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05/04/2017 12:01 AMRated G
In one light moment during Disney’s live-action documentary, Born in China, a baby panda tumbles down a leafy hill, his desire to be independent colliding with his clumsiness. His mother comes to the rescue. Both parents and children can relate to the slapstick, and also be aware of the baby’s desire to make its way in the bigger world while its parent tries to protect it from dangers.
Filming in extremely difficult conditions, such as 14,000 feet above sea level in Western China, Born in China brings stunning photography of the country’s vast, unpopulated regions that are habitats for three endangered species, the wild panda, snow leopard, and the golden monkey. While the narrator (John Krasinski: 13 Hours, TV’s The Office) describes the creatures so poetically that the viewer feels a part of their lives, he also explains the larger picture, that of the “cyclical symphony” of life and death in nature.
As Disney ventures often do, some creatures are assigned names and human-like qualities so that children can identify with them. Tao Tao, a golden monkey teenager, becomes part of a gang called “The Lost Boys” like the boys in Peter Pan, and witnesses a battle between grown males for dominance, not unlike (for the adults in the audience) an all-out bar fight. Tao Tao’s parents also reject him when his younger sister is born. Such tough lessons are presented gently, but firmly.
The film also encourages dialogue between parent and child. Dawa, the snow leopard mother, struggles to defend her territory and her two cubs against another leopard interloper, and later gets badly injured by a domesticated yak mother defending her young. The tragedy is enhanced with gray mists sweeping the tops of austere rocks, accompanied by violins in the background, as the leopard (spoiler alert), seen from above, lies like a sculpture embedded in the snow.
The narrator reminds everyone that death is “one beat in a larger rhythm,” as life is reborn and continues on.
The monkeys walk briskly on their hind legs, like a lively dance through the snow, and Ya Ya climbs his first tree.
Director/writer Chuan Lu (City of Life and Death, The Last Supper) tells the animals’ stories through the seasons as a sensory experience, using landscapes as transitions from one segment to the next. He alternates with close-ups, such as icicles encrusted on the monkeys’ fur while they huddle together. The photographers, who waited hours and days for the right color, texture, and light, forged mountains and rough terrains to capture the rare footage. During the film’s credits, one or two talk about their experiences and behind the scenes a monkey becomes curious about the cameras.
No humans appear in the main body of Born in China, but for the Chinese, animal-based symbols play an important part in the culture. The black and white of the panda are the yin and yang concept of opposing natures. The crane, a symbol of good fortune, lifts the spirit of the departed from this world to the next.
In this time of divided nations, and, with the focus shifting away from conservation, Born in China, released during Earth Day weekend, presents an uplifting, staggering tribute to the animals who deserve a place in the world, and displays a world that should not be lost, but appreciated. As the narrator concludes, “In the hardship there is hope.”
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