Author: Zhou Xiangdong
"Searching for Deer Shambhala" is a self-directed and self-acting film by Yao Qiu, which tells the love story of a Beijing girl and a Tibetan boy. Beijing girl Qi is finally getting married, and her father, Li Dongjin, is mixed because the groom Geng Ge Daoji is a Tibetan boy and the daughter and son-in-law are preparing to hold a wedding in Daoji's hometown. In order to respect his daughter's decision, Li Dongjin went to Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture alone with the impression of the mysterious plateau Tibetans on television. As a film with ethnic themes, "Searching for Deer Shambhala" abandons the narrative mode of the duality between tradition and modernity, neither reflects on the transformation of the traditional culture of ethnic minorities in modern times, nor explores the differences between Tibetan culture and Han culture, but on the basis of mutual respect, tolerance and understanding, it tells the story of the mutual knowledge and affinity of the people of the Two Ethnic Groups in the new era.
Stills from "Deer Hunting Shambhala"
The narrative space of the movie "Deer Hunting Shambhala" shifts to the modern "new countryside", and the scene of family life is no longer a traditional primitive farmhouse, but a new farmhouse built by the government. In addition, the film not only has food and utensils representing traditional culture, but also furniture full of modern characteristics, as well as modern bars full of Tibetan characteristics, showing the new life of the Tibetan people in the context of modernization. For the highlight of the film, the wedding ceremony of Zi Qi and Geng Ge Daoji, the director did not insist on restoring the traditional Tibetan wedding, but showed the Tibetan customs of the new era through modern pictures, and in the process, summarized and described the new spirit formed by ethnic minorities in the process of modernization.
"Searching for Deer Shambhala" spares no effort to present the culture of ethnic minorities and the culture of Gannan, these ethnic cultural elements have unique symbolism and imagery, so that the audience can see that in today's rapid process of modernization, ethnic minorities actively integrate into the development trend of the times while maintaining their own cultural characteristics, which has also become an inexhaustible driving force to promote the development of narrative and maintain the internal causal logic integrity of the plot development. In the face of differences between different ethnic cultures, the film adopts an objective and equal attitude, respecting the differences in behavior caused by different cultures. For example, Geng Ge Daoji's family had breakfast with Li Dongjin, and Li Dongjin introduced the diet in Beijing, from fried liver to shabu lamb, to fried belly and fried sauce noodles, in the face of different food cultures, Sha Baicili and Li Dongjin chose to understand each other and shelve the controversy. For another example, in the Tibetan bar, Li Dongjin calmly listened to the original Tibetan songs, and sang Luo Dayou's "Love Song 1990" with tibetan compatriots, which won the applause of the audience.
As a multi-ethnic country, in the intersection of historical development and geography, China's fifty-six nationalities are all equal members of the big family of the Chinese nation, which together constitute a community of chinese national destiny in which you have me, I have you, and no one can do without anyone. Standing at the historical node of the new era, ethnic theme films should also be more multi-angle and inclusive expression, only by integrating national culture into the spirit of contemporary mainstream society, showing national culture with modern characteristics, and eliminating the spectacle and consumption of ethnic theme films, can ethnic minority culture bloom in the development of the times. As a national theme film, "Searching for Deer Shambhala" is undoubtedly worthy of affirmation for its position of respecting multiculturalism and depicting modern national culture.
(The author Zhou Xiangdong is a young teacher in the Department of Media, School of Art, Hebei University of Geosciences)
Source: Guangming Network - Literary And Art Review Channel