Come on, let's walk into the dark version of "Canis Island" together.
As someone who has watched "The Grand Budapest Hotel" five times, I can't forgive not talking about this "Canis Island". However, this article may be the darkest interpretation of "Canis Island".
In Japan 20 years later, the number of dogs has surged, the canine plague is raging, and even infecting humans, Mayor Kobayashi ordered all dogs to be sent to a small island for garbage disposal, the "Canis Island". The dogs were exiled and forgotten here, and the little boy Atari drove a hijacked small plane to find his dog and came to the Isle of Canis.
The story that follows is obvious, the boy and a few dogs become friends and help each other on the journey, and finally complete the growth and original intention. Such a happy ending is so beautiful.
But don't forget, this is Wes Anderson's movie, and burying memes is his strength. For him, a movie is not that simple.
Wes Anderson's Formalism
The Anderson style of "Isle of Dogs" is still very strong.
The perfect combination of audio-visual is still the highlight that Anderson has to say. The Japanese style drum has been with the film from the beginning, and the perfectly symmetrical picture is really fascinating; the color matching is still so good, in the Japanese-style background, the director's genius has been brought into play, in the Japanese-style Under the nonsense, those Anderson-style cold humor is more appropriate.
It seems that Japan suits him better than India (Crossing Darjeeling).
The multiple overhead shots are also his trademark. A bag of garbage crawling with bugs, the wide-angle shot of the boy and the dog advancing, and the shot of the boy being caught are all Anderson's authoritative expressions. Like The Grand Budapest Hotel, the film uses a chapter structure to tell the story, with "flashbacks" inserted from time to time. Watching his movies is like reading an interesting novel, and you never know how many surprises there will be until the last minute.
It can be seen that Anderson does not set up obstacles in the narrative, he strives for smooth expression. And where he is unexpected is often more interesting. At the beginning, the film clearly tells the audience with subtitles that all the characters speak the native language, the barking of the dogs is replaced by translation, and simultaneous interpretation will be carried out when the press speaks. In this way, the audience also experienced a dog perspective.
So the question is, what will the film look like when it is broadcast in Japan...
By the way, the film pays tribute to Akira Kurosawa. If you are interested, you can find some "easter eggs" in the film. It is absolutely wonderful.
Human Weakness in the Happy Ending
Is the ending of this movie really as good as it seems on the surface? In fact, from the growth story full of energy and love, you can still see the clues of human weakness.
There are really many details that are so thoughtful.
The first is about vulnerable groups. In the movie, dogs are vulnerable groups. Under the decree of Mayor Kobayashi, all dogs are sent to the garbage island, and no one cares about it since then. This is of course because the citizens passed the decree, but recalling that when Mayor Kobayashi issued the decree, it can be seen from the frenetic atmosphere on the scene and his overwhelming dominance that the Kobayashi government is a dictatorship.
The scientist Watanabe was poisoned. In his "Last Supper," poisoned with yellow mustard, he hesitated and licked it. Not to mention that he may have known for a long time about his impending tragic fate, which the audience could have foreseen in the making of this dinner alone. Every living thing was put on the chopping board and killed directly, the body was sliced, and the eyeballs on the head were still spinning. Could it be that the addition of this paragraph is just to show the Japanese food culture? I don't think so, but there is another layer of meaning here. Professor Watanabe is just like these seafood. The fate of such intellectuals under the dictatorship is simply a portrayal of the exodus of European literati and scientists in the 20th century.
At the end of the film, the disadvantaged groups (dogs and little boys) are rightly resisted successfully, and their method is to overcome violence with violence. Therefore, the next vulnerable group will appear again, we can imagine that the feng shui turns, and this time it is the turn of the cat (the opposition).
Blindness and conformity in human nature have become a breeding ground for rulers' tyranny and conspiracy. Not to mention voting in the human world, it is interesting to note that among the dogs, the favorite thing to do is voting. However, this "democracy" also has its flaws. The leader has been reluctant to vote, and each time he has stepped aside. But the facts show that often his choice is the right one. People's herd mentality makes them credulously believe that the truth is in the hands of the majority, and it has become common to agree with them.
At the end of the story, the Diandian family was enshrined as a "god" and settled in the shrine. Before dogs, there was a comparable treatment to cats. When a god falls, another god appears, and it is always humans who lift them up. In this blindness, what can be seen is the emptiness and lack of human spirit.
As for the chief's question about why he bites, the answer is not so pleasant. In the Isle of Dogs, the little boy first established contact with the leader because of their solitude, the little boy asked the leader to pick up things. It was a tone of absolute command. If the leader did not go, he would continue to command. In the end, the leader compromised, and as a result, he and the boy had an initial friendship. Think about when the leader didn't let the boy play the slide, did the boy compromise, no. So why would the leader bite someone when someone once reached out to him? Because human love is often accompanied by pressure, there must be obedience before love, and equality can be discussed after being controlled.
The little boy ends up dramatically becoming the new mayor, and he saves the dogs on the Isle of Dogs. In fact, the button to release the gas has been pressed, how is the dog saved? Because the hacker brother invaded the system, the poison gas was released to the government. The power of this virulent poison has already been demonstrated by Dr. Watanabe. So obviously, a group of people from the government sacrificed to save the dog. These innocent victims have also become victims of the boy's "superior" to some extent, so his government is not satisfactory.
The most obvious one is immaturity. Later scenes also verified this. When the "cabinet" of the little boy's government held a meeting, he proposed to legislate to punish those practices that are unfavorable to dogs. How to punish them? The first answer is "death penalty". From this, can you still say that this is a story of love and growth? At the end of the film, the little boy overlooks the city condescendingly, and the leader stands beside him instead of Dian Dian (the next floor), still a "dog-tooth bomb", or an upgraded version.
It is a pity that love and friendship have not healed the world. This is the result of suppressing violence with violence. This little boy already has the embryonic form of a new dictator.
As a result, the weakness of human nature is revealed after tearing off the coat of warm stories.
Beyond that, the usual growing-up, broken family relationships, and rebel tragedies of Anderson's films can be seen in "Isle of Dogs."
Just like the memory of European civilization hidden under the poetic fairy tale, this gentle nursery rhyme also sings the adult world.
I'm not sure if this is an over-interpretation, but if you don't dig deeper to understand the meaning, then the regime change and student movement in the film will not be compatible with the harmonious ending. In Anderson's narrative, this separation should not exist.
In fairy tales, it really is a lie. Don't talk about this when watching it with kids.
The film review was posted on the personal public account: Xiao Xiao watched the film, interested friends can pay attention.
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