Author | Ashu
On Douban, 140,000 people gave "China Qitan" a high score of 9.4.
Among them, the most widely praised is "Summer of Little Goblins", which has cried countless workers. And what I want to talk about more is "Goose Goose Goose", which may not be so easy to understand.
A mime without a single line, a subtitle card in the era of silent films, highly freehand, even almost abstract black and white pictures and a strange red, collect horror and eerie, weird and weird, bad fun and dog blood, and at the same time rich in a strange romance, subtle charm, and a kind of sadness.
Poster for the second episode of "Chinese Odd Tan" "Goose Goose Goose"
It is not an exaggeration to say that "Goose Goose Goose" is the most daring Chinese animation in the past thirty years, and even has the style of "Tianshu Strange Tan". But on an aesthetic level, it is purer, more complex, and more modern than Tianshu Qitan.
I say that the great thing about Goose Goose Goose Goose is that it resurrects the long-lost creativity of the American Film Studio.
What's even more remarkable is that "Goose, Goose and Goose" is not a special case, and in the four episodes of "Chinese Qitan" so far, each episode and each story - despite the vast differences in art forms and the aesthetic core - has an extraordinary, bold, and vivid artistic imagination.
This kind of weather has disappeared in all branches of domestic film and television.
On the Douban rating page of "China Qitan", 140,000 people scored 9.4 points
Compared with the bluff of these years, the so-called "rise of national comics" pediatrics, this "China Qitan" produced by Shanghai Art Film Studio is a work that is truly qualified to shoulder this responsibility and honor.
At least, this time we really see hope.
01
Welcome to Goose Mountain
So, let's start with "Goose, Goose Goose".
This is the second episode of "Chinese Strange Tan". This 17-minute animated short film begins with an almost arrogant narrative style.
"This is Goose Mountain, the place where you disappeared."
A line that forcibly drags the audience into the story, without a narrator in an intermediary state, the film directly gives the identity of the audience: you, the cargo man who sent the goose through Goose Mountain. More overbearing than many second-person narrative works.
Goose Cargo Lang
Almost unprepared, the audience turned into the unlucky egg in the film.
The silent "lines" also give you a "death sentence": you, missing. This is destined to be a journey with no return. This kind of near-hegemonic narrative perspective is rare.
The creator's intention is clear, to overwhelm the audience's perception and kick you into this nightmare.
Judging from the story, this is actually a film that is not suitable for children, no wonder some parents are crusading under the hot search. But animation is not exclusive to children or young children, and it can also be a complex aesthetic carrier.
"Goose Goose Goose" is one such carrier, and the animation is full of distorted and terrifying imagery, such as the fox scholar he meets with a strange red makeup. His face will suddenly deform, open his abyss-like mouth, and directly occupy the entire picture. This composition is actually appropriated from the tradition of cult horror films.
Cargo Lang Road meets the fox scholar
Cult temperament is a relatively accurate description of "Goose, Goose and Goose". Cult Film cult film in English, with a weird bad taste. It is more common in early Shaw films, Japanese tokusatsu films, and European and American science fiction horror films.
The most creative thing about "Goose, Goose and Goose" is that it finds nourishment in ancient Chinese strange novels in the way of traditional Chinese landscape painting, so as to present this crazy sense of cult classics and grasp a peculiar aesthetic that blends classical and postmodern.
Goose Goose Goose incorporates classical Chinese ink painting aesthetics in the Gothic cult style
After talking about the temperament of the animation, let's return to the story of "Goose Goose Goose" itself.
"Goose Goose Goose" rewrote a strange novel of the Southern Dynasty "Goose Cage Scholar", the original text is only a few hundred words, some curious, some bloody.
"Goose Goose Goose" retains the strange color of Chi Wei. In the film, the fox scholar's sweetheart is a rabbit spirit, but the rabbit carefully hides a pig demon, and the pig demon falls in love with a goose spirit. In the end, the goose spirit has feelings for you as the protagonist.
The fox scholar and the rabbit spirit
This is a matryoshka doll dog-blood polyamorous. But because it is weird enough, it neutralizes the cliché.
The "sweetheart" here is in the physical sense - they take people out of their bodies one by one. The fox body lives the rabbit, the rabbit body lives the pig, and the pig body is the goose.
"Goose, Goose Goose" does not have any ingenious story core, any esoteric theme ideas. Compared with the metaphor set in the story, the aesthetic interpretation is more meaningful. What it tells the audience is that style is content and form is aesthetics.
Weird, weird, eerie, vicious. Romantic, sad, sad. Classicist, modernist, Western, Eastern.
Such a simple narrative is mixed with such complex aesthetic taste, but it has a seamless unity, without showing any fragmentation and complexity.
Eventually, the goose spirit's affection for you is abruptly interrupted, and everything dissipates just as you are about to step into Alice's rabbit hole.
The earrings of the goose spirit turn into birds
That dangerous, unknown, romantic thing disappeared in the moment when it was about to happen. This is the biggest flaw of "beauty".
As a result, the Western-style dark cult temperament eventually dissolves into the subtlety and artistic conception of oriental aesthetics. Based on this aesthetic logic, after you experience this nightmare, you will feel stunned, and there will be an indescribable sadness, which is the last tenderness left by the creator.
If I were to say, the most amazing thing about "Goose Goose Goose" is this, it explores a dangerous beauty between horror and romance.
The reason why I talked about "Goose, Goose, Goose" first is because what struck me about this horror animation was that it was saturated with a kind of energy. This feeling is difficult to visualize. It may be difficult to tell what it is, but what I can make clear is that it is not.
It is not peaceful, not refined, not warm, not moderate. The important thing is that it is uncompromising.
It tells us that setting foot in some unknown territory can also give birth to a dangerous beauty.
The most positive thing about Goose Goose Goose is that it opens up a new field of storytelling. This can be seen as a certain commonality of "Chinese Wonders".
02
Go to his mythology
Now, put away my preferences, it's time to talk about the whole series.
The field of the so-called new story, the four episodes released so far, are quite clearly reflected.
"Little Goblin's Summer" (hereinafter referred to as "Little Goblin"), taken from the mythical story "Journey to the West". This well-known story has always been told from a mythological perspective.
"Summer of the Little Goblin" poster
The subversive "Journey to the West" only deconstructs the sublime and seriousness within the myth.
At the end of the anti-myth of "Journey to the West", a new myth was actually established, which is the story of how gods and Buddhas were reborn.
"Little Goblin" is different from all new mythological stories. It provides a "de-mythologized" perspective and tells thousands of "Nobody" stories.
"Nobody" is the English title of "Little Goblin", which means as its name, it focuses on the nameless junior, an ant-like goblin in "Journey to the West" who may be trampled to death with one kick.
Piggy demon
The overall temperament of "Little Goblin" is very modern and current. This nameless little pig demon left his nagging mother and became a grassroots employee in the cottage. A crowd of demons like him, powerless. Their opinions will never be heard. Just like those of us who work hard in big cities, mediocre juniors and transparent people.
The story is equally simple, revolving around a trap waiting for the Tang monk to fall. The piglet demon and his colleague, the crow spirit, are reluctant to do all kinds of dirty work day and night, and they are exploited without getting anything in return.
The little goblin also has ideals and ambitions, and he is determined to get ahead. But things changed, and their work became meaningless and worthless. This "denial of value" is the most fatal.
The piglet demon's mane is used to brush the pot
The narrative of "Little Goose" is alive, and what is similar to "Goose Goose Goose" is that it revitalizes the old narrative resources and gives it a more modern aesthetic perspective.
This kind of artistic energy is the most lacking in Chinese film and television. Unlike some ancient costume films, it tells the story of historical retrogression of thought.
"Little Goblin" has a theme of self-awakening, but the seemingly warm ending is a little regrettable for me personally. It is said that the original idea of the creator was not like this, but it was fixed at the moment when the little monster was trampled to death.
The little pig demon was rescued by Sun Wukong's subordinates and received three life-saving hairs
If this is the case, the sense of power is indescribable. I always believe that good stories never deliberately pursue perfection.
The third episode "Linlin" is still about demons. However, this tragic story of hunters and wolves entangled is not uncommon in ancient and modern China and abroad. Relatively mediocre. But as the only three-dimensional animation in the current series, the detailed expression of "Linlin" and the stacking of emotions are still commendable.
The fourth episode, "The Country Bus Takes the King Child and the Immortals" (hereinafter referred to as the "Country Bus"), is amazing.
"Linlin" and "Country Bus Takes the King Child and the Immortals" poster
Changing the overhead and fantasy world of the first three episodes, "Country Bus" presents unprecedented details of life.
A short film of less than 20 minutes, the richness of life details is no less than a documentary of rural life.
Sitting around the old people sitting at the entrance of the village to eat together, fools who are always waiting for the car but can't get in, the school's handmade bells, martial arts classes, under the dim light, helping their mother peel peanuts... Details to window sills are meticulously presented.
The fresh temperament of "Country Bus" is reminiscent of Miyazaki's works. However, it is perfectly in line with our memories of rural China. Compared with the Japanese idyllic small freshness, "Country Bus" is more realistic and has a stronger local atmosphere.
The village in Country Bus
And "Country Bus" is not realistic, it does not conform to the principle of perspective, irregular and distorted composition, brings a subtle sense of distortion, foreshadowing forces outside of life.
Wang Zi'er was frightened and stupid by the monster in the cave of the back village, and the monster came to the third grandfather's house to help him with housework, and the protagonist, "I", also obtained three shadows.
In addition to the sense of reality, there is another narrative space, the fantasy brought by rural legends. In the middle ground between the everyday and the fantastic, the creator finds the most moving poetry - that is, how to tell a kind of disappearance.
The carcass of the dog, green vines grew. "I" gave a funeral to the dead grasshopper. The monster of the third grandfather's house ran away. The immortals in the temple of Qiuzi in the back mountain also got up and left, taking many golden dolls with them.
The dog's carcass grows green
Of the three shadows of "I", only one remains.
This sadness, without too much ink, without a single line. Lines are superfluous, close-ups are superfluous, tears are superfluous.
The creator did not show much the realistic logic and dramatic conflict behind "Shenyin", but simply explained: the contractor came, and the public toilet was built.
Public latrines were built in the villages
But we all felt this damn real, deep sense of loss.
At the end of the film, on a white snowy day, the symphony of screams and drums creates a vastness and loneliness that penetrates the back of the paper. The sky cannon exploded in the air, like a hopeless call, but also like a sad sacrifice.
Like the previous two episodes, the narrative space of "Country Bus" is also completely new. It seems to be wearing Miyazaki's skin, but it actually carries the most authentic Chinese rural legends and the most real picture of Chinese rural life.
and, all can empathize, how the countryside is dying.
"Country Bus" is not a story, but a prose poem.
03
On the beautiful shadow
I didn't go out of my way to understand the age structure of the creators of "China Wonder".
But the breath of the work cannot be concealed, and the vivid, vigorous energy belongs more to young people.
Each story of "Chinese Strange Tan" is very short, single screwed out, just a short film episode by episode. Short film creation has more freedom than feature films, and the freedom of this small project not only frees itself from the shackles of commerce, but also leaves enough space in concept expression and aesthetic style.
In any case, the biggest surprise of "China Strange Tan" is that it gives us the motivation to imagine a future possibility.
"China Strange Tan" poster
The slogan "The rise of national comics" has been rotten by the marketing of some bluffing works. I prefer to call "Chinese Wonders" a revival of "Shanghai Beauty Film".
Shanghai Meiying, also known as Shanghai Art Film Studio, is the producer of "China Qitan". As the title suggests, it mainly seeks new narrative space in traditional Chinese culture. And the final quality of "Chinese Strange Tan" is also worthy of the signboard of Meiying, although the latter has been lonely for many years.
Today's young generation can hardly imagine how brilliant the former Shanghai beauty film is.
The well-known "Nezha Hai", "Baolian Lantern", "Tianshu Qitan" and so on, all come from here. Among them, "Trouble in the Heavenly Palace" truly shows the pinnacle of Chinese animation ingenuity.
"Nezha Troubles the Sea"
With these works, Shanghai Meiying has promoted Chinese animation to the world and left a place in the history of world animation.
In 1983, "Trouble in the Heavenly Palace" was released in Paris for a month, attracting more than 100,000 viewers. The French newspaper Humane called it a true masterpiece of cartoons, like a set of wonderful symphonies of pictures. Le Monde also praised "The Great Trouble in the Heavenly Palace" as "having the beauty of ordinary Disney works, but also plastic art that Disney-style cartoons cannot do, that is, it perfectly expresses the traditional Chinese art style."
"Trouble in the Heavenly Palace"
Even in Japan, many animators who later became masters came to visit and visit Meiying.
The white space, freehand and profound oriental charm of works such as "Little Tadpole Looking for Mother" and "Mudi Di" inspired the late animation master Takahata Hoon and created a narrative style of its own.
"Little Tadpole Looking for Mother"
Osamu Tezuka, the author of "Astro Boy", is a die-hard fan of the Chinese school, and even if he suffered from cancer in his later years, he came to visit his idol, "Trouble in the Heavenly Palace" director Wan Yiming.
Similarly, Miyazaki, who Chinese most well-known, also admired Shanghai Beauty Film, and in the 80s, he also came to Shanghai to visit.
However, at this time, it was already the era of market economy, and Shanghai Meiying was facing pressure to survive and make profits. Miyazaki Hayao and Takada Hoon visited and found that they only cared about the issue of efficiency, and they were quite disappointed and returned angry.
After the 90s, although there are many works in Shanghai and Mei, most of them are drowned in the dust of history, and after so many years of silence, "China Qitan" has once again surprised the world, and at present, 140,000 people have given "China Qitan" a high score of 9.4 on Douban, even surpassing "Tianshu Qitan".
"Heavenly Book Strange Tan" poster
In my opinion, this animated short story collection has too many styles of "Heavenly Book Strange Tan" (1983).
Different from the traditional style of "ingenuity" of "Trouble in the Heavenly Palace", "Tianshu Qitan" embodies a truly conscious creation, using a lesser-known myth and legend, pouring a lot of critical modern expressions, about power, technology, greed, about the complexity of good and evil.
"Chinese Wonders" not only inherits the legacy of this creation, but also finds the long-lost creative direction of Shangmeiying, that is, to find new stories and new possibilities of expression in the old and ancient culture.
This tradition has been lost in domestic films and television for a long time, and Western films still repeatedly tell about their Odysseus, from the mythological era to the capitalist era, to the era of sky colonialism.
Fortunately, "China Strange Tan" also shows this groundbreaking narrative ability.
Edit the | Wu Qing
Typesetting | Sissy
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