Watch
Already the highest grossing animated movie of all time, Ne Zha 2 is finally in UK cinemas.
It’s taken more than $2.1 billion at the box office, only $100 million of which has come from outside China.
But that doesn’t mean the film, derived from Chinese folklore, is for a single audience.
The most alienating thing about it could in fact be the gross-out humour – there’s an extended discussion of eating vomit that might be too much for some – but the themes of family, revenge and acceptance are universal.
Investment in the animation (or donghua) industry was a component of China’s most recent five-year plan, but the lack of international advertising for Ne Zha 2 suggests the “soft power” that could be gained from a truly global smash is not a priority.
This film may get it anyway. It’s worth overcoming what Bong Joon-ho called “the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles” to discover what an entire country is talking about.
Photo credit: Beijing Enlight Pictures
