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"Below" arises from a global view to describe 8 huskies
left by the mankind in the Antarctica, the lowest point in the globe.
The film bears a reserved theme of "Quill" (Dir: Yoichi
Sai, 2004) though the two are of different genres. While "Q"
portrays the dog's loyalty towards the mankind, "8" focuses
on the reciprocal relationship by zooming in the human's promise
and responsibility towards the dog. However, the spectrum in which
the mutation of relation between the human and the dog is narrower
in "8" than it is in "Q". In "8",
the relation changes from apathy to salvage whereas it changes from
hostility to amity in "Q" (much wider). Director Frank
Marshall humanizes the huskies by framing the narrative of the Antarctica
sequence from their perspective and portrays their sentiments among
each other and their strategy in hunting for foods, though all are
dramatized under compositional and generic motivation (bearing in
mind that it is under the genre of adventure).
The National Geographic-like scenery (shooting locale in Canada)
and the aerial shots of Jerry (Paul Walker)'s exploration journey
on the ice with his 8 huskies are fascinating. Marshall uses cross-editing
between Jerry's life in the northern hemisphere and the husky companions'
attempt for survival in the Antarctica in the narrative that spans
across a plot time of about 100 minutes, under the adoption of inter-titles
indicating the temporal duration. In the portray of the dogs' own
survival on the ice over the year, Marshall adds surprise, creates
tension and further demarcates the animals' world into good guys
and bad guy by bringing a fierce predator seal into mise-en-scene.
It is very enlightening in that the sub-titles at the denouement
remind the audience that raising dogs is a life-long promise which
shouldn't be made if the master couldn't afford it in terms of empathy,
effort and time. It is a touching and educational film for the family
and dog fanatics.
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