Up: Expressionistic cinema at its very best

Expressionistic cinema is always interesting since it manages to extend the boundaries of human imagination. Not only does it allow us to imagine our deepest wishes but also watch them as they are portrayed on the big screen. It also provides a simple breakaway from the monotonies of day-to-day life. Up is a film which joins the league of excellent expressionistic films. Being an animated film with an exception it manages to form a class of its own.

When an old man becomes a widower with the recent demise of his wife, he stumbles upon some of her photographs and is reminded of a promise he made to her in their youth. Acknowledging that he wasn’t able to fulfil her only wish during her life, he immediately takes it upon himself to fulfil his promise to her. Just as a demolition team arrives to take down his house he successfully gets the house airborne by tying it with innumerable balloons. His plan is to land the house upon a waterfall where his wife’s idol had once landed a hot air balloon. But the old man is unaware that there is a boy scout on board as the house takes off. Realising that the old man and his house are journeying to South America, the boy voices his opinion of wishing to see a rare creature which lives in the jungles there. The tale ensues as the old man and the boy try to fulfil their wishes while stumbling across many hurdles, helping each other out and finally succeeding in their missions.

The film was directed by Pete Docter and released in the year 2009. It was a production under the Pixar banner and features the brilliant animation they are known to have. The personification of the animated characters comes through perfectly which is something that has come to be expected of Pixar.

The storyline of the film is extraordinary since the key points in the plot are interesting events that are unimaginable without the right context. It is impossible to understand how an old man would be able to carry a house on his back or how the entire house could be lifted off its foundations in the first place, the film has dealt with it superbly by keeping a light-hearted tone throughout. The imagination which has gone into the making of the film clearly shows since the film is bursting with creative ideas.

The use of vibrant colours and many shades was very visually appealing. The most appealing element of the film is the innocence with which the characters are portrayed. Since it is a drama-comedy film and most of the characters come across as being fairly honest and innocent, the humour comes forth in the form of simplicity of the characters mostly. Being a film for family audiences it has been executed simply with no major need for a complicated story or execution.

It is a splendid animated film which sets a landmark for other animations since it has a simple story with an excellent portrayal. On the whole, Up is a fascinating film which has made use of light-hearted humour to portray relationships and imagination. It set a standard for a new way of thinking.

Ice Age - Continental Drift: A pleasant break from life’s fast pace

It is important to remind ourselves to slow down every once in a while and enjoy life as we did when we were children. Life moves too quickly in modern times, so much so that we forget the little things in life which are important and which should matter more to us than the more tangible possessions we tend to care about. To break it down, reminding ourselves of the little children in all of us is important and sometimes being a little immature and childish may just be the best thing for the long run.

Manny, Diego and Sid get separated from Manny’s family, wife Ellie and daughter Peaches, when an unfortunate event leads to the continents breaking apart and beginning to drift away. Ellie, Peaches and the rest of their herd keep moving on land as Manny, Diego, Sid and Sid’s Granny are set adrift on an iceberg. The trio and Granny try their level best to make it back to the herd but all efforts are in vain as they encounter the forces of Nature followed by a group of fierce pirates on the vast waters of the ocean. Captain Gutt of the pirates gives them an ultimatum to join his crew or walk the plank but with other ideas in mind, Manny and Diego destroy the iceberg ship and slowly drift to shore with Sid, his Granny and the pirate first mate, a Sabertooth named Shira who becomes Diego’s love interest. In a desperate attempt to get back to his family, Manny hitches a plan to steal Captain Gutt’s ship which brings on the wrath of Gutt in a final showdown.

Also known as Ice Age 4, the film is just as its prequels; entertaining and suitable for all ages. The film is a pleasant break from the continuous bombardment of sex, violence and more which is witnessed in other commercial films. A children’s or family film, it is a good experience for anyone who is ready to leave behind their inhibitions of terming a children’s movie as being childish.

This film is nothing special; it’s just a nice reminder of what life used to be like when we were kids. This film, or any children’s film, should definitely be on everyone’s watch-list.

Dumbo: When you see an elephant fly

No matter what age you may reach, you are never truly too old to enjoy cartoons. One of the reasons for this is that most cartoons are made as family movies which appeal to people of all age groups. Another reason is that animation helps portray certain scenes and ideas which would otherwise be inconvenient to perform in a normal live-action format. This is also the case with the 1941 animated classic Dumbo from Walt Disney.

As storks fly high above a circus and deliver babies to animals in their cages, an elephant by the name of Mrs Jumbo is displeased to not receive her little bundle of joy. As the circus packs up to move to another location, Mrs Jumbo is despondent but goes along nevertheless. En route the train journey, a stork finally comes along and delivers a little baby elephant to the expectant mother. Mrs Jumbo decides to name her newborn Jumbo Jr and showers her affection upon him. But what she is slow to realise is that Jumbo Jr has exceptionally large ears which form the base of ridicule that is cast upon him by other animals in the circus. The glares and lewd mocks are not spared even from the visitors to the circus, the other performers or the ringmaster. This leads to him being nicknamed Dumbo as a degrading remark about his large flapping ears and his clumsy nature. Dumbo is demoted to working as an extra in the routine performed by the clowns as his mother is locked up in solitary confinement in her bid to protect him. He must now prove his worth with the aid of his one and only friend, a mouse.

Dumbo is one of the many Walt Disney feature films which go down as classics in the genre of animation. In hindsight, the film shows plenty of angles of society in the time frame which it was made. The film shows the negative aspects of stereotyping and prejudice which is witnessed by Dumbo during the course of the film. It also shows how members of an elite society try to separate themselves from people they wouldn’t consider to fit the bill of their standards and how they wash their hands off issues that do not concern them which can be seen in the scorn shown by the other elephants towards Dumbo.

One of the few negative aspects of the film can be seen in a racial stereotyping which can be witnessed in a scene where the two main characters meet the crows. There is also a scene involving intoxication and hallucinations which does not seem to fit into the film especially considering the startling style in which the scene has been made and the fact that the film is primarily meant for family audiences.

The animation, the dialogues and the song performances in the film are stellar. There is good reason the film can be hailed as a classic for the ages. It ranks well in the must-watch category.