shiv

may-nimation challenge #2 old 2d animation styles always take me on a nostalgia ride. and this film itself was so beautiful. bambi, you're so cute, so curious, bashful hiding behind your mama's legs. i keep having cuteness aggression while watching little bambi.

may-nimation challenge #1> *...there are many parts needed to make a human **a human. there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are...”*and we're back to new challenge! this time i want to explore more animation. i hadn't seen this iconic film until now #shame. the animation was otherworldly. grand in a way that felt unearthly. it took me a while to understand the plot, mostly because it leans into the philosophical side of things—humanity, existence, the whole weight of it (like i really spend the time to read anything about it gahh) what is the true essence of a human? in a world where humans are no more, where reality and artifice blur into something unrecognizable, can we ever truly become them? when we have no memories, no past—just a shell that knows how to think, how to reason—is that enough? can it be said as living?

the edits tricked me, they made it look like a coming of age friendship, all warmth between hardy and cumberbatch. and i fell for it, and instead i got something raw and bleeding. stuart is the face of tragedy, of every person who slips through the cracks while the people around him look away. through the whole film, i kept wondering: could anyone have noticed before the devil settled in? and there are so many stuarts still out there, who's still not knowing what's wrong with them, still believing the darkness inside will never leave. it's such a cruel world. and now im sad thinking about it.

the romance was cute—your typical two stubborn people who couldn't say what they really wanted to each other. marlene dietrich was so, so gorgeous (and i initially watched this for her), but anna may wong absolutely stole the show. there's racist undertone here about her character. it's unfortunate that her character was mostly a plot device, with everyone just calling her "the chinese girl". i almost forgetting her actual name. also, the fight scene was hilariously goofy.