This is a children's fantasy movie, because it is a movie for children, and the story itself is not complicated: the young Connor often dreams of a huge tree monster in his sleep. Awakened from sleep. Monsters enter Connor's dreams on a regular basis, and will tell Connor strange, seemingly illogical stories.
However, this seemingly simple film actually has a strong metaphorical color, because it is a metaphor, so everyone may see different content.
The film tells the story in three layers and presents the content behind the story.
The first layer is the real life of the teenager:
Connor, a young boy, was neglected and bullied at school. After his parents divorced, he lived with his mother. However, his mother was terminally ill and it was difficult to get along with his grandmother. His father had remarried and had a child. .
What kind of emotions would a young boy have when he saw the sympathy of teachers, intentional or unintentional, and the ignorance and bullying of classmates in school? sad? Disappointed? Wronged? anger?
What kind of emotions would a young boy have when he had to stay at an unfamiliar grandmother's house and couldn't move anything? Depressed? Lost? anger?
A little boy, at home, his parents divorced, and he lives with his mother, but his mother is terminally ill. After repeated treatment, there is no result. What kind of emotions will he have? fear? anger? sad? endure? Would he wish such days were over sooner? If so, does he feel guilty? Have fear? Doubt? Doubt if you are still a good boy?
How can this hidden emotion be expressed in film language?
So, the story came to the second floor, Connor's dream:
Connor often had nightmares. I dreamed that the old tree that my mother told him stories was resurrected and became a huge monster, banging bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang split the ground; was sent to the grandmother's house, the monster followed quietly; in the school , Connor also stumbles upon this massive monster.
The first time Connor faced a monster was during the day at school when he was pulled into a corner by three of his classmates who were much taller and beat him up. After returning home, his mother and him used his grandfather's projector to show "King Kong" together. After seeing King Kong shot down from the roof, Connor asked his mother, "Why did they kill King Kong?" He could only watch King Kong fall to his death in the movie. At night, monsters set fire to destroy street lamps and fences. The fire of disappointment, anger and fear, burning and gripping Connor.
Later, after realizing that his father could not take him away, Connor was taken to her house by his grandmother and asked him not to move anything. Connor "called" the monster again with disappointment and anger, and smashed the room of his grandmother's house; later in the school, Connor, who was ignored by the angry monster, beat up his classmates who bullied him severely.
However, what Connor didn't dare to touch was his guilt buried deep in his heart - he hoped that his pain would end soon. He knew that his mother lied to him by saying that he could recover. He couldn't stand her mother's treatment and the result was that her mother died of illness. This was too terrifying for little Connor.
The third layer of the story is the information brought by the monster. The film tells three stories/legends in the way of watercolor animation:
In order to seize the throne, the prince murdered his wife and put the blame on the new queen, but in the end he became a beloved prince;
The priest who gave up his faith in order to save his daughter was punished by the tree monster;
Unable to bear the invisible man who was ignored any longer, he summoned monsters to attack those who ignored him, and finally had to accept the punishment.
This emotional monster knocked on Connor's door and told Connor that "people are complex and cannot be simply distinguished by 'good' and 'evil'", and Connor was the same; Dealing with his anger and punishing himself, confronting his loneliness can help Connor get through loneliness; confronting his innermost thoughts—hopefully this will pass sooner—can bring him closer to his mother.
The emotional monster knocked on the door and told Connor that facing his emotions and listening to his inner voice was the best way to move through them.
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