MINI REVIEW: Deep Sea (2023)
This is the most incredible animation movie you will ever watch. No hyperbole.
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Last year a little animation film about lion dancing became my most favourite animated film of all time. It struck a balance between story, characters and animation that I’d never seen before.
And while that movie is still my favourite, this one moves very clearly into second position. And the worse thing about it, is just like I Am What I Am, hardly anyone outside of China will watch this film. And that’s a damn shame.
[above] The whole movie is almost completely summed up in that screenshot.
Colour. This movie is all about colour. A spectacular smorgasbord of colours for 100 minutes is what awaits you when you watch this.
A story that takes the most obvious of cues from films like Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle and presents it all as a combination of a dream-like sequence and a child’s story, I dare anyone watching this film to have a dry eye by the end.
[above] Shenxiu and the rubber duck life-ring
PLOT
A young girl suffers from sadness after her mum leaves her father, who subsequently has remarried. On a family holiday aboard a cruise ship, she falls overboard during a storm and ends up in the bottom of the ocean after a sea fairy known as Hijinx rescues her.
They end up on a floating restaurant, whose customers are fish and the staff are walruses and sea otters, where an eccentric man called Nanhe is the head chef creating wild dishes, much to the dissatisfaction of all.
But her presence on ship attracts a red monster, and they realise the only way to defeat it is to travel to the Eye of the Deep Sea.
ABOUT THE FILM
This movie is gorgeous. Colour dances around the screen in almost every frame, and the beautiful 3D animation style clearly inspired by classic old paintings brings the rather heavy story to life.
And be warned, the story is heavy. It’s chaotic and rather slow, almost unfolding like a mystery, but it’s all explained in detail at the end of the film, and I honestly challenge anyone not to be a blubbering mess by the end.
There are some heavy themes here, which does not make this a film that’s suitable for children. Feeling of abandonment are littered though out, and the plight of our main character will definitely tug at your heartstrings.
The movie opens with a stunning scene of our main character walking through a blizzard, that’s so wonderfully animated you’d think this is from one of the big American powerhouses.
But this film shows how far Chinese animation has come. And it’s only going to get better.
What are my overall thoughts?
It’s a gorgeous film with a touching story, but it’s also a very sad film. The last twenty minutes are a real gut-wrencher as the film explains everything that is going on, and while this isn’t Grave Of The Fireflies type of sad, it’s pretty damn close.
You’d be a fool not to watch this.
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Genre Animation
Director Xiaopeng Tian
Starring Xin Su, Tingwen Wang
Original Title 深海
Alternative Title 深海之驭海人
Country of Origin China
Release Date January 22, 2023