Three monks, each of different size and temperament live on hilltop monastery. The need to go down to the sea to get water, but they are inefficient and lazy., wanting to drink but not wanting to help. Resentment begins to rear its head as they all act individually. There is a life lesson here and it doesn't take long to realize it.
3 Reviews
Excellent social satire that still applies today.
zzmale18 March 2004
The literal translation of the title of this movie is: three monks.
This animation is a masterpiece of social satire and although it was made nearly a quarter century ago, its criticism still applies today. The hidden target of criticism is the massive Chinese bureaucracy that are extremely inefficient and ineffective: so many people are hired but nobody does any job because everyone wanted somebody else to do the job, just like the way those three monks expecting others to get the water.
This animation is unique in that unlike most animations, it does an excellent job of getting its point across without any spoken words, the audience who does not speak any Chinese can easily understand it just as good as Chinese.
This animation is a masterpiece of social satire and although it was made nearly a quarter century ago, its criticism still applies today. The hidden target of criticism is the massive Chinese bureaucracy that are extremely inefficient and ineffective: so many people are hired but nobody does any job because everyone wanted somebody else to do the job, just like the way those three monks expecting others to get the water.
This animation is unique in that unlike most animations, it does an excellent job of getting its point across without any spoken words, the audience who does not speak any Chinese can easily understand it just as good as Chinese.
Different, but good
Horst_In_Translation4 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"San ge heshang" or "The Three Monks" is a Chinese animated short film from almost 35 years ago and that makes it somewhat special as, with the infinity of animation from Japan, China has never been too prolific in the non live action genre. But here they prove they can come up with quality too. I think it was a good watch. It certainly helped that there was no dialogue in here, so you won't need subtitles. The fact that the animation looks fairly old and traditional (maybe 1960s) is nothing that should come as a surprise to anybody. These values have always been crucial for the country. It relies more on heart and soul than on modern special effects. In my opinion, it is a bit of a shame that there is so little animation from this gigantic country as they prove they have a talent in that regard as well. It wasn't anything really great, but still 20 minutes worth seeing. Go check it out.
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