Recently, there were active rumors that the company Disney contemplating closing his division Pixar… The studio’s cartoons often went negative at high production costs or had a sufficiently high rating and public recognition, but could not offer the same level of income as the products of other branches of the Mouse House. For the production of its latest project to date, Pixar mobilized all forces and attracted a director Pete Docter, who previously created popular animation works such as “Monsters corporation“,”Up“and”Puzzle“And the master’s non-standard approach to the formation of the plot and characters gave its results.
In the center of history “Souls“- a talented musician and part-time music teacher Joe Gardner, who all his life dreamed of performing in a classical jazz band. Once fate smiles at him, and now they are ready to take him as a pianist to a popular group, – you just have to come to the first performance, – and in the school, where he worked as a part-time teacher, looms a full-fledged contract.
It would seem that life is a success, but at the peak of happiness, the main character falls into a sewer hatch and goes to the other world. But instead of a conveyor belt on his way to the light, Joe falls into the dimension of unborn souls, where he becomes the educator of a difficult young soul at number 22. His connection with her, who does not want to go to Earth, gives rise to a number of strange, crazy and comical situations.
For all the simplicity of its approach, “Soul” is focused more on an adult audience. She invites you to think about the meaning of life, finding yourself and your destiny. And even an open ending with a traditional happy ending leaves much more room for thought than a hours-long lecture by a spiritual specialist.
Pete Docter presents the plot in a rather non-standard manner, using both classic techniques from films about New York, and deftly catching the BLM wave. The story focuses on black characters and cultural heritage in the form of jazz. At the same time, there is no artificiality in this approach – heroes, and even jazz itself, are a natural part of the narrative and do not cause rejection. Moreover, the authors are not trying to show racial superiority or social disadvantage – it is just a story of people from the black area of a big city that transcends traditional templates.
Animation, musical numbers and color palette of “Soul” evoke extremely positive emotions, and significant timing is leveled by the dynamism of the plot and the charm of the characters, whom it is simply impossible not to empathize with. And this is probably the most soulful and personal work of the Pixar studio and Docter himself, which is perfect for both family viewing and personal immersion in the warmth of home comfort.
Author: Alexander Loginov (xtr)
9/10
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