Big Fish & Begonia

Big Fish & Begonia_720p(480P)

source: Big Fish & Begonia

Oh my gosh. What a terrible film! Where do I even start? Ok warning, spoilers ahead. The characters control the human world and send their children there for a week as giant red dolphins. So they put the portal they have to return through next to an enormous fishing net. In the human world. That they control. What could possibly go wrong??? Begonia has to pick the human soul she's saving from identical fish which, we are told, bear no resemblance to their human selves. Oh except for this rather handy identical scar roll eyes. And her life will end when he returns, they just don't tell her that. And her friend is completely in love with her, he just doesn't tell her that. And her mum bins the fish she trades half her life for, she just doesn't tell her that. Like, really? You all have magical powers but you can't have a conversation about anything? Ever?? Not even really important stuff like dying??? But of course they can't go back because rat lady took the item from the human world and you need one of those to get there, although none of them needed one to get there that started this whole mess in the first place. And obviously this is going to cause their whole world to end because the human soul, from the human world, that they control, that they brought back, with THEIR OWN MAGIC, is in their world so they're all going to die. By this point I really wanted them to, because they're all so stupid they deserve to die!!! Just have a conversation people!!! And of course the guy that loves her trades HIS life so she can go to the human world. But no, he's not going to TELL her that, of course not, he's just going to spring it on her at the last minute so she can be all like no no, I don't want to live in the human world. Good. Just all go die then because you're all so stupid.

Coming to this with very low expectations I was pleased to be surprised by the astounding quality of production in this animated film. The artwork is beautiful and the environments created are imaginative and vibrant. Attention to detail has really helped to make the experience breathtaking and immersive. Aside from various plot holes and areas lacking adequate explanation, the story is powerful and moving. Overall a very enjoyable family friendly film. The only aspect that Big Fish and Begonia falls flat is the voice acting. The voices acting is still the typical Chinese children's program voices that sound very awkward in its more mature setting.

Everything in this movie to me felt way too fast paced, one second there's a guy saving a girl then a weird villain appears I guess then there's a snake and the grandpa dies, couldn't catch up with the story one bit, stopped watching when I wasn't even halfway done

Tonight I watched a most marvelous and exceptional Chinese animated film, called 'Dayu Haitang' ('Big Fish and Begonia'). Very few artistic creations I have ever encountered, capture the traditional culture and heritage of a nation as well as that movie did. An eye-candy by any standard, the designs draw upon the real folks stories of the Chinese people, and the architecture of countryside minority groups such as the Hakka. The colors too, match Chinese customs and habits, throughout every single scene. This grand achievement of cinematic excellence is inspired by lines from a classic text, the book of Zhuangzi, which is among the wisest and most profound documents to have ever been written. This film likewise, though it at times masquerades as a children's flick, is in fact a deep philosophical treatise, dealing with the existential questions of Daoism and the moral ones of Confucianism. This movie is all the better and far more touching for those who understand the intricacies of traditional Chinese social customs and family values. I would have easily handed this piece the Oscars for directing, animation, script, editing, music and more. Alas, very few Westerners have been in contact with enough of the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, to appreciate the enormous complexity and magnificence of this presentation, and therefore it is unlikely to be recognized for its greatness. There had hardly ever been American animated production of this humanistic caliber, and even among the famed Japanese anime industry there are not many items to count which abide by such measure of distinction. This visual journey is more than a good story - it is a statement about morality and society in the grand-scope of things, and it makes its arguments without pulling any emotional punches or attempting to belittle the audience's intelligence. This is exactly the type of film that our cynical nations need, in an age of false information and mass deception; for it speaks of what is important to the human heart and soul. Do yourself a favour and avoid the images and trailers. Simply go and watch the film; and please, by all means - view it in Chinese, which is the language for which it was intended. Use subtitles if necessary. There is an end-credits scene - do not miss it.

When I walked out of the cinema last Sunday, I heard a man said to his girlfriend behind me, 'A waste of money, innit?' Many people says that. I've read a review before watching it, and the reviewer mainly held that the scenes were certainly beautiful, and we could see that the crew had dedicated all for it, but according to the plot, Chun ignored her family, her friends, ignored Qiu who genuinely loved her, even her entire world, to pay the life back to a human boy who had once saved her, and this needed to be reconsidered. Well, I admit that this animation is not perfect, whether it's the plot, or the characters, or the pictures. But I feel that this work should be judged in a purer way, and not to focus too much on whether the deeds of Chun were 'worthy' or not. The concept of 'worthy' is different for a teen and an adult, and here, for a sixteen-year-old girl, what she did was worthy. It's extremely childish, childishly selfish, but it's what she believed was right, and she wasn't all unreasonable. Let's think in another way. What were all the grown-ups doing? Trying to eliminate Kun. Why? Because he saved Chun, and Chun wanted to pay her debt of gratitude, which caused all the disorders of their world. Was this reasonable then? Couldn't they spare a bit of the effort they paid to kill Kun to hold the situation back when it first became urgent? They probably could. Chun actually stopped the sky from cracking by giving everything she had to her grandpa. If all others had stood together like how they built the bridge, it probably would have costed less to do it. But they gave their all to kill another life they thought was blamable, and if they had succeeded, Chun would have died too, and they would be sad and would regret, and someone else would lose half a lifetime to bring her back. In fact, no one in this entire animation was absolutely reasonable, neither there was in the real world. I suggest that we put the adult logic away for a while, and appreciate the effort the crew paid and the pure 'life for life' values. I'm not comparing it to other Chinese animations because I haven't watched them, but it deserves 3 stars for pictures, 3 stars for voice and music, and 1 star for thestory.

I am truly impressed. I cried a lot while watched this piece of art. I can't write it detailed how beautiful was the story, music and the picture as well (because of my bad English), and the music followed those. I feel like i've become more just because i watched this animation movie. I would hardly recommend to everyone.

Full Review on my blog max4movies: The art direction and quality of Da Yu Hai Tang (international title: "Big Fish & Begonia") really help to present a fantastic view on some classic Chinese folktales. The overall narrative possibilities are amazing and could provide for so much more plot, however some key moments fall short because of mediocre pacing and/or editing, and sub-par character writing.

View this movie on Shout! released Blu-ray disc. I very much would love to like this movie, but creativity is one big problem here. Animations were well done but just too much like Studio Ghibli animations - including movements and features of the characters (just look at Kun sister). There is also a problem with the story. Even though the producers/director claimed that it was "inspired" by Chinese mythology, there is nothing much recognisable for me here, even though I am Chinese. It doesn't help when help that Chun, the main character said that she don't believe in God, yet they themselves have some kind of magical powers.This magical-powered beings were just being referred as "The Other". What was that? Why with all the power they have, they couldn't stop the flood? I also viewed the Bonus Features, and understood that it creator had been through a lot just to make the film, but that is no excuse for the convoluted script (could this be the reason why he had problem in finding investor). Is it because China is a communist country where they were warn not to lick the script with any religion? I wonder. Yes, it got beautiful imagery, animations, and great score from Kiyoshi Yoshida. Yet, this movie is more of a copy of Studio Ghibli (especially Spirited Away! Just look at all the cute creatures). It kind of sad to see China animation ended up like that. They did much better work before. I am not surprise that it received divided reviews in China.