Coco
03/03/18 Filed in: Cinema
A Pixar film is always worth a trip to the cinema and Coco doesn't disappoint. These days the animation is so good that you sometimes forget just how much the technology has advanced. A mind-boggling amount of time and effort goes into producing a cast of life-like characters within a setting that is equally realistic.
Set in Santa Cecilia, Mexico, the story revolves around a young boy, Miguel, who has a passion for music. But, unfortunately for him, music is banned in his family, a rule stringently enforced by his grandmother Elena. The reason behind the ban goes back to when his great-great-grandmother, Imelda, was deserted by her musician husband who left to pursue a career in music. At that time, they had a three-year-old daughter, Coco, who is now a great age and lives with the family. Elena strives to protect Coco from the event that left her without a father; thus the ban on music.
Miguel, however, dreams of becoming a great musician, like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, who was popular during Coco's generation. It is Dia de Muertos, that is the Day of the Dead, when people remember and pray for family members who have died. Candles are lit and photos of these relatives are placed in the family ofrenda (offering), a ritual alter. In Miguel family's ofrenda is a photograph that shows Imelda, but the face of her husband has been torn off. However, his body is still visible and alongside him is an ornate guitar. Miguel recognises the guitar as that of Ernesto de la Cruz, which is kept in a Ernesto's mausoleum. He deduces, therefore, that Ernesto must have been Coco's father.
There is a talent show in the plaza that Miguel dearly wants to enter, but Elena has broken his guitar. Having unsuccessfully tried to borrow one from the other competitors, he decides to take Ernesto's from the mausoleum. But while still in there the locals spot that the guitar is missing, and as Miguel tries to hide he steps on the carpet of marigold leaves and is transported into the Land of the Dead. The living people can no longer see him, but for he now has his dead relatives for company and, surprisingly, the street dog Dante, that crossed with him. On this day the dead visit the Land of the Living by crossing a marigold arched bridge, but they can only do so if their photo has been placed in an ofrenda. Miguel has removed the photo of his great-great-grandmother Imelda, barring her from the Dia de Muertos holiday visit.
Miguel comes as a bit of a shock to the dead people he meets, but he has been cursed for stealing from the dead, and if he doesn't return to the land of the living before sunrise he will become dead and join them for good. His return is conditional upon receiving a blessing from a member of his family using an Aztec Marigold petal, but Imelda will only do this if Miguel promises to abandon his wish to be a musician. Seemingly faced with an impossible dilemma, he meets Héctor, a down-on-his-luck skeleton who also cannot make the visit to the Land of the Living because nobody is showing his photo. He tells Miguel that he knows Ernesto. Because Miguel believes Ernesto to be his relative, he makes a deal to take Héctor's photo back with him to the Land of the Living if Héctor can introduce him to Ernesto, who Miguel is sure will bless him without insisting that he gives up his music.
And so they set off, pursued by the dead members of Miguel's family and the 'security' men. But Miguel will find out that there is much more to the story of Imelda, Coco and Coco's father than what he was told by his grandmother Elena. What he learns will not only change his life, but also that of his living relatives, and most of all that of Coco.
Combining such a life-affirming story with the idea of the Land of the Dead is a big ask, but Disney have pulled it off with a spectacular and enjoyable film. The PG classification is probably advisable, but I don't believe that many children would find this charming film anything but thoroughly enjoyable.
There is a talent show in the plaza that Miguel dearly wants to enter, but Elena has broken his guitar. Having unsuccessfully tried to borrow one from the other competitors, he decides to take Ernesto's from the mausoleum. But while still in there the locals spot that the guitar is missing, and as Miguel tries to hide he steps on the carpet of marigold leaves and is transported into the Land of the Dead. The living people can no longer see him, but for he now has his dead relatives for company and, surprisingly, the street dog Dante, that crossed with him. On this day the dead visit the Land of the Living by crossing a marigold arched bridge, but they can only do so if their photo has been placed in an ofrenda. Miguel has removed the photo of his great-great-grandmother Imelda, barring her from the Dia de Muertos holiday visit.
Miguel comes as a bit of a shock to the dead people he meets, but he has been cursed for stealing from the dead, and if he doesn't return to the land of the living before sunrise he will become dead and join them for good. His return is conditional upon receiving a blessing from a member of his family using an Aztec Marigold petal, but Imelda will only do this if Miguel promises to abandon his wish to be a musician. Seemingly faced with an impossible dilemma, he meets Héctor, a down-on-his-luck skeleton who also cannot make the visit to the Land of the Living because nobody is showing his photo. He tells Miguel that he knows Ernesto. Because Miguel believes Ernesto to be his relative, he makes a deal to take Héctor's photo back with him to the Land of the Living if Héctor can introduce him to Ernesto, who Miguel is sure will bless him without insisting that he gives up his music.
And so they set off, pursued by the dead members of Miguel's family and the 'security' men. But Miguel will find out that there is much more to the story of Imelda, Coco and Coco's father than what he was told by his grandmother Elena. What he learns will not only change his life, but also that of his living relatives, and most of all that of Coco.
Combining such a life-affirming story with the idea of the Land of the Dead is a big ask, but Disney have pulled it off with a spectacular and enjoyable film. The PG classification is probably advisable, but I don't believe that many children would find this charming film anything but thoroughly enjoyable.