REVIEW Movie Recommendation: 'The Legend of Hei'

[Kłapouchy]

MOVIE RECOMMENDATION: 'THE LEGEND OF HEI'
Written by: Polaris_Tae

If you're looking for a film to watch this Valentine's Day that does not predominantly focus on the traditional romantic aspects, but rather on familial love and what one would do for those whom they love, The Legend of Hei is a great choice!


The Legend of Hei is a Chinese animated movie about a Yao (nature spirit), following the destruction of his home from industrial loggers. The main themes within the movie are the impact of colonialism, environmentalism and how a found family can be even more impactful than a biological one. It is separated into three distinct acts — the first is on the titular character, Luo Xiaohei (Hei), whose home was destroyed and he was chased out of the current home he is living in, a cardboard box in an alleyway, by some drunk thugs who proceed to physically beat the small cat spirit. The thugs corner him into an alleyway with nowhere to go, only to be saved at the last minute by another Yao by the name of Fengxi, who invites Luo Xiaohei to live with him and his friends in a place long since abandoned by humans.


Following his adoption into this somewhat unconventional family, Luo Xiaohei somewhat naively comes to trust and love these people as if they’re his biological family, like he’s known them for his entire life when he has only truly known them for a single day.

The next day, the group is attacked by WuXian, an operative of 'the guild', an organisation dedicated to the peaceful coexistence between humans and Yaos. Luo Xiaohei is then separated from his newfound family and is captured by WuXian who plans to take him to 'the guild'.
The second act of the film is where Luo Xiaohei and WuXian slowly develop a positive friendship with each other once the latter takes Hei in as his disciple after seeing that he was not a threat and learning that they share the same elemental base (metal). He teaches Hei to manipulate metal in the same way that he does. During the same time elsewhere, we learn through WuXian's co-workers at 'the guild' that FengXi was actually hiding a power, and that he has the ability to steal other Yaos' skills. Through this, we learn that FengXi only befriended Hei and took him in due to his 'Domain' powers, a spatial type of ability that is linked to the spiritual realm which gives him near omnipotent abilities, allowing him to reshape the world as he sees fit. Once in possession of these abilities, he aims to destroy the city that the humans have created and take the land back into the hands of the Yaos once again. However, there is one condition: he will die if 'Domain' is forcefully taken from him.

One of the most interesting aspects of this film is the animation. It keeps the somewhat simple character design of the web-series but manages to create captivating action scenes that show the beauty and the range of the production studio, as well as Chinese animation as a whole. When I think of the movie in terms of animation quality, I would describe it as a fusion between the style of Studio Ghibli and the intense action focused animation of Shingeki no Kyojin, though the tone of the story itself is more fitting of a film by the former. The action scenes are some of the most pleasing sequences to watch throughout the entirety of the film.


The major themes and driving force behind The Legend of Hei are that of familial love and found family. Luo Xiaohei, while initially adopted into the small family that FengXi created, finds himself unwillingly manipulated into lending his powers to what would be a massacre if not for the intervention of WuXian. It shows that even though you may love and care for a person, they may betray your trust at a moment's notice if it suits their desires, even going as far as to permanently harm the main character and those that you love and cherish. However, where FengXi fails to provide a suitable home and family, Luo Xiaohei finds companionship with WuXian. Here, he comes to love him as if he were his own father, and when given the chance to have a stable life living and working with 'the guild', he instead makes the decision to live with WuXian without a fixed home and moving from place to place, staying with someone who he sees as the most precious person in the world.


In conclusion, The Legend of Hei is a film that while not romantic in nature, heavily focuses on the love that a child has for one's family, and what it would feel like to have that love and trust betrayed while at the same time focusing on heavier themes such as deforestation and colonialism. This show presents these ideas in the form of a film that people of all ages can enjoy.

You can find the film on Bilibili or fansubbed on YT or watch the original web-series that inspired the film on HotpotTV.​

 

[WithJuyeon]

this seems like a very heartwarming show!

 

[Kłapouchy]

this seems like a very heartwarming show!

It really is, I tried to watch the OG web-series but couldn't get into it bc it was too simplistic, but the movie is amazing!
It plays like an early 2000's Studio Ghibli film with its themes on family and environmentalism and the animation style is fantastic ~

 

[WithJuyeon]

It really is, I tried to watch the OG web-series but couldn't get into it bc it was too simplistic, but the movie is amazing!
It plays like an early 2000's Studio Ghibli film with its themes on family and environmentalism and the animation style is fantastic ~

studio ghibli is awesome, i may give this a shot cause i love heartwarming shows that don't focus on romance and environmentalism is an interesting topic that i've never watched much of so this seems like something i would like!

thanks for the review

 

[Lilac]

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[BlueNose]

thank yo for reviewing, this sounds quite cute

 

[Kłapouchy]

thank yo for reviewing, this sounds quite cute

thx for reading >_<
If you ever want to watch the movie feel free to hmu, I've got an eng subbed copy on my drive