No Mushu, no songs and no humor. Why Mulan is like a Chinese fake

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The authors tried to please everyone and eventually lost the charm of the original cartoon.

On September 10, a remake of the famous Disney cartoon of 1998 will be released on Russian screens. The studio has already released many remakes of its works, and most of them are just frame-by-frame reshoots of the classics, to which they add a couple of new ideas to increase the timing. But in the case of Mulan, the authors promised to significantly work on the plot.

The fact is that this story is based on an ancient Chinese legend about the warrior girl Hua Mulan. And in the homeland of the heroine, the cartoon was received coolly due to the too "western" presentation.

The new version was supposed to correct the mistakes of the original, bringing the story closer to the famous original source. Moreover, the feminist subtext in Mulan is very relevant, and Hollywood is doing its best to please the Chinese market - one of the largest in the world.

But in the end, the film turned into a too pretentious, but completely faceless story, which loses even to traditional Chinese action films.

Careful abandonment of the past

From childhood, young Hua Mulan was more interested in playing with weapons and running on roofs than in household chores that girls were used to.

After an unsuccessful visit to the matchmaker, it seems that the heroine will never find her place in life. But a war begins with the invaders, who are helped by an evil witch, and Mulan's father is drafted into the army of the Emperor. The wounded old man can no longer serve. Then the girl steals his armor and sword and, under the guise of a man, joins the defenders of the country.

First you need to understand: whatever the creators of the picture say, this is precisely an adaptation of a classic cartoon, and not ancient legends. From the 1998 Disney fiction came the matchmaking scene, military training, nighttime swimming, and many other plot moves. Therefore, for those who want to see a realistic retelling of the original source, it is better to turn to the Chinese film adaptation of 2009 (the Russian singer Vitas even appeared there).

But unlike "The Lion King", "Beauty and the Beast" and other live-action remakes, the authors of "Mulan" decided to make a serious amendment for new times and Chinese distribution, and therefore some of the characters and storylines were simply put under the knife.

Even at the production stage, many were outraged by the statement that the film would not include the funny Mushu, who helped the heroine. The thing is that in Chinese culture dragons are majestic creatures and comical behavior is not inherent in them. Moreover, the name of the character was given the most stereotypical - in honor of the dish that is prepared in Asian restaurants in the United States.

Film director Nicky Caro says The new ‘Mulan’: What’s different in Disney’s live ‑ action remake (from no Mushu to more hair)? that such changes are due to the "down-to-earth" nature of the action, that is, the desire to show a historical action movie, and not a familiar funny tale. Apparently, for the same reason, a lot of jokes related to minor characters and musical numbers were removed. If such scenes were quite suitable for the game "Aladdin", then in the story of the war they would have been knocked out of the plot.

At the same time, the heroine's love line was also cut out. After all, the whole development of Mulan should not be reduced only to the fact that in the final she will find a groom.

Illogical innovations

If you think about it, such changes seem quite reasonable: both times and the genre itself have become different. Indeed, even in the aforementioned "Aladdin" Jasmine was made a more independent and strong character.

The trouble is that, having got rid of the supposedly superfluous components, the creators of the new Mulan did not bother to fill in the holes that had formed. Instead of Mush, the Phoenix bird helps the heroine. But she just flickers several times in the background, indicating the direction. That is, the clichéd, but motivated hero was replaced by the banal "god from the machine" who appears as needed.

Likewise, the rejection of comic scenes killed the entire development of Mulan's associates. In the cartoon, they even defeated enemies in the finale with cunning and wit, disguised as women. But not wanting to offend anyone, the new version turns them into tough fighters, although they did not show special abilities before.

Their importance in the plot also seems to be a reference to the national idea of China: not only the main character is important, but also her entire environment. But Mulan was an outstanding warrior from the very beginning, and the others caught up with her suddenly, just out of necessity for action. And the best fighter in the end turns out to be the Emperor himself. After all, who can be stronger than the ruler of the country? This idea is definitely not close to the Americans with their fierce criticism of the president, but it suits China so.

And the most unnecessary thing that was added to the plot is the abundance of talk about the dangers of patriarchy and the woman's search for her place. Not because of the theme, it fits perfectly into Mulan's ideas. Simply because they did it in the most rude way, in the form of vulgar clichés.

The cartoon managed to look like a completely feminist story without such stereotypes: the girl proved that she could be cooler than any soldier and also wants to defend her homeland. And the manifestations of patriarchal culture were turned into comic scenes.

But 2020 Mulan takes the social theme as seriously as it is inept. And at a certain point, even the villainess isn't all that bad. It's just that a woman has no place in this culture, so she went to kill everyone in a row.

Fake seriousness

An even bigger problem with the film is that the realism that Nicky Caro claims is sheer deception. Formally, the authors abandon dragons and magic, but they introduce qi energy. This is a classic concept in Chinese culture. But in Mulan, he is turned into a kind of superpower. And in the end, the plot looks even more magical and implausible than if it featured dragons.

Not only that, change spoils Mulan's motivation. The heroine achieves everything not by her own efforts, but simply because she has abilities since childhood. And even in the battle in which in the cartoon she defeated enemies with courage and resourcefulness, now the same qi helps her.

There is no question of any gloominess at all. The film's children's rating does not allow for cruelty or murder. The battles look theatrical without causing any serious anxiety. At the same time, the heroes with might and main catch flying arrows with their hands, run along the walls and even fly a little.

They are trying to replace realism with pathos. Therefore, right in the middle of the fight, Mulan flaunts across the field with her hair loose, at least on horseback, at least on foot. It looks beautiful, but still it is impossible to believe in the plausibility of what is happening.

Mediocre action movie

Having abandoned the fairytale surroundings, the film tries to use the style of classic Chinese action films of the wuxia genre. It just turns out somehow false, as if the authors did not even understand what exactly needs to be copied. "Mulan" simply snatches the most catchy elements from the traditional style in pieces and mixes them with each other.

Some, like using canvases during combat, look pretty. But the acrobatic sketches on horses are more like a circus performance. The final fight on the scaffolding turns into the apotheosis of a cliché of Chinese action movies.

The desire to surprise with complex filming is more tiring than pleasing. During the first attack, several villains run up the wall, and the camera turns to the side. Such a move seems witty. But then the picture tilts or flips with unenviable regularity for no reason.

They try to convey the dynamics during action scenes using quick editing. And in fact, they just finely chop each action even where it is not needed. The other extreme is the abundance of scenes in slow-mo with the participation of the main character. It seems that someone too much liked the way her hair fluttered during battles, and they decided to show it in every fight.

Even the background and decorations look too fake. Despite the fact that Disney has definitely invested in the development of the film. But here, it seems, the desire to please everyone again intervened: the surroundings seem to lean towards the theatricality of the wuxia. But Mulan is being promoted as a Hollywood blockbuster for the whole world. And as a result, the landscapes seem too fabulous for a historical picture and flat for a fantasy.

Of course, it cannot be said that Mulan completely fails in large-scale scenes. But they look too catchy, bright and oversaturated with strange movements. As a result, the film does not give the impression of a classic wuxia, but of a Bollywood action movie with its almost comical grotesque.

And in the end, inviting the main star of on-screen martial arts Donnie Yen to the film and not giving him a single action scene is too strange.

Obviously, the desire of the authors to interest both fans of the Disney cartoon, and fans of historical action films, and those who follow modern trends, played only to the detriment.

"Mulan" snatches out the brightest details from each component, but cannot connect them with each other. Therefore, the plot chaotically jumps from fantasy to feminism, and from personal history to chaotic action. It is very difficult to get pleasure from such a jumble, and the film does not even seem like a bad remake, but simply a fake.