Following the critically acclaimed "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage", this summer, Liu Zhijiang, the film's chief producer, presented the audience with a new 3D animation film "Jigong's Descending Dragon Descending". Ji Gong is a household name in China, and there are many film and television works about him. It is not easy to tell this traditional Chinese story character a new meaning, a new taste, and a new era. However, the efforts of "Jigong's Descending Dragon Descending" let us see the intentions and sincerity of Chinese animation filmmakers.
This animated film is based on Ji Gong and narrates the growth story of Li Xiuyuan, a young Ji Gong who is the reincarnation of the Descending Dragon Arhat from a new perspective. The opening of the ink painting, the addition of many oriental elements such as dragon, golden plume, and Dapeng, as well as the transmission and injection of the Confucian idea of "sincerity and righteousness", make the film try to eliminate the feudal superstition of the old legend and increase the connotation of oriental aesthetic connotation and traditional Chinese culture. Whether it is the presentation of oriental aesthetics in visual effects, or the humorous lines that are full of trendy lines that look at the current context, this animated film is full of the atmosphere of the times.
As a legendary figure in Chinese history, the deeds of Ji Gong in helping the needy and the poor, punishing evil and promoting good have been widely praised and interpreted, and have become classic Chinese folklore stories. "The Descending Dragon of Jigong" takes this as a basis, moves people with emotion, and boldly innovates. Through the growth and encounter of the young Jigong Li Xiuyuan, an old story is told with a new interest.
In the past, most of the film and television works with the theme of "Jigong" focused on showing how Jigong "got away" in secular life, focusing on his virtues and deeds of saving people in the world and eliminating violence and peace, rarely involving the growth story and life course of Jigong when he was a teenager, and it is even more difficult to have works that truly enter the heart of this complex character. The novelty and breakthrough of "The Descending Dragon of Jigong" lies in the use of the "childlike heart" of the young Jigong to break the facial depiction of the image of Jigong, giving him a real, perceptible and credible breath of life. Taking the family contradiction between Li Xiuyuan and his father as the specific clue, it focuses on the growth and struggle of the individual life of the young Jigong, which makes people feel empathy, so that this legendary figure and its story have a new intention of fireworks in the world and the theme of expressing growth.
In terms of character shaping, the childlike young Jigong Li Xiuyuan, although somewhat stubborn, is full of filial piety and grand righteousness. In order to treat his mother's illness, he accidentally broke into the Chicheng Mountain in danger; in order to rescue the little friend who was captured by Jin Ling, he had the courage to fight alone; in order to save all the villagers, he finally gave up the small self and blessed the golden body with great love. Through the promotion and details of the above series of events, the film fully shapes the image of Li Xiuyuan's "childlike" hero, transforming the well-known image of the savior Jigong into a civilian hero who has gradually grown through hardships and hardships. In addition, the film also makes the partner of the young Jigong, Xuantian Bihuolong, become a childlike "caterpillar", creating jokes and amplifying the "childlike heart".
From the "little love" of the family to the "big love" that saves the life of the people, "The Descending Dragon of Jigong" is an animated film that uses the sublimation of love to promote the development of the plot. The family of the young Jigong Li Xiuyuan is a typical family of "fatherly kindness and filial piety". In the context of Confucian ethics and the story of "family-oriented", the father Li Maochun is both a considerate husband and a strict father; the mother is gentle and virtuous to her husband, and she is very partial and protective of her son who always makes mistakes, and has repeatedly relieved her son; Although Li Xiuyuan is naughty, he is a filial piety who runs around to treat his mother's illness. The love of husband and wife, the love of mother and child, and the love of father and son are all vividly expressed in the first half of the story. And the contradiction twist of the story also comes from this "love", whether it is to let his son Li Xiuyuan grow up safely, or let him die in exchange for the dragon life? Let Li Maochun, as a father, fall into a dilemma and experience a painful test.
The main line of this film's narrative, the focus of contradictions and conflicts, is because of "love". By focusing on the "love" of a family, a clear story line is constructed, and there are ups and downs while advancing layer by layer. In particular, from the initial mutual incomprehension between Li Xiuyuan and his father to the escalation and outbreak of conflict, and then to the reconciliation of father and son, he will integrate his love for the small family into the great love for the world and resist the enemy with one heart. This pair of "father-son love" is the focus of the entire film narrative, and it is this trajectory and mental journey that conforms to the growth of ordinary people, which narrows the distance between the film and the audience. In the confrontation and understanding with his father, Li Xiuyuan finally transformed from a "childlike" young hero to a "true heart" hero of great love, thus reshaping his golden body with the heart of great love that saved Cangsheng and defeating the golden-winged Dapeng.
The climax of "The Descending Dragon of Jigong" is also its unique ideological and artistic feature, that is, the young Jigong Li Xiuyuan epiphany at the moment of death that "the golden body has no phase, and all phases are from the heart", thus "reflexive and sincere". In the process of reshaping the golden body, he learned that "if it is caused by the mind, it will be done", and then he will be sincere and invincible. Snatching the golden body, as the core of the struggle between the young Jigong and the golden-winged Dapeng, why is it Jigong who is blessed with the golden body in the end, not the golden-winged Dapeng? The reason lies in this "sincere" word. What is a hero? What is a golden body? It's all about your sincerity. Heroes are invisible, golden bodies are invisible, and some are just a sincere heart for the world. It was precisely because the Golden-winged Dapeng was not right in his heart and lacked sincerity, even if he won the golden body for a while, he was eventually defeated by the sincere and good Jigong.
"Sincerity and righteousness" is the essence of China's excellent traditional culture, and it is also the core value that literary and artistic works should pursue. There is a saying in "The Mean": "Only the world is sincere, in order to be able to do its best." "Only a person who is sincere to the extreme can give full play to his talents and nature." In "The Descending Dragon of Jigong", the heart of innocence, the heart of love, and the heart of sincerity are condensed into one, making Li Xiuyuan the embodiment of "truth, goodness and beauty". With the help of his mental path, the film grows and transforms, telling us that the real hero must have a sincere heart, and then completes the interpretation and expression of "sincerity".
"No one can take away the power in your heart, use it to light up everything in the world!" This is the line that points out the theme at the end of the film, which emphasizes the power of the heart. Although the heart of the character is always the most difficult part of the movie to express, the animated film "Jigong's Descending Dragon Descending" through the accurate interpretation of "childlike heart", "love" and "sincerity", let us see a Jigong image that can "imprint on the heart" of people: lively and interesting, sincere and with great love. Good works of art, in addition to bringing the audience a profound aesthetic experience, more importantly, can "nourish the heart" and can cast the soul with bacon. Cultivate our "childlike heart", "love" and "sincerity", so that people's conscience is awakened, and the soul is purified and sublimated. From the perspective of artistic nourishment, "The Descending Dragon of Jigong" can be said to provide a new model for the creation of domestic animation films.
In short, the animated film "Jigong's Descending Dragon Descending" is an excellent domestic animation with novel intentions, smooth narrative, profound character shaping and rich imagery. (Author: Zhong Chengxiang, Librarian, Central Research Museum of Literature and History; He Chuhan, PhD student, Communication University of China)