The story of "Song of the Sea" is based on Irish legends, mainly the folklore of "Selkie": it is said that seal girls are no different from humans, but they are covered with a layer of smooth seal skin. When you go ashore, you will peel off the seal skin. If you hide the peeled seal skin, the beautiful seal girl who can't find the skin will marry you, but you have to keep the seal skin. If you find it, you will immediately return to the sea...
This kind of legend is very common in folklore of all ethnic groups. In folklore and narratology, this type is called "swan virgin story". There are also monographs on this kind of story in China, such as The Cowherd and Weaver Girl is a typical domestic "swan virgin story" - a supernatural woman who transforms into a human form, removes her coat/skin to marry a human man, and then quietly passes away... In fact, from the legend of the seal girl and the weaver girl isomorphic It is also possible to clearly glimpse the regional cultural differences between China and Ireland: the former is a typical marine fishing and hunting culture, while the latter is a standard inland farming civilization.
The specific cultural meaning of the "swan virgin story" will not be analyzed here. Interested friends can look for related readings, which are very interesting. Specifically in "Song of the Sea", in addition to the seal girl, there are also elements of Irish legends such as weeping giants, elves, owl witches, etc., all integrated into a frame of beautiful pictures. The director used a large number of Irish-Celtic visual symbols to weave the picture, such as single \ double swirls (the widespread use of this pattern is obviously closely related to the Irish marine character), Celtic crosses, auras, etc. are always in the picture. flash.
Behind this sad "seal girl abandoning her husband and abandoning her children" story, there is actually a clear idyllic reference to anti-industrial civilization and anti-urban life - the children gave up the urban life in Dublin and resolutely returned to the country island, which means A critique of industrial civilization and urban life. Marx said, "The bourgeoisie destroys all feudal, patriarchal and idyllic relations where it has ruled. There is no other connection between people except the naked interests, except the ruthless 'cash transaction'."
You see, "Song of the Sea" is almost a direct response to this statement of Marx, It seems that capitalist industry\urban civilization can not soothe Tom Moore's sensitive soul - it seems that this is also the general character of the Irish. Similar movies can also be seen in the East - "The Story of Kaguya Princess" from Japan: the latter tells the story of the bamboo forest fairy who can't adapt to the big city and finally returns to the mountain forest, a seal fairy, a bamboo forest Fairy, two island civilizations separated by oceans, gave birth to a similar story.
However, this kind of nostalgia can only be in the sense of cultural chicken soup. The real rural life is very hard, and the island that is surrounded by all day long cannot meet the needs of modern people's self-development - I don't know if the WiFi signal on that island is good - but Movies are supposed to provide this function. Yunnan Baiyao can't heal our hearts, but "Song of the Ocean" can.
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