An Artistic Experience: "Big Fish Begonia"

Synopsis

Located within an old mythical world, there reside spirit-like beings who oversee the natural order of the mortal realm. For those who come of age, they must undergo her rite of passage by experiencing the human world. One of them is Chun; however, upon arriving in the human world, she ends up getting caught in a fishing net during a storm and is rescued by a human boy.

While she is saved, the human ends up perishing and Chun returns to her realm full of guilt. Seeking to save the boy in return she meets the Soul Keeper and decides to revive the boy in exchange for a part of her lifespan. Little does she know, meddling with the natural order of the world has severe consequences.

The Good

If the title didn’t make it clear, the art and animation are the main things that truly pop out in the film. From the design of the spirit realm to the animation of spirits transformation and other elements, the film is just a pure visual splendor to behold. Added with the beauty of the music, it really is an artistic experience to enjoy. Another plus to tie the art and music together was the lore of the film.

On the note of the lore, the fantasy aspect of the film really stood out in terms of the background of the story and the elements that were introduced in its setting were highly interesting. Other than this, the story had an alright flow to it and the characters were interesting enough to get the story going.

The Bad

There are points where the story seems like it could have been expanded more on as it resulted in some holes. The character development is also the same especially when it comes to the romance aspect. True it gave a slightly bittersweet touch for the ending but on the other hand, it didn’t feel necessary with the way that the film was initially set-up. It seems like the film tried to pack in as much at it could but ended losing the potential it had in terms of its fantasy presentation and development in character dynamics.

Conclusion

It’s a beautiful film that leaves a visual impression but could have done better by its story and characters. They were not terrible, but it could have done with further exploration or more in-depth development. The fantasy elements were still enjoyable though and there were some interesting points to the setting. It was a good film, but it had the potential to be a great film if it worked out its storytelling elements better.

Rating: 8/10