Big fish & Begonia
The Love Aquatic
RELEASED 9 July 2016 | PG | BLU-RAY/DVD Directors liang Xuan, Zhang Chun Cast stephanie sheh, Johnny yong Bosch, todd Haberkorn, Fong sung
Land and ocean collide in this gorgeous Chinese animation about two young lovers from different worlds. When Chun, a teen from a mystical underwater land visits the human realm (in the form of a dolphin) as part of an initiation ceremony, she falls for hunky beach boy Kun. But when he dies trying to save her from a fisherman’s net, Chun visits the Keeper of Souls and exchanges half her life to bring him back. Except now Kun’s in the form of a tiny fish that Chun must nurture before he can go home.
Big Fish & Begonia is a groundbreaking release for China, marking its first big-budget animation to rival Disney or Studio Ghibli. And its mix of digital and hand-drawn animation is breathtaking. Embracing the romance of fantasy fables, Chun’s homeland is an intoxicating realm where magic shoots from her fingertips into flowers, fish glide through the air, and strange shadowy figures will do your bidding for a price.
And the relationship that unfurls between Chun and Kun is sweetly sincere. Unable to communicate verbally (which may bring to mind another aquatic interspecies romance, The Shape Of Water) their relationship blossoms through dance and touch. It’s a relationship that feels simultaneously empowering – Chun and Kun both understand and validate each other – and destructive, as bringing Kun back to life tips the delicate order of nature into chaos.
Unfortunately, major parts of the storyline are mystifying if you don’t have a knowledge of Taoist tales and proverbs. And the grand visuals overwhelm the beautiful simplicity of the story, where a young woman keeps making mistakes despite her pure heart. “Sins of the past have no remedy,” the Keeper warns Chun when she begs for Kun’s life, but the lengths she goes to to save the boy, and her own world, are heartbreaking.
Extras A Making Of (15 minutes); the 2004 short the film was expanded from (seven minutes). Kimberley Ballard