"Turning Red" Review: Beware the Red-Furred Monster

《青春變形記》影評：小心，紅毛怪獸來襲！

A quirky Asian teenager transforms into a giant red panda whenever she gets excited… even the premise gives me pause. Which makes the task of reviewing the new Disney/Pixar film "Turning Red" especially tricky. Because that"s the idea behind this coming-of-age movie, which toes the line between truthfully representing a Chinese family, flaws and all, and indulging stereotypes.

一個“另類”的亞裔少年一興奮就會變成一只巨大的小熊貓……即使是這個設(shè)定都讓我停下來仔細考慮了一下。這更讓給迪士尼/皮克斯新片《青春變形記》寫影評的任務(wù)變得特別困難。因為這就是這部成長電影的問題所在：它既真實地表現(xiàn)了一個華裔家庭，包括其中的缺陷和一切，但也縱容了人們對它的固有成見。

Meilin Lee is a typical 13-year-old girl: She dances, has crushes on boys and has a cohort of weird but loyal besties who share her obsession with the boy band 4*Town. She"s also Chinese Canadian, living in Toronto in 2002, where her family maintains a temple. There she helps her loving but overbearing mother, Ming, and tries to be the perfect daughter - even when that means burying her own thoughts and desires in the process. This becomes a lot more difficult when she goes through her changes - not of the period, but the panda kind.

李美琳是一個典型的13歲女孩：她會跳舞，會暗戀男孩兒，還有一群同樣有些“另類”卻關(guān)系很鐵的閨蜜，和她一樣癡迷于男團“四城男孩”。同時，她也是一名加拿大華裔，生活在2002年的多倫多，家里還經(jīng)營著一個宗祠。在那里，她幫助她慈愛但又霸道的母親李茗，努力成為一個完美女兒，即使這意味著在這個過程中她需要埋藏自己的想法和欲望。然而，在她經(jīng)歷了一些“變化”的時候（不是月經(jīng)初潮，而是變成熊貓的那種“變化”），這一切變得困難起來。

The character writing and design are where "Turning Red," directed by Domee Shi, most succeeds. Mei has the relatable swagger of the middle school cool nerd - she"s creative and confident, and also has a perfect report card. The tomboy skater girl Miriam, the deadpan Priya and the hilariously fiery Abby form a funky trifecta of gal pals who are Mei"s emotional safety net. Shi finds subtle yet effective ways to illustrate the personalities of even the ancillary characters. And the animation of Mei"s hair in her panda form reinforces her emotional shifts.

《青春變形記》由石之予執(zhí)導(dǎo)，人物刻畫和設(shè)計是它最成功的地方。小美是中學(xué)時代那種大大咧咧的好學(xué)生，自信又有創(chuàng)造力，還有一張完美的成績單。假小子滑板女孩米里亞、故作正經(jīng)的普里亞和滑稽火爆的艾比組成了小美與眾不同的閨蜜三人組，她們也是小美的情感安全網(wǎng)。即使是配角，導(dǎo)演石之予對她們的性格刻畫都是微妙而有效的。小美在熊貓形態(tài)下毛發(fā)的動畫效果更加強了對她情感轉(zhuǎn)變的刻畫。

It"s no surprise that these kinds of expressions are where Shi"s direction most shines; as in her 2018 Oscar-winning Pixar short "Bao," "Turning Red" lives and breathes on the complex emotional relationship between a mother and a child preparing to leave the nest. And also as in "Bao," in which a mother raises a steamed bun child from birth to adulthood, here again Shi uses a culturally specific metaphor to convey her characters" emotions.

毫無疑問，這類表達是導(dǎo)演最閃亮的地方。正如她在2018年獲得奧斯卡獎項的皮克斯短片《包寶寶》中一樣，《青春變形記》也生動地展現(xiàn)了一個母親和一個準備離巢的孩子之間復(fù)雜的情感關(guān)系。在《包寶寶》中，一位母親將一個包子寶寶從出生養(yǎng)大到成年。而在《青春變形記》里，導(dǎo)演又一次用了一個文化上的特殊隱喻來表達人物的情感。

This is where "Turning Red" gets sticky: Though the plot"s red panda magic is rooted in its characters" cultural traditions (the Lees honor an ancestor who defended her family with the power of a red panda), these details aren"t enough to absolve the film of its kid-friendly version of exoticism.

這就是《青春變形記》讓人感到難以評價的地方：盡管劇情中小熊貓的魔力源于人物的文化傳統(tǒng)（李氏家族敬拜一位利用小熊貓的力量保護家人的祖先），但這些細節(jié)還是會讓人覺得電影中的這種異國法術(shù)有些幼稚。

And when it comes down to the movie"s conflict, the antagonists are the women in Mei"s family. Or, more accurately, the suffocating cultural traditions and familial expectations that are embodied by the women. Is the film tackling the stereotype or fulfilling it? The line is too blurry to tell. By the end, a bit of understanding, empathy and a pandapocalypse reassure us that the stoic Asian dames aren"t the source of the problem but also victims, like Mei. Though I wonder what the movie would look like if the conflict wasn"t enacted solely in the form of these women.

而在電影沖突這塊，電影主要的“反派”是小美家族中的那些女性。或者，更準確地說，是這些女性所代表的令人窒息的文化傳統(tǒng)和家庭期望。所以這部電影到底是在反抗固有觀念還是在迎合它？這條界線太過模糊，難以界定。到最后，一些理解、共情和一場“熊貓末日”大災(zāi)難使我們確信，那些堅忍不拔的亞裔女性并不是問題的根源，她們和小美一樣，也是受害者。雖然我很想知道，如果不通過這些女性來表達沖突，這部電影會是什么樣子。

It"s too bad that "Turning Red" fumbles its storytelling, but at the very least it has fun when it lets its fur fly.

可惜《青春變形記》的故事沒有講好，不過至少小熊貓的皮毛飛揚的時候還是很可愛的。

#青春變形記之小熊#

關(guān)鍵詞： 中學(xué)時代 是什么樣子 月經(jīng)初潮