traditional chinese family

Scarlett 2022-04-23 07:06:11

baby bag poster

Pixar's animation has always been the most masterful animation company on the planet, and it's the type of animation I've always been very fond of. He is often not just telling a simple story, but also through the story so that we can think a lot through the story. And this animated short jointly produced by Pixar and Disney is no exception. This short film is also a rare short film with a Chinese family as the background, and it is a short film worthy of appreciation.

music plays

While watching this short film, before seeing the picture, a pleasant guzheng music sounded, and the strong Chinese wind rushed towards us. Then there was a long shot. The director shot a picture of a housewife making steamed buns from flat and overhead angles. In this long shot, we can see how neat and exquisite the housewife's cooking skills are.

The short film officially begins

After the steamed buns are steamed in the pot, the camera quickly cuts to a picture of a wife pushing open the window, and the story officially begins. In this picture we can see the pinyin of the bag written and the Chinese seal printed. It has a strong Chinese atmosphere.

Husband left quickly after eating buns
The old lady eats buns alone

After that, we showed a panoramic picture of the old lady carrying the buns and her husband eating buns together. We could hear the music gradually disappearing, and the picture showed a cool tone. When the old lady ate the first bun, the husband quickly finished the cage. The steamed buns in the house, picked up the briefcase and prepared to go out of the house, during which there was no communication between them. From the wall behind them, we can see that this is a family of three, why the son is not there, guessing from the age, it should be moved out after becoming an adult, which has also been confirmed later. Judging from the wife's skillful cooking skills and the slight sigh when she eats buns alone, the old lady is a housewife without her son and husband.

bag baby born
Bao Bao's birth warmed the old lady's heart

When the wife was eating, a bun suddenly came alive. The wife looked at him in surprise. When he stretched out his arms and legs, the wife climbed to him and even dropped the bowl on the table to the ground. And with the guzheng music playing again, when Bao Bao Bao was born with a baby smile, the picture changed to warm colors, and the surrounding environment was blurred. Only Bao Bao took the center of the picture, and we saw happiness on the face of the old lady. The smile shows how important this sudden baby is to her.

Bao Bao slumped down, the old lady fed the stuffing in a hurry
Bao Bao was bitten by a dog, the old lady hurried to grab the child

With the birth of Bao Bao, we saw that the life of the old lady has become richer. They eat together, do Tai Chi, and buy vegetables. The old lady attaches great importance to Bao Bao Bao's safety. He is afraid that Bao Bao Bao will leave him if he is not careful. It can be seen that Bao Bao Bao is the only solace in her spiritual world at this time.

Bao baby is happy to call friends
The old lady cooks a hearty meal
Pack baby out with friends
The old lady eats alone again

The happy time between the old lady and Bao Baobao is always short. As Bao Baobao gradually grows up, Bao Baobao has his own life and his own thoughts. He began to be unwilling to be with the old lady all day. He began to have a conflict with the old lady. He would also call loudly in the room alone, and when the old lady opened the door to listen, he would come and slam the door shut, and the picture began to show a cool tone again. The old lady who was rejected wanted to reconcile with Bao Baobao, so she made Bao Baobao a table of sumptuous food. At this time, the picture was warm again, and after Baobao opened the door, she just glanced at it and went out to play. At this time, the old lady's side is dominated by warm colors, while Bao Baobao's back is still cold, implying that Bao Baobao will not lead the old lady's love. When Bao Bao went out, the old lady only left a shadowy back to the audience in the dark light, while Bao Bao was sunny here, suggesting that the old lady loved Bao Bao more in this relationship. After closing the door, the old lady started to eat by herself again. This time it was worse than the last time she had dinner with her husband. The picture was completely black. Only through the faint light of the TV could you see a sad old lady eating.

The old lady was sad and ate the baby
The old lady realized she had done something wrong and cried on the ground

The story reached a climax without knowing it, and the conflict between Bao Baobao and the old lady also reached a climax in an instant - Bao Baobao brought back his girlfriend and wanted to leave the old lady, and the old lady panicked instantly. When she really wanted to leave her, there were tears on her face, and then she swallowed Bao Baobao in one mouthful. After that, the old lady fell to the ground and cried bitterly. At this time, the picture was darker, and the picture showed a stage-like top light. The effect appeared, gradually getting darker and darker, and also hinted at the despair of a mother losing her son again.

Mother wakes up to find son outside door
defocus lens
mother and son reconciliation

When the mother wakes up to find her son outside the door, the picture presents a symmetrical proportion, suggesting that the relationship between mother and son will ease. Then a defocused shot gave the audience a feeling that the grown up Bao Bao was coming back. After the front and back shots, a clear panorama of the son appeared. It turned out that the son and Bao Bao were exactly the same in terms of appearance, clothes and even beard. This also shows from the side that the director has confirmed to us that the baby's growth experience in the old lady's dream is the real son's growth experience. In the dream, the baby's girlfriend and the son's girlfriend are exactly the same. Finally, the lens pulls out a distant view, the picture is centered, we can see from the window that the mother and son are very warm under the light of the light!

The whole family makes buns together in harmony

The lens is pulled to the distant view, showing us a harmonious reunion, and the short film ends.

husband worried about old lady

This is actually a magical reality story. To put it simply, an empty-nest old man is very lonely. In a dream, he imagines a bun that looks very similar to his son as his own child. Bao Baobao grew up from a sensible and obedient child to an adult. The simple story of the mother's reluctance to give up shows that this family is actually a traditional family in China, where the father is not good at words, but he cares about his wife at a critical moment; Make your child the center of your life. So naturally when the child grows up and wants to leave the house, the mother reacts so violently.

Eating buns for the first time
Second time eating buns
Eating buns for the third time

This short film is very interesting for the setting of the details. In just a few minutes, an important item that maintains the relationship between mother and son appears - buns. In the short film, eating buns together appears three times. There were two times when I ate it with the baby bun in my dream. We had no way of knowing whether the old lady really ate it with her son when she was a child, but the third time the son cried while eating the bun, we can clearly know that the bun is We ate together when we were kids. So this time, buns are an important medium.

maple leaf on sweater
maple leaf on fridge
blessing on the wall
Chinese characters in the shop

In the short film, it is implied that this family is in Canada. There are many Chinese families, and the old uncle's sweater and refrigerator are all maple leaves, as well as the Canadian flag. The blessing at home and the Chinese characters in the dim sum shop are all Chinese elements. We can easily know that this is a Chinese family.

This short film vividly shows the relationship and contradictions of traditional Chinese families through food in just a few minutes. It's a rare film.

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Extended Reading
  • Ansley 2022-04-12 09:01:10

    The worst Pixar short film in history, what is it? To make Chinese people so face-to-face is all squinting. Chinese-style love and Chinese-style family relationships are not as stylized as you foreigners think.

  • Robb 2022-04-15 09:01:07

    The bread-son (image to position) metonymy structure is really good!

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