Last night, Alex and I went to see the new Disney/Pixar collaboration “Brave”. I was disappointed—wait, before you overreact and claim it was incredible (I doubt). I didn’t enjoy it because of television…that post is coming later.
I was, however, pleasantly surprised with the short before the feature presentation. We all know that Pixar is the best at animation. We love what they do. For years now, they’ve been entertaining us with short little animations (thus, “short”) before the film. The longest Pixar short is the seven minute “La Luna”, written and directed by Enrico Casarosa (watch for this guy’s work, it’s sure to be monumental), is the short before ”Brave”. It was partially the reason why the movie failed for me.
La Lunasets up a tale of three generations with each older generation trying to press that their way is the right way of doing things, but the youngest has his own methods which both respect and differ from the ways of his elders. That was heart-warming, yes, but the thrill was in the magic.
I don’t know why you see movies. Each one of us has a different motive for watching a movie. My personal motive is for the magic. You know when a film’s got the magic. Usually, it’s a combination of many elements. When I was watching “La Luna”, there were moments (most of the short) when I recalled “The Wizard of Oz”—one moment in particular. When Dorothy gets to Oz and we see everything in that sepia toned color in her house and she opens the door and it’s like you see color for the first time. That’s magical. Often, it makes no difference if the movie’s shot in black and white or color. You’d still get everything out of it. There are times when a film needs it. It is that color that reminds you first and foremost, thank God, film is art and magic simultaneously.
“La Luna” has been nominated for a 2012 Academy Award for Best Short and I have no doubt it’s got it. Please, paying $8.50 for a ticket to see “Brave” is worth it even if you leave after the short.
The best thing about “La Luna”,undeniably,is remembering what cine-magic looks like.
