sarunohadaki: (Default)
sarunohadaki ([personal profile] sarunohadaki) wrote in [community profile] yuletide 2024-09-07 02:50 am (UTC)

The Deer King (Movie)

Title: The Deer King
A movie poster for the movie The Deer King. It features all of the main cast in the center, including Van astride his pyukka and Hohsalle to his left holding a syringe full of red liquid. Below them, just above the movie title, is Yuna, her expression worried with an arm outstretched. At the bottom of the poster is a pack of wolves running toward the viewer. They are swathed in dark purple magic.
Media: Movie

Approx length:1hr, 54m

Where to find it: Google Play, Youtube (only buy option), and others

What is it, in summary?: Van, the last survivor of a group of warriors, ends up enslaved in a salt mine when it is attacked by a pack of diseased dogs. The disease kills nearly everyone in the mines, save for Van and a little girl named Yuna. However, both of them bare bite marks from the dogs. Why did they survive, and what does this mean for the future of the disease?

After that, the story becomes a mixture of a few different things: Van coming to terms with the passing of his old family and fostering a new one; a doctor's quest to finding Van in hopes of fighting back against the disease; and a secret plan from an occupied nation to use biological warfare to regain its sovereignty.

I tell you all of this because when I was watching it the first time, I got really confused as to why Aquafa was red and the Zolians were blue. So, heads-up for that. And I feel the movie makes a lot more sense if you come into it knowing there are several plots swimming around, one of which is politically motivated.


Content warnings: This movie is rated R for violence. People being shot with arrows, sword removes an arm, syringes (injecting into an arm), coughing up blood, boar death, and character is choked. Also, lots of discussion of disease and its spread, including death from said disease. The heaviest gore/bloodshed is at the beginning of the movie. So, if you are sensitive to that, I recommend skipping 3:30 through 5:20. There is also child injury and slavery at the beginning.

An alternate take on the meme, shoutout to (blank) has to be one of my favorite genders that features Hohsalle. A man is standing in the middle of a photo with his head turned to the left. All around him are different screenshots of Hohsalle. The text reads shoutout to Hohsalle, gotta be one of my favorite characters.
What do you love about it?: I love, love, Hohsalle. He's the doctor who seeks out a cure for the disease and I just think he's a very swell mister. He's smart, with a bit of snark to him and a brain to boot! Just the whole package, really. Except for his survival skills, which have much to be desired, but that just means we can put him in a bunch of hurt/comfort fics where something happens to him on the road and he needs someone to look after him 👀

I got a much deeper respect for this movie after watching it a second time and taking some notes. It's a lot to chew the first time around because the movie tries to do so much, but once you begin to understand how all the pieces slot together, it makes a lot more sense. I was stuck on the politics bit a lot, and it's sad that it took til the middle of the movie for it to start to make sense. But I adored the tie-in with Van's old life as the Broken Antler. He is a very badass character and I was cheering for him through everything.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Oh, absolutely post-canon, canon-divergent, missing scenes, that sort of thing. I want more Hohsalle! I always end up in this situation where I'm sad that a character didn't get a love interest. Though I think in Hohsalle's case, even found family would be enough to sate me.

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