What to Watch - Luca
by Chelsea House, GGR Chief Media Correspondent
It’s possible that not everyone is as tuned in to the latest Disney releases as many of our writers and editors here at GGR (yes, Mike that’s pointed at you). There’s no shame in that! Part of the reason why we do what we do is to let people know what media out there that you may enjoy! So let’s talk about one of Disney’s latest releases.
Luca is the latest animated film from the House of Mouse. It is on their streaming service, Disney+ and currently, that is the only way to see it. It came out June 13th of this year and stars Jacob Tremblay (Wonder) as Luca, Jack Dylan Grazer (Shazam!) as Alberto, Jim Gaffigan (stand-up special on Netflix called Obsessed) as Lorenzo, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids) as Daniela, and relative new-comer Emma Berman as Giulia.
Basic Description:
Luca is a coming of age film from the perspective of a young sea monster, Luca, who just wants to explore the world. It’s incredibly wholesome, silly at times, and is a wonderful nod to the beautiful Italian culture. Before diving into some spoilers and my breakdown, here’s a spoiler free review: kids of all ages will love this film. The visuals are incredibly colorful and are constantly moving which is enough to keep even the youngest child’s attention. The soundtrack is plucky, smooth, and so very suited to the story. The hardest concept to maybe explain to younger children would be the tension between two living things and what consequences that can have.
*Spoilers ahead*
Here are the four things I really loved about this film.
The Animation:
Enrico Casarosa directed Luca and showed us a brand new approach to animation from what the audience normally expects from Pixar. It bears an almost careless approach to the human anatomy, showing large bright eyes, rounded red noses, and wide stick figure-esque mouth expressions. The ears are set almost too far back, and the face shapes almost look like potatoes. But you know what? I loved it, every ounce of it gangly limbs and big eyes included. After doing some research, it turns out Enrico is a huge fan of Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli), and you really get a lot of nods to that animation in Luca, especially with the spunky look of the main character’s faces.
Andrea Warren (Producer) stated, “That sense of boiling things down to the essence of what they are - of the place, of the moment, of the feeling - and allowing those things to shine in their... 'simplicity' isn't always the right word, but when you can see them for their essence." when talking about Casarosa’s short film La Luna and how that animation translated to Luca. I think those are the right words for the animation. The lack of complexity makes everything sing so well together. Nothing is quite overshadowed. It all just plays well together and helps the audience to focus on the overall story.
The Music:
Casarosa worked with composer Dan Rover to make the soundtrack as authentic to Italian culture as possible while also giving the authentic roller coaster of emotions that Pixar movie scores tend to have. Dan Rover got to draw from Frederico Fellini, a well-known Italian filmmaker, to create some of his own music for Luca. A lot of the songs throughout the movie are pulled from the 1950’s Italian Pop era and you even get a little bit of opera sprinkled throughout. I absolutely love when a movie makes you go, “Oh, I love that! I want to see who sings that!” because it almost always sends me down a spiraling hole of being engrossed with a brand-new type of music. Needless to say, I will be cooking to a lot of these songs in the future.
The music does a great job of authentically bringing you to that little island glistening in the sun. It makes me think of riding bikes and eating popsicles as a kid and brings back that little twinkle of mischief that I often had in my eye while getting into all kinds of things with my cousins. It launches you right into sunny summers before electronics where entertainment was sometimes a stick and a towel for a cape. Simpler times.
3: Luca and Alberto:
Luca is a kid just trying to follow all the rules. He says so a lot with his constant declaration of “I’m a good kid!” His curiosity inevitably wins over his strong desire to keep his parents happy and thus enters Alberto, a super overconfident kid filled with a lot of drive and not a lot of guidance. When Luca meets him, he is quickly swept away with all the things Alberto is “an expert” in. After all, Alberto lives the life Luca has only dreamt of living. They quickly become thick as thieves and begin dreaming about the future together. In doing so, they also meet the driven, bright, and energy filled Giulia.
Casarosa has stated in several interviews that the movie is about friendships before girlfriends and boyfriends come in and complicate things. He also stated that the movie is a happy nod to those friends that really carve us into the adults that we are soon to become: the friends that love us no matter what we do or who we are. I loved that this film that really pushes this type of friendship home. In a world where we’re all pushed to grow up so fast, this film shows the highlights of a bygone era where perhaps friendships of this kind were way common. Studies have shown that the future pandemic for our world is loneliness, mostly because people have lost the touch of what having a close ride-or-die friend is all about. “Am I too much?” is a question that’s asked a couple of times, and is answered with a giggle and a reassurance that the character is indeed not too much. That in itself, no matter how you want to let the film speak to you (which was also encouraged by Casarosa), is such a deeply comforting and beautiful statement. I still have a friend in my life that has seen me in probably every light possible, and I know if I asked her “am I too much?” the answer would be the same, a giggle and a no. That’s stuff that carries you through. The Nickelodeon show Little Bear had a song “Whether the weather is cold, whether the weather is hot, we’ll weather the weather, no matter the weather, whether we like it or not.” Even in the third act, when all three step into the next phase of their life, you feel this heart warming statement.
4: Letting Go:
“Look in my eye. You know I love you, right?” Daniela says this throughout the movie to her sweet Luca boy, mostly whenever she has said something stern to him. Luca’s reaction to this statement changes depending on the situation, but her desperation and conviction in the words remain the same. It’s a feeling every mother has as they watch their boy grow into the independent man they’re going to be. Learning when to cut the strings and when to do what you feel is best for them can be difficult. Maya does a great job of making Daniela’s character feel more lifelike and not just the annoying anchor holding Luca down in his adventures. After all, to a sea monster, the land monsters are terrifying.
Again, no matter how you relate to the film, every parent has a fear of whether their child will be accepted into this great big world. Will they be picked on, loved, embraced, pushed away? Will they find success, or will they fall hard on their face? Did I do enough to teach them how to be a good person in this world? Did I do enough to show them how to be the person they were made to be? Augh, the anxiety is making my heartbeat just typing the words.
Yes, Daniela is probably considered overprotective and possibly even a helicopter mom, but I think most parents could understand her thoughts.There’s a scene at the end of the film I loved so much. Luca is packed and ready to leave with Giulia, and Daniela is so filled with pride for her child and fear for his future, and Luca grabs her face and says her words “Look in my eye. You know I love you, right?” Be still my heart. Letting go. It is a hard and necessary part of life. Luca does a great job of highlighting the beauty and tension of it.
You could get a lot of different things out of the movie in all of its beautiful simplicity. I recommend you watch it, have conversations about what it meant to you! It’s well worth the time.