Soul (2020)
In one of those weird, serendipitous phenomena you sometime experience, the movie we watched yesterday included scenes of the afterlife (Scrooge,) kaleidoscopic flying imagery (Beautifica,) and the plot point of a single subject lost in the middle of a gigantic bureaucratic organization which must be identified, located and corrected (Arthur Christmas,) in common with the three films we had watched one day before.
Just one of those odd coincidences, I guess.
A PIXAR update to Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941, yes, I know of the remake, but I’m going with this one,) with some updates and some changes to both the story mechanics and mythology where rather than making romance the focus, the intent is an exploration of the importance of passion for art, (music, specifically in this case, but it could be anything.)
Even though the story is set up as a series of discoveries I am afraid I need to SPOIL it to discuss it, so if this bothers you, then you know what to do: Go and watch the film first.
Joe Gardner, a musician is called, not only what he feels is before his time, but just prior to the moment he feels he had been waiting his whole life.
In this mythology Heaven seems to exist; Hell gets a mention, but its existence is not verified; but there is a Limbic space for new souls, (see The Blue Bird,) where the unborn are mentored by an experienced soul in preparation for life.
Twenty-Two, one specific soul who has been there much too long judging by how low her assigned number is (except for the fact that time is nonexistent in this plane); and it is to this plane that our protagonist escapes to while on his way to what would have been his eventual afterlife.
Additionally, there is a plane where the living might comingle with the non-living when in a state of (artistic) ecstasy; and yet another plane for souls who have lost their way.
In the chaos caused by Joe's escape he is confused for Twenty-Two’s mentor and, making an unconventional deal, the two escape/fall to Earth where a body mix-up seems initially to ruin their immediate plans, but which might also be construed as part of a larger plan which rules both their destinies.
Other PIXAR movies fail (at least in a specific sense,) in that they are overthought, overproduced, and lose all sense of creative improvisation, (a failing that could have been made even more obvious here because of its emphasis on jazz music.)
The outtakes featured in the credits of some of them (along with animated shorts in some of their featurettes,) are an obvious attempt at faking spontaneity but fail every time in the eyes of an experienced watcher.
One feature we viewed recently provided a complete alternate version of the film using sketches and animatics. It’s obvious these animators are perfectly conscious that something is being lost in the final product.
While obviously relying on cutting edge technology, other studios (Ghibli, for example) try not to produce the level of visual polish PIXAR can achieve by visually adopting the controlled mess of a watercolor, for example.
It’s even more delightfully surprising that PIXAR, this advanced in the game, by abandoning strict faithfulness to the human body, simplifying even more to represent the soul-entities, and introducing yet another form for Osvaldo Cavandoli La Linea-inspired angel-like beings, (who aren’t called that,) has figured out how to avoid the pitfalls.
Along with Ratatouille this might be PIXAR’s most important contribution yet in that it is an honest and heartfelt expression of its animators and creators’ passions, which is exactly what they should have been doing all along.
The film was directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers, who co-wrote it with Mike Jones, and produced by Dana Murray.
With the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove, and Angela Bassett.
Check it out.
In one of those weird, serendipitous phenomena you sometime experience, the movie we watched yesterday included scenes of the afterlife (Scrooge,) kaleidoscopic flying imagery (Beautifica,) and the plot point of a single subject lost in the middle of a gigantic bureaucratic organization which must be identified, located and corrected (Arthur Christmas,) in common with the three films we had watched one day before.
Just one of those odd coincidences, I guess.
A PIXAR update to Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941, yes, I know of the remake, but I’m going with this one,) with some updates and some changes to both the story mechanics and mythology where rather than making romance the focus, the intent is an exploration of the importance of passion for art, (music, specifically in this case, but it could be anything.)
Even though the story is set up as a series of discoveries I am afraid I need to SPOIL it to discuss it, so if this bothers you, then you know what to do: Go and watch the film first.
Joe Gardner, a musician is called, not only what he feels is before his time, but just prior to the moment he feels he had been waiting his whole life.
In this mythology Heaven seems to exist; Hell gets a mention, but its existence is not verified; but there is a Limbic space for new souls, (see The Blue Bird,) where the unborn are mentored by an experienced soul in preparation for life.
Twenty-Two, one specific soul who has been there much too long judging by how low her assigned number is (except for the fact that time is nonexistent in this plane); and it is to this plane that our protagonist escapes to while on his way to what would have been his eventual afterlife.
Additionally, there is a plane where the living might comingle with the non-living when in a state of (artistic) ecstasy; and yet another plane for souls who have lost their way.
In the chaos caused by Joe's escape he is confused for Twenty-Two’s mentor and, making an unconventional deal, the two escape/fall to Earth where a body mix-up seems initially to ruin their immediate plans, but which might also be construed as part of a larger plan which rules both their destinies.
Other PIXAR movies fail (at least in a specific sense,) in that they are overthought, overproduced, and lose all sense of creative improvisation, (a failing that could have been made even more obvious here because of its emphasis on jazz music.)
The outtakes featured in the credits of some of them (along with animated shorts in some of their featurettes,) are an obvious attempt at faking spontaneity but fail every time in the eyes of an experienced watcher.
One feature we viewed recently provided a complete alternate version of the film using sketches and animatics. It’s obvious these animators are perfectly conscious that something is being lost in the final product.
While obviously relying on cutting edge technology, other studios (Ghibli, for example) try not to produce the level of visual polish PIXAR can achieve by visually adopting the controlled mess of a watercolor, for example.
It’s even more delightfully surprising that PIXAR, this advanced in the game, by abandoning strict faithfulness to the human body, simplifying even more to represent the soul-entities, and introducing yet another form for Osvaldo Cavandoli La Linea-inspired angel-like beings, (who aren’t called that,) has figured out how to avoid the pitfalls.
Along with Ratatouille this might be PIXAR’s most important contribution yet in that it is an honest and heartfelt expression of its animators and creators’ passions, which is exactly what they should have been doing all along.
The film was directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers, who co-wrote it with Mike Jones, and produced by Dana Murray.
With the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove, and Angela Bassett.
Check it out.
statistics: Posted by hermanthegerm — 4:04 PM - 1 day ago — Replies 0 — Views 208