Up (Special Guest)

Ora ora, pensavam que isto estava de novo parado? Nada disso! Aqui vem uma novidade e outra bem grande está a ser preparada.

Quando fui ver a última animação da Pixar, Up, fui acompanhado por um primo e amigo. No final do filme saí com a sensação de que este era bom mas, ficava aquém da animação lançada no ano anterior, WALL·E.

Porém, para o meu colega de filme a coisa não estava tão simples e clara. Conversar com ele, e depois deixar amadurecer o que tinha visto, deu a este filme uma nova dimensão. É verdade que continuo a achar que WALL·E é melhor mas, um filme que lida com morte e velhice e, ao mesmo tempo consegue ser divertido e adequado para a criançada, tem que ser no mínimo soberbo.

Assim, e pela primeira vez neste estaminé, temos um convidado. O meu colega de filme chama-se Fernando, tem um blog sobre jogos (Section 8), é um confesso adepto de animações e aceitou o convite para escrever, em inglês, sobre o recém nomeado para o óscar de melhor filme, Up.
A ele, um grande obrigado.

We interrupt your normally scheduled program for a special guest report.

I was asked by my cousin to write a short review of Pixar’s 2009 hit “Up”. Up tells the story of a 78 year old retired balloon salesman Carl Frederickson, trying to cope with an ever changing world while dealing with his own personal demons, that sees himself caught in the improbable adventure of a lifetime. I really want to avoid any kind of spoilers here so I’ll leave it at that. If you’re looking for a reason to see this movie, let me put it this way: This movie is the absolute pinnacle of Pixar’s continuous “experiments” with human emotions and empathy. This is coming from someone who can still recite most of the original Toy Story by heart and has followed every major iteration in Pixar’s history.

Carl Frederickson, a 78 year old cartoon male, is a more interesting, deep and relatable action hero than most, if not all, leads in action movies I have ever seen. Allow me to emphasize: A cartoon that you can take your 8 year old kid to, will get your heart racing faster and stopping harder than anything the likes of Steven Seagal, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis have ever accomplished. The key here is empathy. Despite being clearly cartoons, the motivations, the emotions and the story lived in the movie feel very real, as they draw perfect parallels to the kind of emotions and dilemmas we’ve all dabbled with, or will inevitably face, throughout our lives. Through its quirky aesthetics, Up invites us to live familiar situations in familiar settings, such as one’s first love, without ever feeling forced or contrived (as so many “serious” films often do). This movie is an emotional rollercoaster, that manages to seamlessly combine the kind of moments that would bring a tear to the most jaded of veterans right along the happy ecstatic moments kids (and adults) can enjoy.

I’ll stop here, as this is the kind of movie that’s surprisingly difficult to review without giving away the plot, and experiencing the movie “unspoiled” is one of the best things about it. In sum: Go see it.

Up - Peter Docter & Bob Peterson (2009)