The assessment of Deep Sea is similar to the general evaluation of a Chinese product. A foreign product is copied without any prior preparation or experience and attempts, or rather attempts, to commercially upgrade it for the market. Favourable location conditions meet more or less naive component juggling in this respect. The result is a good product at first glance, which looks really attractive on the outside in terms of market technology, but on closer inspection quickly reveals content of little value, a work that will not stand the test of time.
The motto "can't do anything right, but can do everything" has now also arrived in anime. The model was without question Japanese art, above all Studio Ghibli. The reference immediately reveals what the Chinese lack, apart from craftsmanship, above all: the ability to grasp the essence of something. You actually start with a story that is as grand and multi-faceted as possible, around which an appealing visualisation is then created. Deep Sea required a modern computer programme, a few programmers who presumably have no cinematic horizons whatsoever, and a director who tries to squeeze out an idea of content for the available technical possibilities. This may be entertainment, but it is neither art nor cinema.
The result: a powerful look, some really great images, but completely overloaded and almost torture for the human optic nerve. Pure sensory overload, with no other emotional impact in the end. The latter is carried by the characters, main and secondary, their interaction, the comprehensibility, the reflection of the viewer on themselves and others. Poor Shenxiu, yes, but the rest of the actors? Uninteresting, irrelevant, cold. The message? Obviously one from another culture.
Regarding any accusations of fundamental origin-bashing: the crux of the matter here lies in the system, not the individual. In this sense, once again the painful realisation: there actually used to be a big Chinese film factory, it was called Hong Kong, and it has long been part of past history.
The motto "can't do anything right, but can do everything" has now also arrived in anime. The model was without question Japanese art, above all Studio Ghibli. The reference immediately reveals what the Chinese lack, apart from craftsmanship, above all: the ability to grasp the essence of something. You actually start with a story that is as grand and multi-faceted as possible, around which an appealing visualisation is then created. Deep Sea required a modern computer programme, a few programmers who presumably have no cinematic horizons whatsoever, and a director who tries to squeeze out an idea of content for the available technical possibilities. This may be entertainment, but it is neither art nor cinema.
The result: a powerful look, some really great images, but completely overloaded and almost torture for the human optic nerve. Pure sensory overload, with no other emotional impact in the end. The latter is carried by the characters, main and secondary, their interaction, the comprehensibility, the reflection of the viewer on themselves and others. Poor Shenxiu, yes, but the rest of the actors? Uninteresting, irrelevant, cold. The message? Obviously one from another culture.
Regarding any accusations of fundamental origin-bashing: the crux of the matter here lies in the system, not the individual. In this sense, once again the painful realisation: there actually used to be a big Chinese film factory, it was called Hong Kong, and it has long been part of past history.