Mythological Chinese creature stars in new 'Fantastic Beasts' film
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 9, 2022
The Qilin, a legendary creature from Chinese mythology, plays a key role in the new installment of the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, which hit Chinese screens on Friday amid the COVID-19 resurgence shutting down more than 57% of cinemas nationwide. It is also the only blockbuster to open in China during this period, and audiences will likely be happy to see Chinese elements in the movie.
Set several years after the events of the previous installment, "The Crimes of Grindelwald," "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" starring Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, and Mads Mikkelsen, follows Albus Dumbledore tasking Newt Scamander and his allies with a mission that takes them into the heart of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald's army.
In the tradition of the "Fantastic Beasts" series, the new film features a variety of magical creatures, but none figures more prominently than the Qilin. "The Qilin is one of our core characters," producer Tim Lewis said, revealing that J.K. Rowling gave a detailed description in the script.
Revered in the magical community, this rare creature possesses the innate ability to see into a person's soul and know if they are pure of heart — a gift that makes the Qilin integral to Grindelwald's machinations to seize power as well as Dumbledore's plan to stop him.
The Qilin generally has Chinese dragon-like features on its head, while its body is wholly or partially scaled and often shaped like an ox, deer, or horse. This auspicious hybrid beast appears in Chinese mythology and is closely associated with emperors and sages in Chinese culture, besides the dragon and the phoenix.
The beast's role now is tied to the choice of a new leader of the wizarding world. The film's director David Yates said, "In the wizarding world of the past, the Qilin was called upon in elections: All the candidates would line up, and the Qilin would go up to each candidate, and if it bowed to one, that would influence the people's choice."
The series' original creator J.K. Rowling expands the wizarding world in "The Secrets of Dumbledore," as the adventure circles the globe from China to Great Britain, from America to Germany, and from the Austrian Alps to Bhutan. The movie also takes audiences back to revisit the beloved Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the nearby village of Hogsmeade.
In the film, Newt seeks out the Qilin in a remote mountainous region of Asia. In order to re-create that environment authentically, a small team of filmmakers embarked on a scouting trip to find the perfect backdrop for the Magizoologist's quest to find the treasured beast. They found the landscapes they wanted in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in China.
Detian Falls in Nanning and the Lijiang River in Guilin provided just the right look for the setting. The Lijiang River, with its limestone karsts and statuesque cliffs patterned by aging and minerals, appears in the film, while the crew also created a stunning waterfall set in the U.K. based on Detian Falls. In addition, Guilin's Moon Hill, a large, round limestone cave with a moon-shaped hole in its center, became the template for the Qilin nest.
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