□ Wang Xuelei
At the moment when traditional mythical IPs represented by "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage", "The Devil Child of Nezha" and "White Snake: Origin" are popular in the Chinese animation market, "The Lion Boy" takes care of reality and will The point of view is aimed at the little people at the bottom, and at the same time, it also quietly presents the attention of Chinese animation to Chinese traditional culture in another way.
The performance of Lingnan culture, the promotion of the lion dance tradition, and the discussion of practical issues such as left-behind children and the gap between urban and rural areas are all enough to make this film a highlight in the history of Chinese comics.
In the Chinese animation film market, which is dominated by younger-aged animation, character images are most of the time regarded as a good opportunity for an animated film to go out of the circle, thus forming a good opportunity for peripheral marketing.
Cute and youthful character modeling has always been regarded as the first choice for animated films, such as the previous box-office hit "The Devil of Nezha".
In the movie "Lion Boy", the characters are no longer limited to children, but turn to teenagers and adults.
For an animated film, this undoubtedly breaks the comfort zone of relying on characters to go out of the circle, but it also further strengthens the expression of film realism.
Corresponding to the realistic and adult characters, the film is mainly based on the reproduction of real scenes, supplemented by appropriate unreal scenes.
The scenes that run through the whole film are no longer the magical scenes that have been widely described before, but are instead represented by the real scenes of Guangdong streets and villages.
On closer inspection, the realistic lighting and hair are the places where the film stands out.
But the reason why animated films are called animated films is precisely because the illusory scenes in them cannot be presented in live-action films, so they are very moving.
The most important thing about the performance of the virtual scene in the film is Ah Juan's "last dance" at the finals of the Lion Dance Conference.
In the scene of Ajuan's "last jump", Ajuan wanted to jump to the Optimus Prime. After taking off, a large number of heroic flowers were scattered behind Ajuan, and Ajuan wearing a lion's head also transformed into a lion, inspiring The theme is strengthened in this abstract animation expression.
Different from the protagonists with their own unique skills in traditional mythical IPs, Juan, Cat, Dog, Master, etc. in the film are ordinary people in real life, and they are even more inconspicuous little people in ordinary life.
Different from the slapstick, giggling and laughing in the current general animated films, the film only feels happy and fun in retrospect. In the second half of the film, "The Lion Boy" pulls the film back to reality and expresses it in the mapping of reality. It pays tribute to ordinary people and fully gives the audience the courage and confidence to face reality.
The first half of the film basically adopts the plot setting of the little character "The Salted Fish Turns Over" in Stephen Chow's nonsensical comedy. Two or three little characters who want to turn over find a master who has a deep hidden merit and fame. Then the master refuses to teach martial arts, and the apprentice perseveres. In the end, the master was moved, and the master and apprentice embarked on the final road of success together.
But in the second half of the film, after A Juan's parents came back, they turned to the mapping of reality. The scenes of the cement forest, the bustling migrant workers, and the lower bunk where A Juan lived at the beginning all showed the reality of life.
The most moving part is the lion dance on the rooftop of Ajuan.
A Juan wore a bamboo basket and practiced the lion dance on the rooftop from swaying to steady, clearly showing the change in Ajuan's heart from confusion to firmness.
At this time, the sun was rising, and the sun was shining on A Juan. When the camera turned, the audience saw that the sun was shining through the concrete forests and sprinkled on everyone who lived in the city. A reflection of reality.
Just when the audience thought that Ajuan would stick to her original intention and turn around like countless inspirational movies, Ajuan left the lion's head on the rooftop and said, "Master, there is no end to the mountain road, so I can only go forward. already."
The film did not stop there. On the way to Shanghai to work, Ajuan accidentally joined the finals. Just when the audience once again thought that Ajuan would successfully jump on the Optimus Prime and reach the pinnacle of her life, Ajuan fell into the water in a real situation. .
However, the half-broken lion head hangs firmly on Optimus Prime, giving the audience the courage to continue to be brave in reality.
The focus of the theme of "Lion Boy" is more reflected in the coexistence of tradition and modernity.
However, in terms of the coexistence of tradition and modernity, this film is completely different from "The Devil Child of Nezha", which endows traditional culture with modern values.
Of course, the lion head representing traditional culture in the film does not stand on the commanding heights to criticize modernity completely, but shows the inheritance of traditional culture by modern people.
At the same time, the Optimus Prime in the lion dance not only represents the tradition of lion dance, but also represents a kind of belief and awe, which makes people in the past and present turn into fearless heroes when faced with realistic difficulties. , adding the respect for tradition, and thus making people in real life more fearless to face the difficulties in real life.