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Big Fish & Begonia
Big Fish & Begonia
大鱼海棠
2016 ·101 min ·China, South Korea ·PG-13 16+
7.5
IMDb 7.0 КП 7.4 RT 94% MC 72
Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Xuan Liang, Chun Zhang
Trailers Big Fish & Begonia
Trailer EN
Trailer EN
EN

Beyond the human realm, there is a magical race of beings who control the tides and the changing of the seasons. One of these beings, a young girl named Chun, seeks something more—she wants to experience the human world! At sixteen, she finally gets her chance and transforms into a dolphin in order to explore the world that has her fascinated. But she soon discovers that it's a dangerous place and nearly gets killed in a vortex. Luckily, her life is spared when a young boy sacrifices himself to save her. Moved by his kindness and courage, she uses magic to bring him back to life only to learn that this power comes at a serious price. On a new adventure, she’ll have to make her own sacrifices in order to protect his soul until it is ready to return to the human world.

Budget: $4.53M
Worldwide: $84.55M
Guanlin Ji
Actor
Shangqing Su
Actor
Timmy Xu
Actor
🏆3 wins & 10 nominations total

Big Fish & Begonia is widely celebrated for its breathtaking visual artistry and evocative soundtrack, which frequently draw favorable comparisons to the works of Studio Ghibli. However, the film receives consistent criticism for its underdeveloped secondary characters and a narrative that struggles to balance its ambitious themes within its runtime.

Production The film features exceptional visual beauty and animation quality that rivals top-tier global standards.
Score The musical score is widely praised for being atmospheric, emotive, and harmoniously integrated with the visuals.
Screenplay Secondary characters and world-building elements are frequently criticized for being under-explained or lacking sufficient narrative depth.
Screenplay The plot is polarizing: some appreciate its simple, sentimental focus on sacrifice, while others find it thin, predictable, or overly ambitious for its runtime.
Theme The protagonist’s motivations and personality are divisive, with some viewers finding her journey heart-wrenching and others describing her as childish or unlikeable.
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