Pastoral Flute

Author: Zhou Youyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The "Contemporary Chinese Classic Animation Series" presents China's outstanding animated films in a comprehensive way through books paired with original VCDs. It allows more readers to appreciate the excellent culture of the Chinese nation; helps adults relive their childhood memories; enables young readers to feel Chinese culture and be nurtured and educated by the Chinese spirit through Chinese stories and images; and also hopes to inspire Chinese animation filmmakers to create more animated films with Chinese style and national charm, shape more Chinese cartoon stars, and recreate the glory of Chinese animation films.
The film expresses the close bond between a shepherd boy and a water buffalo through the plot of "losing a cow, finding a cow, and getting a cow." At the end of the film, the shepherd boy plays a flute, and with moving music, he overcomes the sound of the waterfall, which represents nature, to win the water buffalo back, thus completing the theme of "art surpassing nature." The water buffalo in the film reflects the unique artistic style of the painter Li Keran. The simple and unadorned depiction highlights the majestic demeanor of the water buffalo, offering viewers a unique aesthetic experience.
The landscape painter Fang Jizhong served as the background designer for this film. He adopted the scenery of small bridges over flowing water, rows of willows, deep bamboo groves, and pastoral landscapes from the Jiangnan region of China as the background. By depicting the scenery along the shepherd boy's journey to find the cow, he presented the towering mountains and cascading waterfalls commonly seen in Chinese landscape paintings, achieving a harmonious blend of scenery and emotion, where the scene and sentiment merge.
The entire work is filled with poetic charm and elegance, resembling a delicate and refreshing pastoral painting, a simple yet enduring pastoral poem, and a melodious symphony. The visuals are beautiful, the artistic conception profound, the rhythm smooth, offering the audience a feast for the eyes and ears.