Note: I started this post with ambition, but there is just toooo muuuch to translate, so I am skipping some of the movie details and will cover ZSJ’s comments.
记得第一次看这部影片时，我在重庆。繁忙的工作之余，我拉着小伙伴一块儿看了这部片子，一开始他对于我选一部动画片表示困惑和不解——每天工作已经很辛苦了，进电影院看一部动画片，一定会睡着的……
但当我们走出电影院时，他表示在101分钟的时间里，精神高度集中，并且心灵受到了极度的震撼！
I remember that I was in Chong Qing the first time I watched this movie. Taking time out of a busy work schedule, I got my little buddy to watch this film together. At first he expressed confusion and puzzlement over my choice of an animated film – its tough enough working everyday, going into the cinema to watch an animated film, will surely end up falling asleep..
However, after we left the cinema, he said that in the 101 minutes of runtime, he was completely focused and felt absolutely awestruck!
可能很多人认为动画片就是给小孩儿看的，但我却不以为然。往往我们可以在动画片里看到不一样的精神世界，比如国产的《哪吒之魔童降世》《大鱼海棠》，国外的《超能陆战队》《飞屋环游记》，还有在我心里能和这部《心灵奇旅》媲美的《寻梦环游记》。
《寻梦环游记》告诉我们，人类真正的死亡不是肉体的消亡，而是被人遗忘。就像我们很多伟人，虽然他们已经不在人世间了，但是他们的精神思想永远被后人所铭记、学习。
Perhaps many people think that animated features are meant for children, but I don’t believe so. Often we can see a different world in animated films, such as our domestic productions such as [ Nezha ], [Big Fish and Begonia], overseas productions such as [ Big Hero 6], [Up], and the movie that rivals [ SOUL ] for me – [COCO].
[COCO] tells us, that the real death of humanity is not the perishing of the physical body, but to be forgotten. Just like many of our great men in our history, even though they are no longer in this world, but their spiritual thoughts will forever be remembered and studied.
我们言归正传，回到《心灵奇旅》。
不知道大家有没有跟我一样的感觉，有些国外小说很难让我“啃”下去，因为总是记不住各位主人公的名字。由于人物姓名复杂，导致我对故事的架构也会产生一种错乱，从而对这本书不了了之。所以我决定给这位主人公取一个简单的代号，就叫他“眼镜哥”吧。
眼镜哥是一位学校里的音乐老师，受到了父亲的影响。他爱上了钢琴演奏和爵士乐。
Let’s get back on track, to [SOUL].
I don’t know if everyone feels the same as I do, that some foreign novels are hard for me to ‘chew’ on, because I always can’t remember the names of the leads. When the names are complicated, it distracts me from the structure of the story, causing me to abandon the book. So I decided to give this lead a simple nickname, lets call him ‘ bro with specs’.
( translator note: I am changing it back to Joe because if you can read English, you are going to get ‘Joe’ )
眼镜哥是一位学校里的音乐老师，受到了父亲的影响。他爱上了钢琴演奏和爵士乐。
Joe is a music teacher, and under his father’s influence, he falls in love with playing the piano and jazz.
影片开始的这一天，可以说是眼镜哥人生中最幸福的一天。他成为了学校中的全职老师，接到了毕业学生的邀请，获得了和自己心目中伟大的萨克斯演奏家一同进行四重奏演出的机会。
祸兮福所倚，福兮祸所伏，就在他人生中最开心的一天，乐极生悲、悲剧发生了，他的肉体去世了！
The film opens on the day, that can be described as the best day of Joe’s life. He is offered a full time position in the school, and also gets invited for a chance to audition in a quartet with a jazz legend that he admires greatly. Misfortune and blessings could be entwined. On the happiest day of his life, tragedy occurs and Joe passes away!
这时候，影片来到了另一个世界。
这个世界由三部分组成，一个叫生之彼岸，是灵魂投胎走的一段路。一个叫生之来处，是孕育灵魂的地方。心灵导师用了一个更符合现代人的说法，也就是“心灵学院”。还有一个是生死之间，忘我之境。
Now, the film arrives in another world.
This world is made of three parts, ‘Great Beyond’ – or the afterlife. ‘Great Before’ is where unborn souls are prepared for ‘life’. Soul counselors used a term more easily understood, as ‘ Soul School ‘. The other is ‘the Zone’, a trance state between life and death.
[ … SOUL MOVIE REVIEW DETAILS … ]
Random comment from ZSJ:
I gotta say, foreigners really like pizza, maybe like how we Chinese like hotpot. What I don’t understand is ‘durian pizza’.
[ … SOUL MOVIE REVIEW DETAILS … ]
Life Choices
在年少时总会对未来有许多愿望和憧憬，可命运的安排往往让我们措手不及。这和我上篇文章提出的“顺命”类似，正是因为未来的不确定性才造就了生命的丰富多彩。人生酸甜苦辣都需要一一品尝，在酸甜苦辣中都能找到幸福感，才是智者。
In youth we always have many hopes and dreams, but what life has in store for us might often catch us off-guard. This is similar with my last essay about ‘going with the flow’. It is precisely because the future is not set which creates the richness of life. The joys and sorrows of life needs to be experienced, and the wise is able to find bliss in its ups and downs.
[ … SOUL MOVIE REVIEW DETAILS … ]
这两天看到一位粉丝朋友给我的留言，里面摘抄了一本书里的一段话。大概意思是“人生有XX之窗、XX之窗、XX之窗，XX之窗……”之类（很抱歉具体的我忘了😅）。三坚希望，你们能在这里找到“心灵之窗”。这样三坚的幸福感，就会蹭蹭蹭的往上涨。三坚可真是未曾想过，我会成为一个公众号的作者。越想越觉得不可思议，这难道不是命运的馈赠吗？
These couple of days, I saw a comment from a fan with a quote from a book. The general meaning is ‘ life has windows of xx, xx, xx, xx etc ( I am very sorry I forgot the specifics 😅 ). Sanjian hopes, that you can find a ‘window of the mind’ here. This way, Sanjian’s sense of well-being can also rise a little at a time. Sanjian has never considered, that one day I will become a writer of a public account. The more I think about it, the more unbelievable it seems, but isn’t it somehow a gift of fate?
22也看到了眼镜哥是如何和自己的母亲沟通之后解除了误会，拥有父母的支持是件多么幸福的事情～ 每个父母都希望自己的孩子长大后能有稳定的生活和工作，而不是四处漂泊、居无定所。我们看到了影片中“慈母手中线，游子身上衣”的母爱。亲情是世界上最无法割离的，血浓于水，这可是刻进骨子里的DNA啊。哪怕自己与父母的代沟像雅鲁藏布大峡谷一样“宏伟壮观”——沟通、交流才是在大峡谷中建桥的最好方式。
22 saw how Joe cleared the misunderstanding with his mother after their talk. Its such a blessing to have the support of parents ~ every parent will wish that their child will grow up into a stable life and job, and not wander around or adrift. We can see a mother’s love in the film. The ties of kinship is something that is hardest to cut, blood is thicker than water, this is the DNA engraved into our bone. Even if the generation gap between parents and child are as ‘magnificent’ as the grand canyon in Yarlung Zangbo – open communication is the best way to build a connecting bridge.
[… SOUL MOVIE REVIEW DETAILS … ]
22把自己的地球通行证“丢给”了眼镜哥，眼镜哥终于如愿以偿地得到了这次演出的机会，并以完美的表现谢幕。他成功了，终于成功了，他以为这一天一定非同寻常，这一天跟以往都不一样…… 这时萨克斯演奏家和他讲了两条鱼的故事——
小鱼：我很想找到叫大海的东西。
老鱼：大海？你就在大海里呢～小鱼：这个吗？这只是水，我要找的是大海。
22 throws the earth pass at Joe, and he returns to his life. Joe’s dream of a great stage performance is fulfilled. He has succeeded at long last. Joe thought this day would be exceptional, and be different from the days before…
Dorothea then tells him a story about two fish:
Little fish: I am trying to find this thing they call the ocean
Old fish: The ocean? That’s what you are in right now.
Little fish: This, this is just water. What I want is the ocean!
他想起了22，为了达到自己所谓的成功，不择手段是正确的吗？把自己的幸福建立在他人的痛苦之上，能安心吗？22把这次重生的机会送给了眼镜哥，那22的火花究竟是什么？我为什么都没有在意过。是它收集的披萨边、半个贝果、棒棒糖和妈妈用过的缠线器？眼镜哥体会到成功之后，发觉自己不应该这么自私——22好不容易找到了火花，它终于有资格来地球上体验这世间万物，却被无情剥夺了……
He remembers 22, and wondered if it was right for the lengths he took in order to attain his so-called success. Can his mind be at ease to have built his happiness upon the pain of another? 22 gave the chance to be born to Joe, and now Joe wonders which item is 22’s spark. He has tasted success, but now he realizes he cannot be so selfish as to cruelly deprive 22 of a chance to experience everything living on Earth has to offer.
[… SOUL MOVIE REVIEW DETAILS … ]
如果给你一次重生的机会，你会做什么呢？
我会享受活在当下的每一分钟。
If you are given a chance to live again, what would you do?
I am going to live every minute of it.
突然想起了《国王排名》里的一段话，“如果一个生物不老不死、不会生病，那么他最先失去的东西便是心。我们终有一死，这让我们懂得了悲伤 ，进而孕育着人性，不是吗？而得到了不老不死之躯的人并不需要这些，他已不再是人类。”
电影结束了，大家是不是能够理解了雷神、超人、擎天柱、火箭浣熊、格鲁特、星云、毒液…… 这些超级英雄为什么都如此的热爱地球？
I suddenly recall a quote from [ Ranking of Kings] (aka 王様ランキング )
” If a lifeform does not age or die, does not fall ill, then the first thing he will lose is his heart. We all will die eventually, this allows us to know about grief and sadness, and therein lies our humanity, isn’t it? But a person who attains immortality no longer needs such things, and will no longer be human. “
The movie ends, can everyone understand why Thor, Superman, Optimus Prime, Rocket, Groot, Nebula, Venom…. why do these superheroes love Earth so much?
哈哈，因为地球有披萨吧。
Haha, it must be because Earth has pizza.
坐在电脑前突然进入“忘我之境”，清醒之后发现身体已经冻的瑟瑟发抖～～@#¥%……&*。
如果有一天三坚不在了，大家可不能忘了我，要把美好的、开心的、快乐的，幸福的回忆都记住。难过的呢？
难过的事情就当作是一个“屁”，噗的一声就飘走了……我又来弹琴给大家听了“有梦不难，跟着我去闯。独处不难，有音乐作伴。
As I sit before the computer I suddenly enter ‘ the Zone ‘, when I come to my senses I realized my body is freezing and shivering ～～@#¥%……&*
If one day Sanjian is no longer around, everyone mustn’t forget me, have to remember all the wonderful, happy, joyful, blissful memories.
The sad things should just become ‘farts’ and released with a poof like a fart in the wind…
I am going to play guitar for everyone again.
” Its not difficult to dream, follow me to break through.
Its not difficult to be alone, there is music for company.”
( He plays JJ Lin’s 有夢不難 )
Zhang Zhehan 