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When playing a game of storytelling, we all know that the beginning is important. What did you start with? The beginning should be set at a time, a venue, an era, and a conflict. At the beginning, we must think about the bottom conflict, the values we want to express, and the direction of the end, for example, is it joy or sorrow, is there joy in sorrow, or is there joy in joy? Of course, these are the problems of effect.
Miyazaki's story basically fits all of this. When he talks about some very deep problems, he can always find a special perspective to cut into, deep and simple to let people touch an original grand proposition, even a heavy reality.
Although the reality is heavy, Miyazaki will always add a layer of colorful filters to the story, so that this reality will not seem so heavy and sentimental, but more objective and slightly romantic fairytale atmosphere. I love Miyazaki's series of stories, deep and simple and natural, the two aspects are not separated, but become one.
The film I'm going to recommend today is the 1994 work of Takahata Anderson Miyazaki, "The Changeable Tanuki", and I want to try to disassemble the structure of the work and look at the details of the work to see how a good story comes about.
"The Changing Tanuki" takes the tanuki perspective and reflects the impact of suburban expansion in the Tokyo metropolitan area on the natural environment in the late 1980s, and if you look further at the history of Japan in the 80s and 90s, you will see how scarce this idea was at that time. Japan in the 1980s was richer than ever, with people believing that the value of stocks and real estate would always rise, unaware of the bubbles that were mixed in the economic bulge, and not looking back at the balance between man and nature.
Tanuki is thick, kind, cute, optimistic, loves to sing and dance, loves food, and can transform. In such a group of tanuki cats: there are old monk tanuki cats who have inherited ancient wisdom and transfiguration techniques, there are tanuki cats who are brave and aggressive, advocate violent counterattacks, and are bound to take home from human hands, there are tanuki cats that are extremely intelligent and gentle and pure, and there are also tanuki cats who are simply greedy but cannot practice transfiguration.
What kind of existence does the human being in contrast have? Unrestrained real estate developers and governments, media that are busy tracking the eye-catching news rather than the truth and justice, the greedy park developers, the kind but small citizens who tell the truth.
At the beginning of the story, the background and the origin of the conflict are described: this tanuki cat group originally lived carefree in a beautiful homeland, with green mountains, green water, flowers, grasses, trees, they play freely in this mountain forest. As the urbanization of Tokyo's suburbs expands, the surrounding virgin forests become bare construction sites, threatening the homes of tanuki cats. The decline in flowers and trees has led to a shortage of food for tanuki cats. As a result, civil wars began within the Tanuki clan for limited resources. It wasn't until they were tapped by the Fire Jade Mother that they realized that the common enemy was the humans who destroyed the forest.
Tanuki cats represent nature, they retain ancient social values and civilizations, do not advocate killing, even if they do not harm innocent humans, they will hold a ceremony of mourning and prayer for them, they believe that all beings are equal.
The way of struggle is divided into two factions, the radical side of the Tanuki cat group, "rather for jade fragmentation than for waquan". They launched a series of terrorist attacks, but this did not stop the developer's plan. Moderates, on the other hand, have resorted to playing tricks on people, and although the media once made the media report on haunted incidents, the pace of urban expansion has never stopped. Although the former is radical, the strength of the Tanuki cat population is slightly insufficient, and the latter's gentle style is not painful or itchy, and cannot cause substantial changes. Human nature is like this, and it is always possible to change one's mind and let go of ego when the conflict threatens its own life and death.
Seeing that the homeland was being eaten away little by little, the tanuki cat pondered: "Will this practice really drive the humans away?" Will it be the end, but reveal our true face? What if a fierce war were fought, no, even if one or two people were killed, the situation would be the same. Is it okay to go on like this? Still not good? That's the problem. ”
The arrival of the Elders of Shikoku brought hope to the Tanuki cat race, who tried their best to prepare for the "Monster Battle". They thought that the mighty "Monster Battle" would allow humans to see and experience the existence of gods with their own eyes, and then inspire a sense of awe and understand the truth of "how small human beings are in the mysterious universe". Ironically, humanity is as ignorant as the frog at the bottom of the well, and the greedy developers of The Dreamland have deceived and harvested the attention brought by the "Monster Wars" and attributed it all to themselves in an attempt to profit from it. The tanuki cats fell short and were extremely disappointed.
Every time the Tanuki cat race loses to humans, the alternation between joy and disappointment is a satire of the endless greed, arrogance, blindness and ignorance of human beings, and the lack of reverence for nature.
The transfiguration in the film is also a metaphor. At the end of the story, the extinct fox provides a solution for the Tanuki cat population, that is, to transform into a human and mix among them and live like a human. This also makes people think that in the rapidly prosperous economic society, is tradition doomed to die? Or do you want to find a new way to get along with Tanuki, as you did with Tanuki's transfiguration?
The story ends with the tanuki cats with transfiguration skills turning into people and living in the crowd, while those without transfiguration live optimistically and strongly. In any case, the tanuki or the tanuki never changed.
At the end, the director gives an easter egg, and a tanuki cat faces the camera and appeals:
"You... See the TV report, because of the continuous development, the tanuki disappeared, can you stop this situation? It is true that many tanuki cats hide with transfiguration, but what about rabbits and moles? Do they disappear on their own? The director uses a very relaxed tone, a different perspective, to say a very important thing, which is thought-provoking.
The story of the "Versatile Tanuki Cat" is analyzed here today. I believe that this story can still find a metaphorical meaning that reflects the current society and life, and the story may have another ending.
Okay, see you in the next issue!
— End —
Source:
1. Changeable Tanuki Movie Link: https://www.iqiyi.com/v_19ry7ckvio.html
2. Photos from internet & screenshot