All one can think of when it comes to dogs is loyalty
Each country has its own story about dogs, and at the entrance of the Shibuya subway station in Tokyo, Japan, stands a statue of an Akita dog named "Hachiko". The story about it, almost everyone knows, but also touched many people in the world, at the age of eight two, the master is gone, but it in the next nine years, every day rain or shine waiting for the master.
Therefore, "Hachiko" has also become a representative of loyal dogs, that is, this story about "loyalty and love", which has inspired many filmmakers. Wade Anderson's "Isle of Dogs" can be understood as another version of this story, because it also tells about love and companionship beyond species.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > is everything a "cat" conspiracy? </h1>
"Isle of Dogs" is an American animated film set in Japan.
Its setting is very unique, one day in the future, canine flu ravaging Japan, in order to protect the interests of mankind, mayor Kobayashi, as a "cat slave", decided to banish all dogs to an island full of garbage and let them fend for themselves. At the same time, in order to show his determination and serve as an example for the general public, he sent away the guard dog of his own house, that is, his nephew and adopted son Atari.
The story revolves around the kind teenager Attari in order to find his dog dots.
Presumably, the 12-year-old adopted son Atari boldly hijacked a plane and went to the garbage island alone to find his own guard dog. Eventually, Attari, with the help of the other pet dogs on the garbage island, finds his guard dog and discovers the truth about the epidemic, successfully foiling the conspiracy of corrupt politicians and bringing the dogs back to their owners.
The movie ends a bit disgustingly, the exiled dogs are back, but the cats are in jail. Has the world changed for the better? It's a horror movie. In fact, whether you have a dog or a cat, they are not human. Humans finally abandon dogs but pretend that nothing happened and start with dogs, people can't accept, why are there so many selfish and stupid people in the world? From dogs to cats, just different species, the behavior of the ruler has not actually changed.
The love of dogs has become hatred for cats, which has nothing to do with cats and dogs, but is actually a tyranny caused by power.
The film also reflects the ugliness of human nature from the side, even if the world is too peaceful from now on, but there is one more "cat island" in the deep sea.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > an animated film with a profound meaning</h1>
At the beginning of the film, everyone is reminded of a detail: the dog in the film is all expressed in English dialogue.
However, the human characters in the film speak Japanese, if it is for people to listen, there is an official translator to interpret it in English in unison, if it is for dogs, there is no translation directly, and there is no subtitle. The official translation is not the translation of Mayor Kobayashi, but the director is specially set up for the audience, so it is hereby declared "official".
"Isle of Dogs" shows the difference between human and dog identities through translators, and the two languages are deliberately switched, so that the audience realizes that we are now both dog perspectives, and humans are in opposition. The film is extremely contemplative, endlessly evocative, full of irony and humanistic thoughts, and has elements of fairy tale adventure, with a high pattern and a complex story.
Whether it's a volcano or a ruin, reality is like a garbage island and a city in a movie, and we are all dogs.
In a movie in which a man and a dog are co-starred, the dog speaks English and the American audience speaks a language that the American audience cannot understand, and from a rhetorical point of view, one of the most important purposes is to use the dog as a metaphor. The garbage island in the film is likened to human society, and the dogs living on the garbage island are used as a metaphor for all kinds of people in society: the English-speaking dogs on the garbage island are mainly "chiefs", "rex", "dukes", "kings" and "bosses". Monarchs, chiefs, dukes, each dog has certain human characteristics, are "full of humanity": a sense of justice, principle, wildness, and a sense of good.
Megasaki, where the story takes place, is fictional, with only one letter difference from Nagasaki. Its design is both retro and futuristic. In the film, the director created a garbage island society that "imitates human society", and the setting of human characters speaking Japanese is also full of metaphors. The problem is that when a dog speaks a language that is almost universally understood, no matter which language the human character speaks, it will form a contradiction and conflict, form an unnaturalness, and cause a sensory and psychological discomfort to the viewer.
"Isle of Dogs" has a sense of absurdity throughout, but under the cruel surface narrative, the audience can still feel a little warmth through the heart of the young students represented by the male protagonist and the kindness and innocence of the dogs, and see the beauty of human nature in strong political metaphors and irony.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > frantically probing on the brink of cultural appropriation</h1>
Obviously it is an animation work, but it is officially suggested that children under 12 years old should not watch, "Isle of Dogs" whether it is an artistic expression, or the theme, is not acceptable to children under 12 years old, familiar with Wes Anderson movie audiences should understand, most of his movies are still adult fairy tales, the end of the story is always true, good and beautiful, Wes Anderson pays attention to the virtual instead of reality, he is obsessed with copying the fantasy world in his mind, hoping that the audience can walk a fantasy journey with him.
There is a strong personal style of Wes Andrew in "Isle of Dogs", he perfectly combines the Japanese cultural background with personal style, reflecting the history and subject position of Japan in the Western vision. Although the film creates a sense of science fiction and a sense of nihilistic doom in the apocalyptic world, it also uses many elements of traditional Japanese culture, such as ukiyo-e, Japanese drums, sumo wrestling, cherry blossoms, haiku, Japanese cuisine, Kabuki, as well as reflections on the history of Japanese militarism and tributes to Japanese film masters Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, and Katsuyo Otomo
Here are a few points out for you to explain in detail.
Isle of Dogs opens with a ukiyo-e landscape animal painting that tells a legend from 1,000 years ago through a traverse shot of a flat-angle picture, and as a black dog enters the painting from the right side of the foreground, the narrator begins to tell the background of the story.
Japanese ukiyo-e is characterized by paying attention to the outline of lines, both the figure and the landscape in the painting should highlight the outline, and there is also a point of attention to the use of color, often using flat large color blocks and vibrant bright colors, omitting the shadow of the object. Both of these points are similar to Wade Anderson's aesthetic style, in which his use of color is highlighted by bright, highly saturated tones, limited color combinations, and dramatic chiaroscuro. The fair use of black, white, gray, and red in Isle of Dogs is an imitation of traditional Japanese aesthetics, and Wes Anderson uses ukiyo-e just right to combine it with his own style.
The soundtrack of "Isle of Dogs" is also very Japanese-style, and the most gripping thing is the sound of taiko drums.
The taiko drum is one of the most representative musical instruments in Japan, the ancient Japanese used the taiko drum to drive away the disease, and in the Sengoku period of Japan, in order to command the army, the taiko drum was invented to invigorate the military. In addition to representing Japanese elements, the taiko drum also creates a militaristic color of the film, and at the same time fits the background theme of the film very well, and when the taiko drum sounds, it also adds a melodious whistle, and in this way, the interspersed combination of the taiko and whistle is like the Japanese chrysanthemum and knife.
In "Isle of Dogs", the soundtrack of the famous films "Seven Samurai" and "Tincture Angel" directed by Akira Kurosawa has also appeared many times. From "Isle of Dogs", we can see the homage and imitation of Akira Kurosawa. We can also see Akira Kurosawa's influence on the West.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
Wes Anderson constructs a fun fantasy world, which does not only exist in his films, whether the background is European or Japanese, the exotic design itself brings a unique look and feel to the film, through the surface to see the core, Wes Anderson integrates The Cultures of the East and the West very well. Perhaps this movie is like the Japanese haiku, "Haiku is a poem that spreads shimmer and trembling", and the same is true of "Isle of Dogs", which allows us to see the contradictions between humans and animals, and also lets us see the loyalty of dogs, just like "The Story of Hachiko the Faithful Dog".
Original text, figure network