Movie: "Up" from Pixar - 'Give me peace of mind to trust, and don't forget the rest of us.'

[timepiececlock]

If you move past the fact that the only female character with speaking lines disappears 15 minutes into a 97 minute movie (and that includes the short that opened it) and that it creates a world entirely devoid of women or girls except as backdrops or objects of loss (not even the frelling dogs)--and I'm sure we'll all move past that because it's a familiar hurdle with Pixar--then I can report that this is a beautiful, moving film.

It's a little darker than WALL-E, and a little sadder. I cried at two separate points; not a lot, but my eyes were significantly wet and I had to wipe them. It's still an uplifting film, still full of wonder and adventure and grace, but there's no denying that the emotion of loss permeates this story.

There's something reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki's work when you watch it: gorgeous vistas, brilliant colors, and sky. So much sky! Balloons, dirigibles, airplanes! And old person and a young person on an adventure together, experiencing the wonder of flight. It's not quite as funny or cute as WALL-E, but I'm not sure it's supposed to be.

There's no doubt that the Pixar studio has some of the finest writers and storytellers in the film industry today. Now they only need to live up to that potential, and open their magical world to the rest of us. It looks, as always, like a beautiful place to play.


WARNING: COMMENTS NOW CONTAIN MOVIE SPOILERS!

Comments

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

See, despite Ellie not being on screen for the most part, her presence is felt throughout the film in a huge way, and she acts as not just a catalyst of the plot or a piece of motivation, but genuinely as a charater, in my opinion. I felt like I knew her as well as I did Carl and Russell.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Crumbs. I can't help but think that if this were a classic Disney movie, if this were The Lion King, the lead hunter dog, at least, would be female. Or the dog in the commercial would be female. (I'm trying to be vague to avoid spoilers.) If this were a Hayao Miyazaki film, the child would be a little girl, or the adult would be an old woman.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

This is true, but I feel that changing Carl's gender would change Ellie's identity and gender, as for the plot to work, it has to be the deceased person who truly craved adventure, and. . .that works so well with Ellie, and she's such an amazing character, dead or alive, and so is Carl .. .and I wouldn't want to change their story.

Russell, yes. Russell could easily be female. The dog thing, though. . .well, if Dug was female, the others would be, as the Pack is set up to be bullies, and cross-gender bullying is rather rare in media.

At least we got a non-white Pixar main character in Russell?

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

The dog thing, though. . .well, if Dug was female, the others would be, as the Pack is set up to be bullies, and cross-gender bullying is rather rare in media.

That doesn't even make sense to me. Are you saying that because the media doesn't do it, that they shouldn't? Or that I shouldn't expect it, because its' unlikely?

Of course it's unlikely that they'd write it that way and of course they don't do it enough. That's part of my whole point. I mentioned the Lion King specifically because the three hyenas were led by a female, in almost the same character roles within the story. So it's not like it's not without precedent.

I don't want to debate that with you, though. I'm actually really emotionally stressed right now about a completely separate issue as I type this, so if you keep replying with "yeah but..." justifications I'll probably bite your head off, and then I'll feel like crap later. So, just, let's get off this track of conversation, okay? It's a beautiful movie. Let's talk about that.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

No, no, no. . .that wasn't that I meant.

I'm so sorry. I tend to not edit things, and just follow my train of thought. I meant that if Dug were made female, at least some of the pack likely would be as well, as male-on-female bullying codes differently in people's minds then does single-gender bullying, but there is no reason whatsoever that either couldn't have been the case.

Anyway, I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean to sound as if I was justifying anything but Carl and Ellie, and I just. . .I was just impressed by how Ellie felt like she made such an impact without being present, and. . .I'm sorry. I didn't mean to seem confrontational, or anything, and yes, it was an amazing film.

I like this conversation better. And I'm feeling better now, thank you for your patience.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I was just impressed by how Ellie felt like she made such an impact without being present,

She did. =) I feel like that relationship was the emotional core of the story from Carl's perspective, and when paired with that wonderful score, it brought a more heartfelt reaction from me than most animated films are capable of doing. That is Pixar's strength, and why they're able to make such fantastic films beyond the technical innovation.

While I was sitting in the theater at the end of the film, watching the credits, I tried to imagine if Pixar would still be making such moving and ambitiously written stories 10 or 20 years from now. I wondered if they'd ever lose their heart and soul and become generic movie garbage, and if we'd all look back on the glory days of Pixar. Or if it was possible that they'd make 20 or 30 years of fantastic movie canon and we'd someday look at their studio as one of the finest bodies of work in cinema.

Re: I like this conversation better. And I'm feeling better now, thank you for your patience.

[ryanitenebrae.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree - I mean, it is astounding that the change of Company hands didn't faze them, and that they're actually capable of making good sequels(though we'll see if that's consistently true over the next few years), but they still may fall off course. I hope fervently that that does not happen, however, and right now, there's no reason why it should other than my own cynicism. I do wonder what will happen once Lassetter retires, but that probably won't happen any time soon.

One of my favorite things about Up is that Ellie never becomes a MacGuffin - she's always there, she's present, she's honored, she's a distinct emotional force throughout the story, and it's her final message that is able to give Carl the strength to both overcome Muntz, and to finally let her go.

Also, I found Russell's role in the film interesting. In any other film, he'd be used largely as comedy relief, I feel, but rather it's Carl's bonding with him that allows him to finally continue to live his life and move back to the city rather than remaining in South America, which I feel shows that he is honoring Ellie's memory by obeying her command to go find his own adventure.