Just finished watching DreamWorks’ new film, Kung Fu Panda.
The visuals are full of towering, magnificent mountains. The scene where the turtle sage reaches nirvana is so very Eastern! Halfway through I was filled with emotion — Chinese culture, inherited by Westerners, brought to life so vividly with modern comedic elements mixed in. The Chinese Taoist spirit runs through the whole thing; I really like the feel of that turtle sage, and I’m very happy with how the film positions him. Now this is what a grandmaster is supposed to be like — he already understands all things in the world, the universe lives in his heart, and he’s in tune with the fate of heaven and earth.
Classic lines that really resonated with me:
“There are no accidents.” (the turtle sage)
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.” (the turtle sage, warning Fat Po under the peach tree)
“To make something special, you just have to believe it special.” (his father’s noodle-secret philosophy — the great way is simplicity itself)
BUGs:
If the turtle immortal could take out Tai Lung so easily, why bother turning a panda into the Dragon Warrior and sending him off to the final showdown? Reason: the plot foundations of American superhero movies are all this ridiculous.
Why is Master Shifu still so full of confusion? He can’t even grasp some very simple truths; his state of mind doesn’t match his position. Same thing back when I watched Chinese Paladin — the Wine Sword Immortal who comes after the Sword Saint also can’t figure out or let go of plenty of things. Shit, the plot demands it, the plot demands it.
Why didn’t Master Shifu teach his other disciples pressure-point strikes?
How long had this panda even been training before he was light as a swallow and good at everything? Even if he grasped the ultimate secret, he’d still need a foundation in martial arts — three feet of ice doesn’t freeze in a single day. Just like making noodles: he’d been doing that since he was a kid.
One more interesting thing: the turtle sage is a Taoist, while the master’s ultimate move, [the Nianhua Finger], is Buddhist…. Looks like this film has already blended Chinese culture into one seamless whole, with no boundaries. Well said, well said.
Excerpting a few reviews from other people that I strongly agree with (Douban)
(牧@Unwaveringly Supporting the German Team — Pandas Are Forever, One Passed Down Through the Ages) Chinese kung fu = a great hero? In Po, we see the most basic dream of American kids: learn Chinese kung fu, become a great hero. Uh, of course, not everyone wants to be a great hero, but at the very least they all want to learn Chinese kung fu. American kids are very silly and very naive. On American soil, a 大侠 is what they call a hero, and you don’t become one just by learning Chinese kung fu. On American soil, to become a hero you at least have to be bitten by a spider first, or your father has to hand you a ring, or you go to outer space and get infected by bacteria, or terrorists kidnap you and hand you a pile of scrap metal and ask you to build them a missile. Etc., etc. Too complicated, too stressful. The American kid’s dream is shattered. He can’t be a hero, but he still has to learn Chinese kung fu. And so we get the wonderful story of some aspiring young American who travels through time to some XX dimension and apprentices himself to a Chinese hero to learn the craft.. What? You say how come this plot sounds so much like Kung Fu X King? I am talking about Kung Fu X King… Unbeatable RP. The story of Po — oh, sorry, of Kung Fu Panda. It tells everyone: no matter how unremarkable your physique, how poor your willpower, how good your appetite, as long as you get a sudden burst of RP at the critical moment (or a burst of fireworks), you just might succeed. To be honest, the first conversation between Master Turtle and Po reminded me of a plot from some movie: an old beggar tells a naive kid, I see your bones are exceptionally well-formed, you’re a natural-born martial artist; the heavy task of saving the world falls on your shoulders…
Indeed, I think the expression used in this scene is lifted straight from Stephen Chow’s face in
(forca — Behind Kung Fu Panda: Not Just a Timely Tie-in) A Douban friend said the credits at the end of this film don’t include a single Chinese name. But has anyone noticed — why is it that a production team with no Chinese people in it made such an exquisite, richly painted “Chinese-style” film? A few scenes: First, when the people in the valley are evacuating, they cross a Chinese-style stone bridge, and through the arches of the bridge you can see in the distance the faint silhouette of a horse-head wall against the setting sun, like a colored Chinese landscape painting, full of charm. That is China’s “form.” Second, the “dragonfly skimming the water” motif appears twice. Once, Master Turtle tells Master Red Panda that your thoughts are like this pond — when it calms, everything becomes clear. The second time, Master Red Panda catches the falling scroll with his staff, and the staff lightly taps the water, creating a ring of ripples. You can’t help but marvel at how much tension the film wrings out of these details. I call this China’s “essence.” Third, when Po and his master fight over a bun — the film calls it a dumpling, but I think it still looks like a baozi — in the end, Po bows deeply to his master and his master bows back. Such courtesy isn’t at all affected; instead it calls to mind the traditional Chinese spirit of “revering teachers and honoring education.” That is China’s “spirit.” I have to admit, after finishing this film I feel the creators must have done a comprehensive, in-depth study of Chinese culture to produce those detail descriptions — so effortless, yet so penetrating.
……….
A film flawless from bone to flesh, yet made entirely by foreigners — behind it must be a group of people with a deep understanding of Chinese culture and tradition. Not just at the level of “form,” but also an interpretation of China’s “essence.” Some Douban friends brought up China hosting the Olympic Games and said this film is a timely tie-in, but I think it’s more than that. In China, as the economy develops and cultural traditions are carried on, more and more people are paying attention to this ancient country and its culture. There are even occasional pleasant surprises — for instance, during the Sichuan earthquake this time, China’s transparency and openness drew unanimous praise from the foreign press. What a surprise that today there is a “reading report” on Chinese culture from foreigners, quite a competent one at that, unveiled with real character. What worries me, though, is our own people. Think about how certain domestic directors’ so-called ancient epics can only manage a collage of “Chinese symbols,” red and green like a dye workshop that’s been knocked over — apart from making you want to throw up, it makes me worry about the Olympic opening ceremony.
(March Tense — Today Is a Gift) With students everywhere, the turtle immortal teaches the little panda under the peach tree and says a famous English proverb:
Yesterday is a history,
tomorrow is a mystery,
but today is a gift,
that is why it is called Present.
I first came across this proverb in a Singaporean TV series called 《力克千年虫》, though it’s slightly different:
Yesterday is a history,
tomorrow is a mystery,
only today is a gift,
that’s why we call it Present.
I hear this saying comes from the Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh; the original words seem to be:
Yesterday was history,
Tomorrow will be a mystery,
Present is gift.
Also, there’s this English poem (it may not even qualify as a poem):
Dear friends:
To realize the value of ONE YEAR
to know the value of a whole year
ask the student who has failed a class
ask a student who was held back a year
To realize the value of ONE MONTH
to know the value of a month
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby
To realize the value of ONE WEEK
to know the value of a week
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper
To realize the value of ONE HOUR
to know the value of an hour
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet
ask lovers waiting to meet
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE
to know the value of a minute
ask a person who missed the train
ask someone who just missed the train
To realize the value of ONE SECOND
to know the value of a second
ask a person who just avoided accident
ask someone who just avoided a car accident
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND
to know the value of a hundredth of a second
ask the person who won a silver medel in the Olympics
ask the winner of an Olympic silver medal
Treasure every moment that you have! Cherish every moment you have!
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Yesterday has become history. Tomorrow remains a mystery.
Today is a gift. Today is a precious gift.
That’s why it is called present*!! That’s why it is called the “present.”
Show your friends how much you care… Let your friends know how much you care about them…