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"Mulan" Leading Actress Yifei: A heroic struggle for the honor of her family and the future of her country
Photo: Disney
When the film industry, which had been badly hit by the corona pandemic, learned about a month ago that Disney had canceled the cinema release of its 200 million dollar epic "Mulan" in the US and Europe, this was considered bad news.
The real film version of the cartoon classic was to become one of the big hits of the year and continue the enormous success of the remakes of the "Jungle Book" and "The Lion King".
But the film probably couldn't have met these expectations.
Because the new "Mulan" is pretty disappointing.
The New Zealand director Niki Caro tells the story of the young title heroine (played by Liu Yifei), who lives with her family in China in the Middle Ages and is about to be married, with a lot of pathos.
Mulan wasn't a princess who dreamed of being redeemed.
She saved the men's asses.
When the country is threatened with an invasion, the emperor orders general mobilization.
Because Mulan's father is already very frail and trembles when he holds a sword, she secretly goes to war for him.
Since it is strictly forbidden for women to fight with guns in hand, she poses as boys.
She fights bravely and courageously under a false name.
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Alone among men: Mulan (Yifei) goes from being a good girl to a brave leader
Photo: Disney
So "Mulan" is the story of an emancipation.
When Disney released the original in 1998, the studio set itself apart from the classic role models that it had previously liked to distribute itself.
Mulan wasn't a princess who dreamed of being redeemed.
She saved the men's asses.
In the remake, an officer gives a pithy speech and announces to the young recruits that they will be turned into men.
At that moment, the film shows us the title heroine, who should actually grin at these words - and we with her.
But the scene looks deadly serious.
Hardly anything is as alien to this film as irony.
When an animation turns into a real film, Hollywood calls it "live action".
Everything, so the promise, should look totally real, even if the characters were created entirely on the computer like the "Lion King".
Almost all of the actors in "Mulan" are flesh and blood, but strangely enough, they usually seem more lifeless than the drawn figures in the original.
Woodcut heroes who keep uttering punched sentences.
Two of the most dazzling and amusing characters, the dragon Mushu and the cricket Cri-Kee, were immediately rationalized.
Caro alternates between feel-good and fight scenes and occasionally throws in a comedic interlude.
But it is precisely the moments that were modeled more closely on the original that sometimes seem badly cited.
When Mulan artfully catches a tea service that has been hurled upwards, the sequence, made up of many short shots, reveals less the heroine's elegance than the director's inability to stage complex physical actions in the room.
That goes for almost all action scenes.
The burden of seriousness
Even though the characters run up the walls and jump from roof to roof, this film never comes off the floor.
He bears heavily under the weight of his seriousness.
There is constant talk of the importance of the family and the duties towards one's own country.
At some point you feel like you are being brainwashed into what Disney imagines as a good Chinese.
This version of "Mulan", it becomes more and more clear with time, is not primarily made for Americans or Europeans.
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The rulers in Beijing could also enjoy the mass choreographies
Photo: Disney
Rather, it is an image film with which Disney wants to advertise itself on the Chinese market.
"Look here!" He seems to be saying with every second scene.
"We have the same values as you!"
Beijing officials will be delighted to note that family and nation are paramount even for Disney heroes.
This is probably one of the reasons why the film has so little irony: It should not be misunderstood under any circumstances.
Self-actualization?
Sure, but only in the service of society, please.
The heroine is a rebel who supports the state.
So Disney decided to bring "Mulan" to the cinema in China.
After the reopening of the movie theaters, the spectators flock there again en masse.
The war epic "The Eight Hundred" grossed over 300 million dollars in around two weeks.
"Mulan" starts in China on September 11th.
Then it will show whether the good daughter and patriotic fighter is what the Chinese audience has been waiting for.
In Germany, "Mulan" can now be seen on Disney +, until further notice for around 22 euros, from the beginning of December at no additional cost as part of the subscription.
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