00:00In the West, dragons are characterized as winged reptiles.
00:03They come closest to the representation we can have of them today.
00:06Among the Greeks, they are seen as guardians of treasures.
00:09Among the Bretons, they sense the representation of the invader,
00:12particularly because of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings who used them as emblems during their conquest.
00:16And among Christians, they are quite simply perceived as the incarnation of the devil himself.
00:20In short, as you will have understood, in the West, the dragon is not very popular.
00:24Often synonymous with war, greed, barbarity, or even Satanism.
00:29That is why, both here in Europe and among our American friends,
00:32Dragons in movies are very often perceived either as a threat or as pets.
00:37Because it is well known that man has always wanted to control what is uncontrollable.
00:41It's a kind of fantasy.
00:42What if dragons, those fearless and merciless creatures, could obey us?
00:46But further east, in Asia, the dragon is not perceived as a threat at all, quite the opposite.
00:51The oriental dragon is physically different from the one that lingers in our subconscious.
00:55Longer, thinner, wingless
00:57In Asia, he is seen as a guardian of the sky and the sea.
01:00Like a force of nature.
01:01Dangerous if pushed to the limit, but harmless if left in peace.
01:05In China, it is often associated with the emperor, and therefore with power.
01:08In Korea, ancient texts sometimes mention sentient dragons,
01:11capable of speech and understanding complex emotions,
01:14such as devotion, kindness, and gratitude.
01:17And in other countries, such as Japan or Vietnam, the same is true.
01:20Monuments and temples are built in honor of these aquatic deities.
01:24And yet, Asian cinema, particularly Japanese cinema,
01:27has tended to emphasize the legend of Yamata Nooroshi dating from the 13th century.
01:32An eight-headed dragon which, unlike other representations of Chinese or Japanese dragons,
01:36portrayed as good, is portrayed as bad and dangerous.
01:39This deity would notably inspire Ghidorah, the three-headed monster,
01:43Godzilla's legendary rival, who can be seen in several films of the franchise,
01:46until the most recent one in 2019.
01:48Yamata Nooroshi would also inspire The Little Prince and The Eight-Headed Dragon.
01:53A Japanese animated film released in 1963,
01:56and which will feature the classic trapdoor from Disney films of that era.
01:58where the prince kills the dragon to save the princess.
02:01Only Miyazaki's films will pay homage to these divine beasts.
02:04First, the son, with his tales of land and sea,
02:06but above all the father, the legend.
02:08Hayao Miyazaki with one of his masterpieces, The Journey of Shiro.
02:12Subtitling by Radio-Canada
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