Sometimes glowing, feel good escapism is NEEDED. And so it was on a warm Thursday Thai evening, with my body tired after several nights of disturbing dreams and my daytime entrepreneurial self exhausted from endless Covid-driven reinventing. Miss 16 and I curled up with the reheated pasta leftovers and the latest netflix animation, Over The Moon.
I knew NOTHING about the movie & had simply relayed my request to Miss 16: English language please (so I can knit & not need to be reading Korean subtitles), uplifting, feel good & no violence. Basically I was in need of some feel good heart & soul medicine.
Well, Over The Moon was perfect! I had NO CLUE that it was set in China, involved Chinese mythology & Chinese Opera (both of which I love), or that the heroine turned out to be a feisty girl with a penchant for science, adventure and home haircuts.
Simply amazing animation. Having travelled in Vietnam in Old Hoi An, we were blown away by how prettily real the old chinese village was. And the mooncakes.
The beautiful Chinese myth of Chang-e, the Goddess of the Moon, simply comes to life through a delightful story which also involves the typical cutesy animal helpers (a frog, a rabbit & a gloworm) and an ANNOYING 8 year old about to be step-brother.
The Chinese operatic costumes were beautifully, and fairly faithfully, replicated.
We both loved, and laughed out loud literally, as the Goddess morphed from her traditional style & form into a rockin contemporary super star.
What we loved most, in the end, was the really clever portrayal of a nerdy Chinese girl beyond stereotypes and yet firmly grounded and rooted in the ancient Chinese cultural traditions.
Oh, and the fact that love & magic & dreams won in the end, and that BELIEVING mattered more than proving anything.
Delightful, hopeful, family movie. Or just for big kids with tired hearts who need to be refreshed & have their faith restored.
Recommended.