The competition for Best Documentary at the Oscars this year is fierce. The previous hit - "The Collective" from Romania has always been optimistic about the top line, because it has swept a lot of awards during the awards season, and has even been on the annual lists of many film magazines and film critics. In the end, at the Oscars last month, he lost to an unpopular "My Teacher Octopus" , which is really shocking.
The two documentaries have very different themes, and their depth and breadth are also very different. "Collective" is a follow-up report of a fire incident, which leads to criticism of corruption in medical and government institutions, while "My Teacher Octopus" is extremely personal. topic of. I believe that both films have their own supporters. Of course, I am not denying the quality of "My Octopus Teacher". The extremely dreamy underwater world and the octopus's survival scene in the film are extremely impressive, and the octopus's amazing performance of wisdom in the process of survival has aroused the compassion of many audiences, making them stop eating this in the future. A cute mollusk. The director has a unique aspect in depicting the ecological environment of the ocean and the laws of animal survival. The way of revealing environmental protection issues from the relationship between humans and marine animals is indeed different from the common environmental protection promotional films.
However, such documentaries, analyzed from personal experience , tend to be overly anthropocentric . The protagonist of the documentary accidentally became a good friend with an octopus during the distressing period of his life, and gained a feeling of empathy from his life and destiny. No matter how positive and inspirational this theme design is, it cannot hide the strong subjective consciousness that humans impose on marine animals. In the narcissistic narcissism of the protagonist, the documentary gives the illusion of being caught up in watching the story of a midlife crisis of a wealthy middle-class white businessman who had previously estranged his wife and children by tracking wild animals around the world, and then dived alone to the bottom of the sea, where he met Octopus, discover the true meaning of life.
In fact, the octopus in the film does not have any superb skills , nor does he teach the protagonist any theoretical knowledge. The protagonist sees the survival state of the octopus as an animal instinct. Perhaps the scene where the protagonist's fingers and octopus tentacles come into close contact will evoke a sci-fi fable, the scene of the octopus playing in the protagonist's arms is like another "Shape of Water", or the little octopus that ends up in the hands of the son Possibly descendants of previously dead octopuses. However, all these romantic designs can't change the cruel and bloody nature of natural selection in nature, and mollusks are destined to be eaten by sharks after reproduction. Humans' over-engagement in animals is nothing more than a self-righteous and self-motivated arrogance .
At some point in the film, the protagonist suddenly asks himself whether his actions will harm the octopus. I think the answer is yes.
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