Hello everyone, and welcome to another installment of the Nightcrawler Experience!
This is the second of the four- part series I'm doing in partnership with St. John's United Methodist Church's "Summer at the Movies, Around the World" series.
Last week, we were in China for Disney's 'Mulan.' This week, put on your Huarache sandals, because we're going to Mexico for a faith- based look at Pixar's recent smash hit 'Coco.'
In this story, a little boy named Miguel who lives with his large extended family in a small Mexican village finds himself rather torn. His family has outlawed music on the grounds that his great- great- grandfather apparently abandoned his wife and daughter in pursuit of a musical career. In spite of this, Miguel secretly develops a real interest in music and teaches himself how to play guitar, largely driven by the example of a legendary old- school music and film star named Ernesto de la Cruz. Things come to a header during Mexico's famous Day of the Dead celebration, as Miguel comes to strongly suspect that his disgraced, deadbeat great- great- grandfather and his famous musical inspiration/idol may have in fact been the same man! Through a strange twist of events, Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead. In order to get back in time to keep from becoming a permanent resident, Miguel goes on a search through the Land of the Dead with help from a mysterious dog named Dante and the down- and- out spirit of a man named Hector, intent on finding the spirit of Ernesto de la Cruz and getting a family blessing from him that will enable Miguel to return home and again pursue his musical dreams. Miguel ultimately helps to right a past wrong, reconcile with his family, and learn what it means to live a life worth remembering.
'Coco' is quite an impressive film. When I first went into it, I was afraid it would be a ripoff of the film 'The Book of Life' (Another animated film in which Mexico's Day of the Dead and their concept of the afterlife play a big role in the plot) from a few years ago. I'm so glad to say I was wrong about that. It proved to be quite original, and one of Pixar's more memorable films.
One admitted problem I had with 'Coco' was that I thought Miguel's grandmother, Mama Elena, was not a very likable character AT ALL. I could understand her continuing the family's opposition to music even if I didn't agree with it, but she goes WAY too far in that regard. She harasses random street musicians and even physically attacks them at times, and I think the ways she tried to bring a stop to Miguel's interest in music crossed the line from mere "Tough love" and overprotectiveness into malice and viciousness, especially early on when she heartlessly smashes Miguel's guitar right in front of him. It makes me question why the other members of Miguel's family (i.e. his parents) didn't do more to try and get Elena to be more reasonable. Though, in her defense, she did have the pretty funny line of "Go get my shoe!"
Now that that's out of the way, there is a TON of great things to love about 'Coco.' For one thing, the animation is absolutely gorgeous. In particular, the Land of the Dead's visuals are so bright and colorful. It was an unbelievably heartwarming film, great at hitting all the right emotions and making you genuinely feel for the characters. I also thought it was extremely gutsy of the filmmakers to address the subject of dementia/ Alzheimer's Disease in the movie, and for them to do so in a way which was age- appropriate for the kids who are this film's main audience was truly brilliant on their part. The characters other than Mama Elena were very likable and sympathetic, especially Hector, a wonderful character who steals every scene he's in.
The songs in the movie are great, too (This movie contains easily more songs than any past Pixar film). Obviously, the one most likely to stay in your head after the movie is over is "Remember Me," which won an Oscar for Best Song. It is quite a beautiful song, and versatile too, as we heard it used in a lot of different styles and for a lot of different functions all through the film. A couple others that I really liked were the quite funny and catchy "Un Poco Loco" and the gorgeous ending song "My Proud Corazon."
'Coco' is a film with quite a few Scriptural messages, as well, that can teach us more on how to walk with Jesus. In my devotional which was passed out at the screening, I pointed out that the film's questions on how we can live on and be remembered echo what the thief on the cross next to Jesus wondered about in Luke 23:39- 43, and the beauty of the Lord's Kingdom.
There's also a great message on the importance of family. Past visitors to this blog may recall that I named the character Hector in it as being one of my top 10 favorite movie characters from 2017, and brought up that in his regrets over not being there for his family as much as he knew he should have when he was alive, he reminds me of 1 Timothy 5:8, which says that "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.". It is certainly a Biblical truth that we have an obligation to love and care for our families. After all, if we can't show Godly love and support and kindness to our own families, how can we expect to do a good job of showing it to the rest of the world as Jesus called us to do?
Another excellent message on living for Jesus in 'Coco' can be found in how to properly follow your dreams and goals. Miguel learns that, while it is certainly important to follow and pursue our dreams and goals in life, he shouldn't sacrifice the most important things in his life, such as the love of his family, in pursuit of them. This calls to mind Psalm 37:4, which encourages believers to "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." It is a great thing to have goals and dreams for what we'd like to do with our lives, and to actively follow them, but we shouldn't become so consumed with following them that we lose sight of what should be most important to us, such as our relationship with the Lord. If we can actively follow Him, and use our dreams and passions to serve Him, He will grant us success if it's what He has truly called us to do.
So, there we have 'Coco,' a magnificent film about what truly living on forever can look like, the importance of family, and pursuing our dreams the right way. To put it another way, this movie is muy bueno!
So, that wraps up this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Check back with me next week, as I'll be looking at the third entry in this series. Until then, God bless you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment