Luca – Pixar Works Emotions Like An Equation
What is a sea monster? I mean, what could someone who lives underwater be a metaphor for? Luca and Alberto mention their dreams multiple times about owning a Vespa and travelling the world together. They just want to be free, or perhaps they just don’t wanna be tied down.
Luca is a sea monster who lives underwater. He does some daily chores like feeding the fish and staying out of sight of the humans. He is told the world above is a dangerous place. Yet, he is inquisitive. He just wants to glimpse the potential of a different world. Different from the daily. Different from the mundane. He finds another soul like his own, Alberto, who waits for his father to show up. But by the looks of things, he won’t show up anytime soon. Both the boys instantly hit it off. They dream alike, so they experiment with their newfound freedom together. Alberto introduces the inner critical voice that cautions them to test their limits, as Bruno. And that they must silence Bruno to do whatever it is that they want to do.
And then we meet Guilia. And one cannot help feel the tickle of delight at the thought of another trio like Harry, Ron and Hermione interacting. Their story is delightful. And at every stage, it grows in a precisely calculated manner. It develops as if carved carefully after understanding the rules of storytelling. Perfectly times and beautifully drawn hence realised in picturesque scenes. Perhaps one flaw is the one-dimensional bully who is the obvious bad boy too old to participate in the Portorosso Cup Race. He muscles his way around the community of scared boys. And targets them to follow his plans due to fear of being punched otherwise. Besides that, there’s so much to love about Pixar’s Luca, including the always spectacular animation, charming voice cast and melodic music.
Director Enrico Casarosa, Before joining Pixar, Casarosa worked as a storyboard artist at Blue Sky Studios on Ice Age. In 2002, Casarosa joined Pixar, where he worked as a story artist on Cars, Ratatouille, Up and Cars 2. It’s great to see his growth as a true artist and then allowed to helm a story from his native land.