A few days ago, I was swiped by this Netflix animation collection, and countless public accounts recommended it with the attitude of vomiting blood. Download it, it's really cool! The 18-episode shorts cover a variety of genres, including sci-fi, fantasy, horror or comedy. The plot is unexpected, the suspense is grass snake and gray line, and the picture can be seen as false and real, or bold and crazy, and it definitely belongs to the "Lifetime Series". I also recommend a wave~
In the 18 episodes, the third episode "The Witness" is probably the most impressive. The "8" circular plot structure is very amazing. Many people have guessed the same circular plot as "Terrorist Cruise", but no one expected the ending to be The reversed double helix of the male and female protagonists has a really big brain hole.
In the first episode of "Sonny's Advantage", violence, blood and eroticism are played with applause, in addition to stimulating your hormones to the maximum, it also crushes your IQ with the reversal at the end, making you feel unexpected On the outside and within reason, I have to admire it.
14 episodes, "The Works of Qima", I think this episode should be the best episode in most people's minds. Not only because of its simple and atmospheric picture and the soundtrack like deep space. It is also because it tells a "return to the original" truth. It allows viewers to stop their work when they are overwhelmed by their busy lives, take a look at their original intentions, and ask their starting point. Some people say that human beings go through a lifetime, but they practice the personality formed before the age of 6, and a person's original family will subtly affect his life, even if he breaks contact with the original family as early as Su Mingyu, But that kind of genetic imprint that goes deep into the bone marrow can't get rid of it anyway. Whether you see it as a curse that goes with you, or a blessing that accompanies you, there is only one answer, like a horse, accept it.
The beauty of skill
Throughout these 18 episodes, looking at the technical level alone, there are many excellent people. Rising to the ideological content, there are also dazzling works like "Qima". But if you were to ask me which episode was my favorite, the answer would be episode eight, "Happy Hunting."
It's not because this episode has more Chinese elements, and to be honest, the Chinese elements in the first half of this episode make us Chinese feel too deliberate at first glance. This is a "Chinese style" imagined from the perspective of Western culture, which is not natural enough and is slightly contrived. Inevitably, it will be mixed with "Oriental style". But as a foreigner to be able to do this, it is enough to show sincerity.
I like it the most, because the biggest advantage of this episode is that it not only skillfully presents two stories in two almost completely different contexts through technology, but also the "self-awareness awakening" told in it is very profound.
The first half of the film is a standard Chinese classic fairy tale. The calm and calm demon hunter, the innocent and enthusiastic teenager, and the soul-stirring fox demon together present a wonderful and exciting "Monster Hunt". The rhythm of the story is not only tight, but also the psychological activities of several characters are depicted in a few words. In addition to the demon "the king's wealth and the king's worries", he uses the old and skilled skills to complete the employer's entrustment. Although he is cold-blooded and ruthless to the fox demon, he is always worried about the safety of his son. This kind of upright, loyal and old-fashioned The personality of "Huduzi" is like coming out of an ancient book. Jing Ke, Qiao Feng, Yan Chixia, Fa Hai, etc. all seem to be this kind of "hero" image, which makes Chinese people feel very friendly. The innocent boy "Liang" has more sympathy for the fox demon. Under his father's questioning, he chose to protect Yan. The boy's "benevolence" is more of the author's sympathy for thousands of years of Confucian culture. penetration of the core of the national spirit.
The beheaded fox demon Xiao Rong was arrogant, cunning, powerful, and trapped by love, and finally died because of love. A word "love", like Xiao Rong's fate, cannot be relieved. When you see Xiao Rong, who do you think of? Bai Suzhen? Nie Xiaoqian? Yes, whether it is a thousand-year-old snake spirit or a lonely ghost, they are only idealized representatives of thousands of women oppressed by feudal dogma. And those names in reality, the famous "beautiful troubles" - Daji, Baosi, Yang Guifei, Chen Yuanyuan, Ruan Lingyu, etc., are the true portrayals of the "fox spirits" in reality. Those who were accused of debauchery because of their beauty, because Beauty is accused of bewitching the hearts of the people, and even because of her beauty, she is accused of "disastrous waters" that bring harm to the country and the people. How much infamy did they bear?
With the death of the fox demon Xiao Rong, the first half of the film "Monster Hunt" ended, and the second half of "The Evil Fate of Steampunk" officially began. It is also here that the film uses a genius-like method to make the first half Part of the classical Chinese context of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trust" has been seamlessly transferred to a utopian steampunk world. With the growth of "Liang", everyone did not feel that the transition of this context was abrupt. I just think it's magical and incredible, and I admire the director's imagination. The most important thing is that this change is not for unreasonable hunting and dazzling skills, but to serve the plot and even serve the spiritual core of the film. This is truly amazing. The place.
Different from the specific "monster catching drama" in the first half, the plot in the second half changes quickly, which more reflects a sense of change like the passing of time in a hurry, but the direction of this change is not reality. Instead, it is heading towards a steampunk world with an alternate history. Thinking about it carefully, only this fantasy world of science and technology can satisfy the plot arrangement and let the fox demon Xiaoyan be reborn again.
Granted, the other 17 episodes are mostly well done in terms of plot, technique, and structure, but they also just tell stories in their own context. Only this episode was "daring" and flawlessly accomplished the "context" transition. Can you imagine a movie that perfectly blends "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "The Dark Knight"? And this episode did it, I have to say that this movie viewing experience is really novel.
high style
So what is the whole film about? Fox demon hunting, what are you hunting?
This has to start with a detail in the film. When those trains and railroad tracks began to appear in that ancient Chinese village, why did the fox demon Xiaoyan say that her magic began to fail. She felt that it was those modern industrial facilities that absorbed her of mana. Are modern industry and ancient magic conflicting? Seeing this, I tried to understand the author's original intention. Do those ancient "magic, fox demons, swordsmen", etc. represent something of unique value in ancient society? When talking with modern Western civilization, they suddenly become unconfident, they can't justify themselves, and can't meet the development of society , they appear crude, primitive and superstitious. More and more of their original believers began to question these things.
Chinese medicine? Martial arts? Chinese food? Feng Shui? Even various ancient books and books, and the values carried on these cultures. These cultural heritages and ideas that have flourished in China for thousands of years, when encountering Western civilization. Lost, just like the lost fox demon Xiaoyan, the mana is waning.
Of course, if we discuss it from this perspective, then this will be a "thesis" that cannot be overwhelmed. We won't discuss it in depth here. Let's just focus on Xiaoyan, the fox demon, and talk about the "feminine consciousness" embodied in her. awakening problem.
In ancient feudal China, as I said earlier, too many women carried various dogmas and constraints imposed on themselves, and the oppression of women was also one of the symbols of feudal society. However, from another perspective, this kind of dogma and restriction is also a mandatory "protection" that women cannot choose. For example, in addition to "three obedience and four virtues", there is also "seven out and three out", and the chastity arches are not only five-finger mountains pressing on the fresh life, but also a warning sign to the prodigal children, warning those Dengzi, if you want to hit these women, you will be an enemy of the entire rural society. Values like "female virtue" are both shackles and armor, and for women living in a long feudal society, it is really a great tragedy. The fox demon Xiao Rong in the play is the representative of this kind of tragedy. "Spell" is everything to her, both a curse and a weapon.
With the change of society and the rapid development, various values impact the ancient land of China. In the new world, "spells" don't work. Those ancient concepts and theories cannot protect women's rights and interests, and hinder women's development. And the new concept of the new world has gradually become a new shackle for women. Why is there such a role as the Governor in the play? Why did she transform Xiaoyan into a robot?
Because the Governor represents the new restraint on women in the new era, do these words like "Internet celebrities look the best", "Women must be thin", "Women who don't wear makeup are failures" do these words sound familiar? The "standards" of these new eras are new shackles for women. Can't break through these new shackles, even if it becomes a brand-new "robot", it will still become the Governor's plaything like Xiaoyan.
Why does it have to be what it is? Can't be yourself? Machinery and technology are the language of the new era. Xiaoyan uses this language to find her true self - a fox demon, which represents her real awakening of "self-awareness". Possessing technology and technology is only a means of the new era, and the awakening of self-awareness is the sign of Xiaoyan's maturity. When she went through hardships and then turned into a "mechanical nine-tailed fox" and walked gracefully in the night of the modern city, she really found the meaning of existence. As for the meaning of "hunting", you can simply understand it as a way for a person to survive in the world, or it can be further understood as: a soul finds a way to integrate self-identity and social identity.
"I am who I am, nothing else. I can survive well with new technology, so just wish me a happy hunt."
To sum up, this episode of Fox Demon, from shooting skills, picture language to ideological core, is flawless and impeccable, and it should be the best. What do you guys think?
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