"¡SILENZIO, BRUNO!" A Classical adventure structured with artistry and cultural intelligence! An extreme devotion to artistry and culture. LUCA is an instant classic for generations to come, and will stand the tests of time. This is the film that represents what awareness in society should be. Cultivating the parameters of the world we are presented with today.
Here on 'JHN', we tend to focus on the "How well was it written?" in films, because the writing is essential to what it means to have an idea come to life on screen in peak form. Let's take a different angle on screenwriting this time, and focus on the cultural and ethnic identity of LUCA.
Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, and Simon Stephenson were very intentional on how they wanted their vision to come to life. Giving watchers a distinct fictional verbatim of the culture in "Portorosso"; life on the Italian Coastline. Films like "Raya the Last Dragon", lack a sense of genuineness in comparison. The language patterns seem generic and misplaced. While the writers from LUCA made a genuine effort to understand who, and what they were writing LUCA for. The young Italian child. Our society greatly needs this sense of direction here in America in particular. We have come to a place where we always seem to have uninspired impersonations of a specified social group to profit from them. LUCA doesn't attempt to pander to an all American crowd where it's written to comfort subjective norms. It's written to inspire a specified audience. Yet it is increasingly inspirational for all. So here lies the examples: you do not need to pander to create inspirational art. In fact it is quite the opposite, because you subject an individualized group to your own understanding, as opposed to understanding an individualized group from their understanding. "¡SANTA MOZZARELLA!" There were times in LUCA where I had difficulty following the language. That's how it should be, right? I shouldn't understand it right away, because I am not of Italian decent, but when I change my perspective, I eventually start to understand and relate to "¡SANTA MOZZARELLA!" moments throughout LUCA.
Leading directly into why you can't stop saying "¡SILENZIO, BRUNO!" An inspiring story about friendship! Times have significantly changed. Devised scripts around person to person relations have taken a big seat to plot inducing writing. The story has to be centered around a non-human object or subject or the viewer may tend to lose interest with the attention span being so much lower than it was in the 40s, 50s, 70s, or most recently the 90s. I remember as a child watching my favorite show 'Boy Meets World', and how much I learned about relationships. Cory and Shawn always played off of each other, and their relationship was always front and center above any of the troubles of life. We get reminiscence of that with Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Luca (Jacob Tremblay). No matter where the action went, at the center, it was always Luca and Alberto. Helping us learn the importance of having a friend along with you through the journey of life. Through ups and downs, there's always more to learn and experience in your adventure.
Speaking of "adventure", the vivid art of Luca's imagination was so unique. The dreams of Luca were painted seamlessly. The colors weren't overexposed; they were mellow, yet sharp enough to allow you to visualize that the dreams were not reality along with the glowing shade around the edges of the screen. The fantasies were mindful enough not to cause a dynamic that would overshadow the goals of the balancing of the film. Simply "magnífico". The partnering of the chemistry with Alberto and Luca along with the open mind of dreams allowed me to have sympathy for the bromance. Internally, they pictured a world they would explore with no one but one another. Too much? Maybe, but Naruto and Sasuke are much worse.
This motion picture skips out on perfection. The pacing could have been a tad bit slower. The plot reveal was so subtle, it felt redundant at its exposure. I also felt there could have been more space used. Exploring the borders of Portorosso felt mundane. Especially with how much passion a lot of this picture was illustrated with. The different concepts on the boats, at the center of Portorosso... could have been used in a more creative manner to show more diversity. The comic relief was so strong on and off the water, it often compensated for the lack of scenery. "Señior Vespa" was extraordinary. Playing and even extending his role to where he wasn't simply used for comic relief. Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo) created tension and drama. Creating the tone in various scenes. Yet not carrying the entirety of the film in the acting department, because he was countered by strong acts by Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman). These two created a tension that had so much balance and strength, they had a huge impact on the tonality of the entire film. But it wasn't as strong as the bond created between Luca and Alberto.
You can always count on Pixar! Pixar finds a way to get it right. Studying and diving deep into cultural and ethnic understanding, and making it the centerfold of what they want to accomplish on screen. In this regard, this motion picture reminded me of 'Ratatouille'. The passion is never lacking. The creators are never afraid! "¡SILENZIO, BRUNO!"
You've seen 'LUCA', so leave a review and let me know what YOU thought!