Line #30 Animation/SongOfTheMiraculousHind


1	'''''Ének a Csodaszarvasról''''' (''Song of the Miraculous Hind'') is a semi-educational 2002 mythological animated movie from Hungary, directed by Creator/MarcellJankovics and released by the Creator/PannoniaFilmStudio. It chronicles the ancient Hungarian history and myths via abstract animation that [[ArtShift switches between dreamlike and more realistic]]. The stories are told through a combination of pure visuals, numerous narrators, spoken dialogue and period-appropriate songs, composed by Levente Szörényi.
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3	The film is split into four main episodes or songs, each inspired by imagery found on an ancient vase from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_of_Nagyszentmikl%C3%B3s Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós]]:
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5	* '''Őshaza''' (Land of Origin): Siberian CreationMyth about the genesis of the first humans, animals and plants, the mythological significance of deer, and origin of the Finno-Ugric peoples.
6	* '''Hunor és Magyar''' (Hunor and Magyar): The legend of the Miraculous Hind, a mythological telling of how Hungarians came to Europe.
7	* '''Mindig tovább''' (On and On): Compressed retelling of various myths and historical events related to the Hungarians' conquest of the Carpathian Basin.
8	* '''Pannónia''': Hungarians cease their conquest and settle into Europe, taking up Christianity.
9	Like many other Jankovics films, ''Song of the Miraculous Hind'' mainly focuses on mythology and an [[WorldOfSymbolism overwhelming barrage of symbolic and sublime imagery]] over a cohesive narrative or characters. Though shown in theaters, the movie was also made as a teaching tool for Hungarian schools, with no intent to reach a foreign market.
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11	The film, though not a failure, was also met with controversy and disinterest, and is Jankovics's most overlooked feature. Critics praised the bold and experimental visuals but were unimpressed by the animation quality and the lack of a plot. Much criticism targeted the way the film floods the senses with a constant, fast flowing stream of information via incomprehensible ancient symbolism, song lyrics that are hard to make out, little differentiation between fact, fiction and disputed theories, and bonkers art design most only describe as psychedelic. Being a partially educational work with no attempt to entertain, many viewers found it unengaging, while the nudity, violence and allusions to sex were thought unsuitable for young schoolchildren. Some even accused the film of being propaganda, in part due to Jankovics's strong rightwing nationalist leanings and his political position at the time of its production.
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13	These days, the film is seen as an interesting and passionate art experiment by most and a StonerFlick by some, though its handling of its subject matter remains a topic of debate.
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15	!!Tropes:
16	* AnimalMotifs: While they can be subjected to viewers' interpretation, some animal motifs do appear throughout the segments: the deer, the hind, the griffin.
17	* {{Animorphism}}: A recurrent motif in all segments is the characters morphing into animals and vice-versa, always of symbolic importance.
18	* ArtShift: Each segment has a different art style, ranging from realistically drawn and shaded scenes of humans to nearly psychedelic, abstract art with wild colors depicting the realm of gods and spirits.
19	* CreationMyth: The first part of the movie alone presents some of them:
20	** The first scene tells a Siberian folk myth of how the gods created the world: a pair of shaman brothers each go their separate ways, one to the upper world (bringing deer and birds to mankind) and the other to the lower world, bringing fishes to the human world.
21	* DerangedAnimation: Being a Jankovics film, the visual style is deliberately surreal, taking inspiration from abstract ancient art from the cultures and eras each scene is set in.
22	* GenreBusting: The film tries to be both educational and esoteric, combines historic facts and myth, alternates between voice acting, narration and musical segments, and instead of a narrative, presents a point-by-point overview of ancient Hungarian legends and history. Officially, it's an animated historical fantasy film.
23	* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: In the "Hunor and Magyar" segment, a group of seven princesses turn into seven swans and fly to a distant pond, where they take a bath after getting out of the swan forms. Hunor and Magyar spy on them and Hunor burns their swan garments.
24	* TheMarvelousDeer: All over the place: in the creation myth segment, and in the "Hunor and Magyar". In the creation myth, it symbolizes the creatress of mankind according to one of the stories, while in the second part of the movie it is a symbol for the female characters: their mother metamorphoses into one during their delivery, and the princesses the brothers chase after are also represented by one.
25	* MeaningfulName: The mother of brothers Hunor and Magyar is called Eneth, meaning 'hind'.
26	* PatrioticFervor: Some viewers brought this up as a possible critique, calling the film nationalist propaganda. For his part, Jankovics felt that his Hungarian audience should be more attuned to their pre-Christian heritage and he was open about being a hardcore nationalist, but [[DoingItForTheArt making art was his main calling]].
27	* PlayingWithFire: Hunor, the solar-aligned brother of the second segment, turns his hand into a small jet of fire and burns the swan disguises of the seven princesses.
28	* RuleOfSeven:
29	** In the first segment, the pair of skiing hunter brothers chase after a deer and hind couple, which have begotten seven hinds.
30	** The last scene of the first segment is seven blazon-like golden eagles perching atop a tree crown.
31	** In the second segment, Hunor and Magyar chase after seven hinds that metamorphose themselves into seven swans and fly away. When the swans land, they come out of their avian shapes and become human princesses.
32	* SolarAndLunar: In the "Hunor and Magyar" segment, Hunor is associated with the Sun, while Magyar is linked to the moon. This is also indicated by the diadems they wear.
33	* VirileStallion: At the start of the second segment, a maiden with a reindeer-shaped head ornament goes to fetch water in the river (Don?), when a man on a horse, who was grazing a horse herd through the river, spots her. The man on a horse is called "white horse", and he rides the horse across the river to meet the maiden. His courtship of her is also represented by an animated segment, wherein the man and his horse transform into each other and chase after the maiden, who becomes a hind.

Context Animation / SongOfTheMiraculousHind