Following the sweeping success of Zootopia and The Jungle Book, Born in China (《我们诞生在中国》) is Disney’s third animal-centric film of the year. But unlike its *duo of animated predecessors, Born in China is a live-action feature, starring five of China’s native animal species – the red-crowned *crane, snow leopard, golden snub-nosed monkey, Tibetan *antelope, and, of course, the giant panda.

继《疯狂动物城》和《奇幻森林》席卷全球、大获成功之后，《我们诞生在中国》是迪士尼本年度第三部以动物为主题的电影。但与先前两部动画片不同，《我们诞生在中国》是一部实景拍摄的故事片，五种中国本土的野生动物——丹顶鹤、雪豹、金丝猴、藏羚羊、当然，还有大熊猫——担任主角。

I went to the theater with expectations of a Discovery-style documentary, but was surprised to be met with a drama-like feature, which focused on five animals’ *intertwining tales.

在观影前，我以为这是一部探索频道式的纪录片，但后来，我却惊喜地发现，这是一部有剧情的电影，它讲述了五种动物命运交错的故事。

The beasts’ stories sometimes mirrored the everyday life of humans, including the mother panda who is reluctant to see her daughter grow up, no longer needing her care, but also tell a more *savage tale – including the *gut-wrenching arc of a mother snow leopard who dies of starvation, leaving her two young *cubs fighting to survive. The five animals’ narratives eventually meet to reveal the grand theme of the film: the Lion King-esque circle of life.

这些野生动物们的故事，有的是人们日常生活的写照：大熊猫妈妈不愿意看到女儿长大，那样的话女儿就不再需要自己的照顾了；也有的更为残酷——雪豹妈妈饿死了，留下两只幼崽艰难生存。这五种动物的故事最终殊途同归，都揭示了这部影片的宏大主题：电影《狮子王》式的生生不息。

I found it to be a story well told, with the right amount of thrill, humor and heart, until I discovered how the film was made – the production team had a pre-conceived story, editing the footage around it – that some of that sentiment was lost.

我认为故事讲得很好，影片将令人紧张激动、开怀一笑以及调动情感的情节运用得恰到好处。然而，当我发现这部电影的制作过程时——制作团队事先有一个设定好的剧本，并根据剧本剪辑镜头——我感觉这部影片中的一些情愫荡然无存。

Even though the director himself, Lu Chuan, said that the film is meant as a “narrative feature” rather than a documentary, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the tears shed at the movie’s most *poignant parts were shed in vain, and the emotions evoked in me by these animals’ lives I’d come to be so moved by were evoked under false *pretenses.

尽管导演陆川自己表示，本来就打算将这部电影拍成一部叙事性的故事片而非一部纪录片，但我还是无法接受，那些催人泪下的悲剧情节竟都是虚构的，而那些令我深深感动的动物生活，竟然也都是伪装的。

The movie’s narration is provided by Chinese actress Zhou Xun who, apart from presenting facts and background knowledge in a documentary style, also provides the “voices” of the film’s animal *protagonists.

本片的旁白是中国女演员周迅，除了讲述一些纪录片式的事实和背景知识外，她也为片中的动物主角们献声。

This “humanizing” seems *presumptuous though; how is a human to know what a wild animal is thinking and feeling?

虽然，这样的“拟人化”看起来有些自以为是；人类如何能知道野生动物们的想法和感受呢？

Perhaps this is just me being picky. After all, Born in China is one of the better films to hit Chinese screens this year and the outcome exceeds expectations considering its *excruciating production process. According to Lu, shooting took three years – the first month on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau went by without capturing anything usable due to the unpredictable habits of snow leopards.

但或许是我太过挑剔了。毕竟，《我们诞生在中国》是今年登陆中国大银幕的最佳影片之一。而考虑到它极其艰辛的制作过程，这部影片的收效也远超预期。据陆川介绍，这部影片费时三年拍摄——由于雪豹的习性难以预测，在青藏高原的头一个月，制作团队连一点可用的素材都没有拍到。

Personal criticisms aside, if you simply want to see beautifully shot scenery alongside *stunning close-ups of majestic Chinese wildlife, Born in China is definitely worth your time.

不论个人评价如何，如果你只是想看到自然美景和令人惊叹的中国野生动物特写，《我们诞生在中国》绝对值得一看。