According to relevant data, nearly 53% of people in the world have one or more pets, and nearly 59 million households in China have pets. Dogs (33%), cats (23%), fish (6%), birds, lizards and spiders and other animals (6%), this ranking is the most popular pet ranking used by people around the world.
When "sucking cats and dogs" has become one of the interesting and social topics of modern urban people's lives, more and more live-action movies with animals as the protagonists have appeared on the big screen. In 2017, a "Dog's Mission" had a box office success of more than 600 million in China; this week, its sister article "A Dog's Way Home" was released.
The intimacy between dogs and people is a theme that runs through both films. In Bob the Stray Cat, released last year and based on true events, a meow saves a lonely and decadent person. In 2017, the highly acclaimed literary masterpiece "Horse Racing Pitt" connects the growth of a teenager with a horse, and the communication and comfort of the soul come from the horse.
In short, in a film that interacts with a real person, the animal either acts as a symbol or becomes an anthropomorphic object, and man gives the strongest emotional projection to the animal, and also pins the highest and warmest quality on the animal.
Relatively speaking, the volume of dog movies in live-action movies with animals as protagonists is the largest.
Motif of the Dog Movie:
The fairy tale of "Greyhound Lacey" and the story of "Loyal Dog Hachiko"
A Dog's Way Home is about a pit bull named Bella who for some reason has to be temporarily separated from its owner Lucas and is fostered in New Mexico City. Still unaware of the situation, Bella thought she would be separated from Lucas forever, and a rope of fate dragged Bella on her way home for two and a half years.
On the way home, Bella encountered many adventures. It meets new companions, grows up in the jungle with a "big cat" jaguar, is taken in by well-wishers, and is also dependent on the homeless, even attacked by wolves.
Bella's way home in 2019 runs through two words, but also two beautiful things: loyalty and miracles. And these two words also represent the core theme expressed in almost all dog movies. From the early days to the present, it has not changed.
(Lacey the Greyhound)
If you go back, you can trace it back to the famous British children's book "Lacey the Greyhound" that appeared in 1938, and the true story of hachiko, a loyal dog, that took place in Japan in 1935.
British writer Eric Mobley Knight adapted the story of a sheepdog seen in the newspaper and the life of the Yorkshire worker family where it was located. "Lacey the Greyhound" is about the eve of World War II, the little boy Joe's family has a hard life, but he has a sheepdog companion by his side. Because of the economic environment, Papa had to sell Lacey to the Duke. The longing-missing Lacey ran out of the dog farm and returned to Joe's side after thousands of mountains and rivers.
In 1943, Lacey the Greyhound was adapted into a film of the same name. Later, it was adapted into several films, television series and radio dramas. From the comparison of the storyline, we can see the similarities of "A Dog's Way Home". The "Lacey the Greyhound" narrative is also modeled in other countries. Of course, compared with hollywood films in the pursuit of sensationalism in narrative, European countries such as the Soviet Union in the 70s have added a show of current politics and dark ugliness. For example, the famous Soviet film "White Bhim Black Ears" tells that Ivan took in a stray dog named Bim, because Ivan went to Russia to see a doctor and fostered him. Beam thought he had been abandoned and set out on a journey to find Ivan.
("White Bim Black Ears")
The dangers That Beam encounters along the way are obviously more realistic than in Hollywood movies. It meets good people, but also ugly faces. This is reminiscent of the Italian neorealist Director Leonardo da Sica in the 1950s, whose most satisfying work, Tears of the Wind Candle (aka Verbeerto d). A man with a meager pension who cannot live in reality is rejected everywhere. The inseparability of the dog gave him a glimmer of hope.
The dog's inseparability to its owner is an emotion that is difficult for people to experience in their life experience and in the interaction between people. This kind of inseparability is a miracle. The greatest achievement of this miracle is the story of hachiko, a loyal dog.
(Two editions of hachiko story)
In 1924, hachiko inuyasha was brought to Tokyo by its owner, Shuzaburo Ueno. Every morning, Hachiko watched Ueno Shuzaburo go out to work at his doorstep, and picked him up from work in the evening. The day after Nohosaburō's death, Hachiko returned to Shibuya Train Station for nine years until his death.
Subsequently, the story of Hachiko Tadashi, written in 1987 by the famous Japanese director Kanehito Shinto and directed by Sejiro Kamiyama, was the box office champion in Japan that year, earning 5.4 billion yen at the box office. In 2009, the American version of "The Story of Hachiko the Loyal Dog" was released, which also earned countless tears.
The loyalty and miracles brought about in the dog's story are beyond the human life experience. In fact, people themselves love to watch such films that transcend life experience, reminding themselves of the existence of these beautiful qualities all the time. That's why there are so many movies with dogs as the protagonists.
Hollywood vs Japan:
On the one hand, there is the commercial "hero", and on the other hand, there is warm companionship
Needless to say, Hollywood and Japan are the two places that produce the most dog movies. But the two approaches to dog themes are very different.
For Hollywood, dogs in movies are often anthropomorphized. Their behavioral logic is more detached from the daily action of dogs, but in line with human behavior styles, such as "Jungle Pure Heart" and "101 Spotted Dogs". Even in some movies, dogs are able to talk. Even if they can talk to humans, such as the "Buddy the Dog" and "The Voice of the Dog" series, or even if they can't talk to humans, through dubbing, they can also communicate with audiences off-screen.
(101 Spotted Dogs)
These patterns naturally exist in dramatic genre films, and dogs have become a complete complement to live-action genre films. They are the protagonists of adventure films, heroes who can go to space, and good at solving crimes and catching murderers. In addition, with the improvement of film technology, the animals in these movies can achieve superhuman-like movements and dancing expressions, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish whether it is a dog or a person's soul trapped in the dog's shell.
This is probably related to the heroic complex that Americans advocate and the pursuit of self-worth. Dogs are as intelligent as people, optimistic and upward, and become heroes through one hardship after another. This is also reflected in "A Dog's Way Home". The protagonist, Lucas, works at a hospital that helps wounded soldiers on the battlefield treat, where Bella heals the hearts of many battlefield heroes, and in the ending, the heroes use their identities to save Bella. Bella's heroic journey home, a miracle, was recognized by human heroes.
In contrast, there is no god in Japanese movies, and the camera is more directed at the life of dogs. With a relatively simple story, convey a truth: your ten years is its life. For example, "Guide Dog Q" refers to the process of Xiao Q from birth and becoming a guide dog to his own illness and death; "Ten Agreements with Dogs" records the process of a puppy and accompanying a girl for ten years.
In fact, both European and American movies and Asian movies are increasingly pointing dog movies in the direction of healing. The documentary feature film "The Day You Named" starring Toshimi Kobayashi focuses on cats and dogs abandoned near the Fukushima nuclear power plant after the 311 earthquake in Japan. The process of pet rescue, the friendship between dogs and the elderly to heal each other, help people after the earthquake to get out of their pain.
Similarly, in films such as "Dog Day" and "My Enemy is a Dog", the dog becomes the link that heals the bereaved lives of young men and women in the city, and the connection between people begins with the contact between people and dogs.
epilogue
There's a line at the end of the movie "Marley and Me," "A dog may not be as valuable as a villa, a famous car, or a designer costume." But whether you are poor, rich, clever, or clumsy, as long as you give your heart, it will repay you with its true feelings. How many people in the vast sea of people can do it? ”
Yes, in life, you may feel the dark moments of life betraying you countless times, and the thought of these cute little ones waiting for you in the bright light is more than once or twice. Art comes from life and is higher than life, which is presumably the reason why pet movies including dog movies cannot be lacking on the screen.
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