So Woke It’s Comatose: Mulan
I’ve never seen Walt Disney Pictures 1988 animated version of *Mulan* I don’t like musicals. Even the animated ones. When I heard that Disney was making a live action version of their animated one and that it would not be a musical, I was hopeful. When I saw the trailers for the live action version I was thrilled. Then I saw the movie.
Both of the Disney Picture Mulan’s are based on the *Ballad of Mulan* itself based upon Chinese folklore of a heroine who secretly takes her father’s place for conscription in the army. Disguising herself as a man she pretends to be her father’s son and fights bravely and with honor, rising up through the ranks fighting the nomadic hordes. According to ancient tradition, Mulan only reveals her true identity after declining military honors and retiring to her hometown to be with her family.
I don’t know how far the animated tale strays from its source material, but the live action remake does so in spades. For some reason the live action version makes Mulan (Yifei Lui) a super heroine with some sort of magical Qi (Chi). Of course, the reason isn’t so mysterious when viewed through the filter of recent blockbuster films, but as far as story goes it is mystifying. No reasonable attempt is made to explain why it is Mulan possesses these mystical powers that normal people lack.
Even as a metaphor it fails. It fails because it is too explicit in its fantastical elements and far too vague about traditional Chinese values and the role of a daughter to her family and father, and the role of a woman to society. This is, after all, the crux of the tale of Mulan. Early on in the film, Mulan’s father (Tzi Ma) discourages the little girl from public displays of her magical Qi, but also makes note of how special she is compared to others. That kind of kills the metaphor.
Mulan seems to want to be a modern update on an ancient tale and a contemporary message of women empowerment. Why then would the four screenwriters (Jaffa, Silver, Hynek and Martin) work so hard to undermine that message? Why would they create a Mulan who is somehow far superior to her male counterparts in martial arts and other physically grueling exercises? Why not create a Mulan who effectively outwits her male counterparts by exploiting her own feminine powers and the misguided perceptions males have of women?
Compare and contrast Mulan with the Netflix released Enola Holmes. Both are women who must deal with an oppressive patriarchy in order to do what they know to be the right thing to do. While Enola does for a time disguise herself as a young boy, her power becomes ever more apparent when she dons a fancy dress complete with restricting corset. Only in the hands of Enola that corset becomes a multifaceted tool. She exploits if for secret storage, and even formidable defense.
She embraces the patriarchal vision of a woman but her power bursts out from the seams. Of course, Mulan’s magical power is bursting at the seams too, but Enola’s power is any girls power where Mulan’s is limited to the chosen few. Mulan disguises her true self, where Enola’s momentary disguise as young lad only compliments her already tomboyish nature. It is the magical powers bestowed upon Mulan that brings most of the problems inherent in this ill-advised live action retelling of a beloved classic.
Directed by Nikki Caro (Whale Rider), the film is a sumptuous feast of visual display. It’s certainly got that going for it, but if I wanted to watch a film with breathtaking visuals but lacking any semblance of competent storytelling I’d watch a Tarsem Sing film. Still, the visuals for Mulan are breathtaking. Even though the Dancing Tiger Hidden Dragon aesthetics of the battles are more of that magical aesthetic, it’s somehow easier to take than the supernatural power of Mulan.
The battles are spectacular. The cast, which includes many recognizable international stars such as Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Jet Li, Rosalind Chao, Jet Li and Jason Scott Lee, are fine but they tend to be the window dressing. Donnie Yen is appropriately commanding as a high ranking leader in of the Imperial Army. Jason Scott Lee is appropriately barbaric as the leader of the barbarian hordes. Gong Li does what she can with a role that makes no sense and was seemingly invented just for this film.
Li plays the powerful shape shifting witch Xianniang, employed by Rouran (Lee) to help him avenge the death of his father at the hands of the Emperor played by Jet Li. However, the shape shifting witch is a deep well of sadness that has something to do with not being respected as a woman. One could argue she was created to serve as a counterpart to Mulan. Where the witch is feared, Mulan is loved even when she reveals her true identity to her cohorts.
The revelation of her identity to her cohorts and their acceptance of it is not only highly implausible given the context of time and place, the four writers fail to even come close to making it seem plausible. I blame the four writers for much of this mess but it’s always possible their script fell prey to focus groups both here in the United States and over in China. Maybe an already hodgepodge of writers became an enormous blog of mostly uncredited writers tossing in pastiche after pastiche but paying no attention at all to story.
Film is no doubt primarily a visual art, but without an effective story there are limits to just how long people are willing to keep watching the film. It’s not as the filmmakers sacrificed story for sumptuous visuals. They sacrificed story for the sake of woke. They took a long loved story that already sings of women empowerment and makes a farce of it.