from the perspective of dogs. A dog Accompanying the little master to grow up, he even got a girlfriend for him. Later, he died of old age and was reincarnated as a Wang of other genders and types. In the second reincarnation, the dog became a majestic police dog, and he reincarnated again. A small corgi to accompany a young single woman. After many reincarnations, it finally returned to the original owner.
1. "Mission" under human ideology
What exactly is a dog's mission? "Dogs are man's best friend". Humans and animals other than humans have always had an inseparable relationship, especially with dogs. Dogs have a natural attachment type, loyalty attributes, and strong acceptance of instructions. And it has the same emotional attributes as people. In real life, there are also many examples of the heroic savior of the dog. Whether it's "Hachiko the Loyal Dog" or "The Dog of the Star Guard", films with dogs as the protagonists always make people cry. From the perspective of filming, the mission is actually the process by which high-level ideology assigns individuals to subjects. "It is the worldview of the dominant group, whose purpose is to legitimize their behavior and maintain them."[1], In the film, the dog in the film has gone through four lives with memories. In each life, he is accompanied by people, completing his life as a pet. In the second life, he turned into a police dog and died heroically in his last life. , it carried the memory of previous lives, and found the owner of the first life through a familiar taste through many difficulties. In the sequel of this film, "A Dog's Mission 2", it also completed the first In this film, the host's dying exhortation - let him find his granddaughter and accompany her on the mission. Aside from the perspective of life, the form of attachment between animal images and people is fully reflected in the film. Animals have their own missions. A good pet must be smart, loyal, and lovable. The dog in the film is undoubtedly an idealized perfect dog.
This kind of complete control of human beings over animals, on the one hand, fully attaches animals to human beings as a subject with common attributes, on the other hand, ideology is not satisfied with this. "Reincarnated with memory, I will find you no matter what" , the film cleverly anthropomorphizes animal images, and gives animals a higher degree of perception of humans with a dramatic "reincarnation plot". The film is developed from the dog's first point of view. The whole film runs through its inner monologue. The director also enables him to fully "understand human speech". The director gave it a richer inner world. We have no way of knowing what a dog's true inner world is. This anthropomorphic treatment makes the dog and the audience's emotions more resonant. In its fourth life, there is a special attribute, that is, it can help the master to get rid of the single, and in the fourth life, he tried his best to finally make the master recognize it. Frisbee, clamor, farm, and taste have become symbols of emotional connection between it and people.
2. Narrative strategy reaches new heights of emotion
If the life of a dog is too short compared to that of a human, and dog owners will always experience the day when their beloved pet leaves, then the four lives of a dog are exactly equivalent to the lifespan of a human being. Why the director of the film adopted the original intention of combining the block structure narrative - to complete the regret that the lives of people and pets are out of sync, this is also the cleverness of the film's narrative strategy. Through the strengthening of the first and fourth worlds and the weakening of the second and third worlds, there is a higher emotional bond with the audience, and after centuries of separation from the master of the first world, finally In the last life, the emotional burst point was reached, and the owner at that time was in his twilight years, and there was no one to accompany him. This emotional strategy of "departure" and "reunion" undoubtedly released a new height of dog theme. The arrival of the dog at this time is undoubtedly the most in line with the audience's psychological expectations.
Epilogue
This work is novel and eye-catching in dog-themed movies, both from the perspective of the person and the way of narration. The film avoids sensational plots and only starts from the perspective of the dog's person. It is full of tears and laughter. Companionship and canine loyalty are the themes of this film. At the end of the film, it says, "It is the mission of dogs to live in the moment and give happiness to others." The whole film is like a glue. It is more suitable for the emotions of dogs and people.
[1], Introduction to Cultural Studies p206
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