When it comes the Oscars, the clichรฉ has always been that
“it’s an honor just to be nominated.” And while the actual nominees are free to
disagree, there are many ways in which the bromide holds true — particularly
for the independent films that break through to Hollywood’s biggest night. And
by far the biggest boost an Academy Award nomination can give a film is
exposure. Just look at this year’s nominees for Best Animated Feature
(inevitably the category with the most interesting and diverse range of films):
Sure, the big guns — Disney and Pixar — often dominate in terms of actual wins,
but the category always finds space for some delightfully offbeat and
unexpected choices among the nominations. From the kid-friendly “Shaun the
Sheep Movie” and the wistful “When Marnie Was There” to the Pixar blockbuster
“Inside Out,” and the adults-only “Anomalisa,” the
five nominated films run the gamut in terms of style, budget, subject matter, and
country of origin.
Probably the
least known among this year’s batch of the nominees, Brazilian director Alรช Abreu’s imaginative environmental parable “Boy & the
World” has finally opened in Rochester for a month-long run at The Little
Theatre. The film is being released in the US by GKids,
an indie distributor specializing in animation from around the world, with an
outstanding track record for bringing this type of small, high-quality film to
America (and to the Oscar’s attention). Without its efforts leading to a
crucial nomination, it is unlikely local audiences would have ever had an
opportunity to see the film on the big screen.
The film
tells the story of a small, carefree young boy (identified as Cuca in the
credits) living on his family’s farm in the country. Beginning with a mostly
white screen, we see Cuca frolicking through nature, exploring his surroundings
as the environment gradually fills in around him. The story progresses and the
images expand and grow more detailed as the boy’s perspective broadens,
allowing us to see the world through his eyes. The farm is unable to sustain
the family, and the boy’s father is forced to leave home to find work in the
city. Shortly after, Cuca also leaves home to search of his father, and along
the way he encounters a world more complicated, scary, and confusing than he
ever imagined.
Gradually
the film’s messages come into focus. As Cuca travels from the country into the
big city, he meets a few individuals who bestow some kindness on him. First is
an elderly man who picks cotton in the fields outside the city. The city itself
presents an immaculate, gleaming image from afar, but up close it’s a land of
squalor and decay — a far cry from the Eden-like environment where the boy grew
up. In this urban dystopia, Cuca is taken in by a young street musician who
toils in a factory, manufacturing products to be sent off overseas. Both the
old man and the younger are part of a larger working class being exploited by
the titans of industry.
Delivering a
message warning of the dangers of globalization and capitalism, the film may
not be subtle, but stylistically it dazzles. The animation has a tactile,
handcrafted aesthetic that seemingly incorporates a variety of mediums: crayons
and colored pencils, collage, and bit of computer animation. The whimsically
imaginative and colorful design style at times resembles elaborate renderings
of children’s drawings. Mandalas and kaleidoscope imagery are recurring motifs,
and Abreu frequently switches to overhead views, transforming the frame into
beautiful geometric patterns. One section shifts to live-action footage,
showing us a montage of pollution and deforestation. The jump is jarring
(likely intentionally so), though it seems unnecessary as by that point the
message has already been heard loud and clear.
The story is
told almost entirely without spoken words; what little dialogue is present is
delivered as intelligible gibberish (apparently Portuguese played backwards).
The mood is set by Ruben Feffer and Gustavo Kurlat’s percussive score, which incorporates Carnivale-like parade music, Brazilian hip-hop, and a
mournful flute melody. In the film’s world, music is a major force of good,
unifying the people and lifting their spirits when times seem bleakest. Often
the notes come to life on the screen, emerging from instruments and floating
through the air in the form of multicolored bubbles.
While
younger audiences can enjoy the bright, lively animation style of “Boy & the
World,” the story resonates on another level entirely for adult viewers,
delivering a rather melancholy moral wrapped in wide-eyed childlike wonder.
This article appears in Apr 6-12, 2016.
