Eternal Spring (2022)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Eternal Spring is a creative documentary, telling a compelling story about a religious organization’s hijacking of Chinese television in 2002. This is Canada’s selection to complete for the Best International Feature award at the upcoming 2023 Oscar ceremony.
Blends live-action, archival footage, and animation to give us a unique look and perspective at the memories which are being shared and the history being recreated.
A fascinating power play unfolds between an oppressive state government attempting to persecute a growing religion and faith, increasing its number of practitioners at an alarming rate.
NO
Fails to present a complete picture of its subject, ignoring many increasingly problematic views and beliefs which have only amplified in recent years.
A fascinating movie exists in looking at the Chinese Government’s attempted takedown of Falun Gong, organizations who preach a distinctive form of morality, yet marginalize and espouse prejudicial beliefs against people they don’t agree with. Sadly, this is not that film.
The film, at times, feels like it relies on its unique presentation a bit more than it should - had the story been more fleshed out, the film would be less creative spectacle and more emotionally impacting.
OUR REVIEW
Truth should never fall victim to opinion. And yet, more and more truth is rejected, dismissed, and reoriented into whatever a person wants to believe for themselves. Which brings us to Eternal Spring, a mixed-medium documentary telling the story of when Falun Gong, a newly formed religious organization, took over Chinese broadcast television in 2002 and aired footage of the organization’s religious practices in an attempt to present their faith as positive, loving, and unifying.
Okay. Fair enough. That’s an intriguing premise. In a communist country, a rapidly growing religion drawing millions of followers, whose growth caused distemper and disfavor with the Chinese government, hijacked television stations and presented themselves as peaceful, non-violent worshippers.
Sadly, though…to tell that story is not to tell the full story. We are warping the truth a bit, playing obtuse with certain realities. While Eternal Spring is a tremendously well-made cinematic experience, blending live-action footage with animation and archival clips, it takes about five seconds on Google to see that director Jason Loftus is not exactly being forthright with all he knows.
Serving as Canada’s selection for the upcoming 2022 Academy Award for Best International Feature, Loftus’ film uses Falun Gong believer and practitioner, Daxiong, an animator and revered comic book artist, as its central character. His drawings and interpretations of stories shared with him, come to life through an animated presentation that gives the film a storybook-esque look and feel.
What emerges is a story of religious oppression and silencing. Falun Gong originated in the 1990s in the Chinese city of Changchun. Founder Li Hongzhi claimed that teachings, in part based on Buddhism and Daoism, had been passed down to him and he, in turn, reorganized them into what would become known as Falun Dafa, or Falun Gong. Li believed that spirituality was gained through living a moral life, through exercising, meditating, and adhering to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
As Li’s movement gained traction, the organization lacked structure. There was no central body, therefore a claim of 2 million followers could be made, just as a claim of tens of millions of followers could be likewise be made. No one really knew who widespread the following had become. Falun Gong made inroads into the United States, basing a central location in New York City. With the movement taking root and if the focus is truly on morality, meditation, and peace, what could be the problem?
Because the Chinese government feared the community was rivaling or surpassing the Communist Party in terms of numbers of followers, they took steps to persecute and eliminate Falun Gong. Violence became standardized and Falun Gong followers fled the country en masse. Some stayed to defend their belief in religious freedom. When the 2002 television hijacking and takeover occurred, Daoxing documents the stories of those who survived and those who did not. Of the nearly dozen or so arrests made that particular day, two were executed, several more died through the years from sustained injuries as a result of abuse suffered during imprisonment, and other survivors now feel free to share their stories.
The animation buffers the shock of the violence perpetrated against seemingly faithful and kind protesters. The notion of similar activities happening here in America seems ridiculous, until you analyze the volatile political landscape in the United States and, well - you cannot help but wonder if we are heading toward a similar social landscape in the near future.
Eternal Spring lays out its story well. But, as hinted above, it isn’t giving us the complete story.
For all its meditative demeanor, moral preaching, and upstanding behavior, Falun Gong, as a faith, has become intertwined increasingly with the far-right movement. Li has referenced the outlet “The Epoch Times,” for example, as “our media.” The Epoch Time have promulgated radical beliefs which range from being anti-vaccine, anti-LGBTQIA+, pro-life in the strictest of ways, and have celebrated election fraud propaganda and “The Big Lie.” They believe in subservience. Champion QAnon conspiracies. Link President Biden to Antifa. And on and on.
While Loftus made the conscious decision to leave every single ounce of that partnership out of Eternal Spring, he subsequently creates a conundrum impossible to ignore. Where does empathy and sympathy stop and a dangerous faith’s increasingly problematic views become the story.
Without a doubt, Eternal Spring documents the horrors and tragedy that so many Falun Gong believers endured in simply practicing what they saw as a peaceful theology. However, when that faith adheres to dangerous provocation, even if in defiance of a Communist state set to dismantle its existence, what are we supposed to think? Are we expected to take a stance of supporting a religion that openly advocates for abolishing anything that stands in contrast to its increasingly close-minded, intolerant and rigid beliefs?
For a film calling for fairness, acceptance, and tolerance, Eternal Spring runs away from truth and sadly renders its entire argument moot and convoluted. Loftus cannot have it both ways. As stylish, impressive, and cinematically compelling as his film happens to be, reality catches up to the artistry and leaves a sour, unrelenting bitter taste in the mouth.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Daxiong
Director: Jason Loftus
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Lofty Sky Pictures