Shang-Chi

 Take your popcorn, because we are going to talk about one of my favorite latest Marvel movies.

This movie is deeply interconnected with Chinese culture of course, can you guess which film I am talking about?

Yes, it is Shang-Chi, and if you didn’t watch it yet I highly recommend you to do it.

Don’t worry there will be no spoiler.

An interesting fact about this movie is that even if it well represents Chinese culture, it is banned in China. 

Let’s be precise, not “officially banned”, but it never reached cinemas, the same happened to other Marvel movies such as Black Widow and Eternals.

Going back to Shang-Chi, it is not the perfect representation of China and its culture, but I consider it a big step forward as there are a lot of reliable elements.

First of all, it is the first movie on a big scale where most of the actors are Chinese native or Western-born Chinese. 

One of the things that I enjoyed and appreciated were the dialogues that have been left in Chinese, without translation. I feel like the language helped create that mystic, magical atmosphere during the movie. And of course, it is exciting for all of us studying Mandarin to understand (at least some of it) without checking the subtitles!

The plot of the movie is mostly regarding the main character’s family, which highlights the importance of the family in Chinese culture. We all know that the family is extremely important in Chinese society from ancient times to the current day, especially at the end of the movie when…no, I’m not telling you.

The effects and the landscapes are simply breathtaking, and they are so authentic, from the rocky training compound to the magical village with dragons.

The details are incredible, the symbols are colorful and really detailed. 

They mainly used Tang and Song dynasties as style guidance, it’s still a bit confusing because decorations and styles don’t belong to a specific time or dynasty, but it’s more a mix. I liked it anyway because it still looks amazing.

Some of the remarkable elements present in Chinese mythology that appear in the movie are Morris (based on a Dijian), the fox spirit (also known as huiling), and the giant dragon, a powerful protector.

If we move our attention from spirits/animals to culture, we can see how it is important to honor the dead, first when we see them remembering their ancestors with photos, and later when they release lanterns in the lake so the fallen in battle could find their peace.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the movie, and I highly recommend you to watch it.

Let me know what you think about it in the comments!😉