Big Fish & Begonia

"Two worlds. One destiny."

2016 1h 41m ZH

👍

7.3

SOLID

🔥

94%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 503🍅94%Rotten Tomatoes●72Metacritic★7IMDB · 7,430

AnimationAdventureFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Two worlds. One destiny.”

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Cast

Ji Guanlin
Chun (voice)
Pan Shulan
Old Chun (voice)
Su Shangqing
Qiu (voice)
Timmy Xu
Kun (voice)
King Shih-chieh
Ling Po (voice)
Jiu'er
Kun's Sister (voice)
Xang Yuanyuan
Feng (voice)
Xue Lifang
Chun's Father (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Liang Xuan
Writers: Liang Xuan
Languages: Mandarin
Countries: China, South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $85M — a 18.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: China, South Korea.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Big Fish & Begonia Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kiyoshi Yoshida. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tu Yiran shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Liang Xuan directs. Kiyoshi Yoshida scores. Tu Yiran cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in China, South Korea. Dialogue in Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $85M — a 18.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 10 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: China, South Korea.
5Part of the "Big Fish & Begonia Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
7Original score by Kiyoshi Yoshida. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Tu Yiran shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Ji Guanlin and Pan Shulan and Su Shangqing carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Two worlds. One destiny.".
11IMDB entry: tt1920885 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 10 themes, including "self sacrifice", "magic", "ocean", "supernatural".
13Released under 12 different titles around the world.