![]() ![]() The dutiful heroine cross-dresses as a man to take her father’s place in the army. The 2020 adaptation of Mulan follows the basic plot of the 1998 Disney animation. The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA A 1,500-year-old tale A painting of Mulan on silk dating to the 18th century. While Mulan might claim to be a tale of female empowerment, ultimately this film is about how women will only be rewarded if they know their place. They also objected to actress Liu Yifei’s reported support of the Hong Kong police during the 2019 protests.Ĭriticisms of the movie include its historical and geographical inaccuracies, an undertone of Islamophobia, and a misrepresentation of qi (life force).Īlso concerning, but less visible, is how Disney’s Mulan is a more conservative telling of an ancient story – and the place of women – than some historical Chinese renditions. Many were outraged to learn the movie was partially filmed in Xinjiang, where at least one million Uighurs have been forced into internment camps. Accusations of Disney bowing to the Chinese Communist Party emerged when the trailer was released. The good does outweigh as far as the presentation goes.Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan was released last week amid much controversy. The only minor gripe I have with the visual element was the sometimes dodgy CGI with the barrage of arrows and the aforementioned “spirit in the sky” scene which looked incongruous and was cheesy. ![]() The fight scenes are well choreographed with a mix of full scale battles to the occasional close-combat martial arts scene straight out of the wuxia playbook albeit more realistic. You see hundreds of soldiers on each side taking on these massive battles throughout the movie. The cinematography is great and feels epic. Yes, her face turn was obvious from the get-go, but at least it added more tension between this faction of the war. She initially agrees with her father and Mendu, but her main goal is for there to be unity between the Rouran and the rest of the Chinese. However, I do think the Rouran Princess was a complex character. His subjects are decently threatening since they do score some victories against Mulan’s forces in the middle of the film and torture various captives, but they aren’t too special. ![]() ![]() Sure, he’s calm about it most of the time, but I didn’t find him to be special. The main villain is Mendu is a typical greedy and power hungry villain who wants to take over the wealthier provinces. The villains in the Rouran tribe are mostly standard fare. There’s also the sub-commander Wentai who sees Mulan’s worth as a soldier despite being very by-the-book and rigid towards others. Her friend Tiger (or Xiaohu if you prefer the Mandarin name) is there and recognizes her, but promises to keep her identity secret lest she be executed by her superiors. You see, this version of the Mulan character had some martial arts training for years and she joins the army barely even five minutes into the movie, so it goes straight into the military aspect fairly early. That’s where the similarity in your head ends. Hua Mulan’s father is drafted, but she goes in his place while being disguised as a man. There’s a war going on between China and a nomadic Mongolian tribe (the Rourans and not the Huns in this case). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |