Mulan

Released in 1998, the animated film Mulan by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook had established itself as one of the masterpieces of The Walt Disney Company and was praised by many critics praising not only a perfect animation, an original and rhythmic scenario, characters created with real care (we still often hear the voice in the original version of Mushu by Eddie Murphy) but also its musical score and especially the song Reflection by Christina Aguilera. After winning several awards and bringing in more than 304 million dollars at the world box office, we suspected that sooner or later The Walt Disney Company would revisit this animated film in a live version and try to make a more realistic and equally successful version.

We also suspected that Disney wanted to conquer and impose itself in China by offering a film with an Asian cast only and appealing to today's biggest celebrities such as Gong Li, Jet Li, Tzi Ma or Donnie Yen. The only thing that totally ruined this show and that Disney hadn't thought of was the global pandemic resulting from Wuhan that was going to plunge the whole world into a global crisis situation with millions of deaths. While Mulan highlights Chinese triumphalism and courage, the current reality seems to show that the Chinese government is not only deceitful but also knows how to spread lies, hide the facts and lead other countries into a global economic crisis. Should Mulan really be taken out in such a global context, the answer is obviously no. Was it necessary to have this cult animated film revisited for a whole generation of spectators, the answer is yes because it allows new generations of spectators after having seen this film to discover this timeless and unforgettable animated film that is Mulan.

Mulan is thus the live adaptation of the 1998 Disney animated film, itself based on Chinese folklore. Mulan's Ballad tells us the story of a young Chinese girl in imperial China who decides to avoid sending her wounded father to be killed on a battlefield to disguise himself as a male warrior in order to save him. After repressing her Chi to appear as a normal young girl, she decides to let him express himself. At that time in China (just like now) being a woman remains a sign of imperfection for many Chinese for whom war must be fought only by men and at the time had no other function than to serve as a mere assertion, to manage the house of their husbands to whom they were forced to be married by force. Mulan thus represents courage, innocence, wisdom and mastery of our true potential.

The film, which is above all a great adventure film, benefits not only from a mastered script that gives real depth to the main characters but also highlights many spectacular battle scenes. Unfortunately, the dragon Mushu, who was the charm of the animated film, does not appear here to our greatest sadness and the director prefers to minimize as much as possible the fantastic elements except for the presence of a witch capable of transforming herself into a bird. In the same way one can only criticize this adaptation to the glory of China which voluntarily avoids highlighting certain criminal acts of this country such as currently the reeducation camps of Xinjiang and the Uyghur genocide. Taking Mulan out at the moment almost amounts to taking sides for these numerous crimes committed by China and for its total lack of communication that brought the United States to this current situation. Ironically, the Chinese public, who were able to discover this film, which had been deprived of theatrical release in the United States and France in particular, criticized it verbally for the mismanagement of cultural elements and the summary development of certain characters.

By dint of wanting to be made for the Chinese and more broadly Asian market, Mulan disappointed and could have been a completely different film by giving the direction to an expert in action movies with a big show, whether it be John Woo, or Gareth Evans. The film would have benefited from being even more violent and realistic and above all would have given way to a true vision of a director who knows how to fight to impose his point of view. Despite the excellent North Country (2006), The Zookeeper's wife (2017), McFarland USA (2020) the choice of Niki Caro remains surprising and one wonders if it is really wise.

Mulan
Directed by Niki Caro
Produced by Chris Bender, Jake Weiner, Jason T. Reed
Screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, Elizabeth Martin
Based on Disney's Mulan by Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook, Ballad of Mulan
Starring Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Ron Yuan, Gong Li, Jet Li
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography: Mandy Walker
Edited by David Coulson
Production company: Walt Disney Pictures, Jason T. Reed Productions, Good Fear Productions
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date: March 9, 2020 (Hollywood), September 4, 2020 (United States)
Running time: 115 minutes

Viewed September 4, 2020 in original version

Mulder's Mark: