Coco
Director: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Ana Ofelia Murguia
Despite his family's generations-old hatred of music, Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). When an argument with his family goes too far, Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead where he meets a charming trickster named Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal). Together, they embark on an extraordinary journey to illuminate the dark secrets behind Miguel's family history.
Memory is one of the strongest themes in this film and nowhere is it more powerfully illustrated that in the character of Miguel and the bond he shares with Mama Coco and Hector.
When Miguel meets Hector in the Land of the Dead, Héctor explains to Miguel that unless there's a relative in the living world who remembers their ancestor, their spirit passes into what they call the “final death”. This is why relatives in the living world display photographs on the family Ofrendas…so the memory of their ancestors will be passed down through generations and their spirits will endure in the Land of the Dead. Hector tells Miguel that he will soon pass into the final death because the only person who remembers Hector from his life is his precious daughter, Coco, and she is slowly forgetting him. When Miguel returns home, he pleads with his Grandmother Coco to remember her father, but it is only when Miguel sings “Remember Me”, the song that Hector wrote to express his love for his beloved daughter, that Coco remembers her beloved Papa. She reveals her secret to Miguel…that she has hidden her Papa’s photograph (along with his letters and poems he wrote for her) close to her heart so that she would always remember him.
I think, in her own way, Mama Coco was trying to protect the memory of her precious father by keeping his photograph hidden from her family. It is not Mama Coco who places the photographs and flowers on the family's Ofrenda....it is her daughter who arranges the family’s photographs on the Ofrenda...and her daughter loathes music with a passion….as did Coco’s mother, Mama Imelda. They both believed that Coco’s father abandoned his family to pursue his dream of being a musician and so music is forbidden in their family. When Coco shows Miguel her father’s photograph, it is only his face is torn from the picture....not the whole picture with the guitar....just her father's face. I believe the photograph being torn in this way is not just mere happenstance…I believe Coco took the photograph and kept it because she believed that if she gave the photograph to her daughter, it would be destroyed. So she kept the photograph with her, remembering her beloved father in secret, until Miguel sang her the song that her father, Hector, had written only for her. When Miguel sang her the song, she knew that to remember her Papa, she needed to give the photo to Miguel so that Hector's memory would endure and they would be reunited.
“Coco” is, without a doubt, one of the most unique films that Pixar has created to date. The animation is some of the most creative and visually stunning that Pixar has produced since "Finding Nemo". The story, while more emotionally deep than some of Pixar's other films, is one that both children and adults can relate to because the message is so uniquely heartwarming and timeless. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2019 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Ana Ofelia Murguia
Despite his family's generations-old hatred of music, Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). When an argument with his family goes too far, Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead where he meets a charming trickster named Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal). Together, they embark on an extraordinary journey to illuminate the dark secrets behind Miguel's family history.
Memory is one of the strongest themes in this film and nowhere is it more powerfully illustrated that in the character of Miguel and the bond he shares with Mama Coco and Hector.
When Miguel meets Hector in the Land of the Dead, Héctor explains to Miguel that unless there's a relative in the living world who remembers their ancestor, their spirit passes into what they call the “final death”. This is why relatives in the living world display photographs on the family Ofrendas…so the memory of their ancestors will be passed down through generations and their spirits will endure in the Land of the Dead. Hector tells Miguel that he will soon pass into the final death because the only person who remembers Hector from his life is his precious daughter, Coco, and she is slowly forgetting him. When Miguel returns home, he pleads with his Grandmother Coco to remember her father, but it is only when Miguel sings “Remember Me”, the song that Hector wrote to express his love for his beloved daughter, that Coco remembers her beloved Papa. She reveals her secret to Miguel…that she has hidden her Papa’s photograph (along with his letters and poems he wrote for her) close to her heart so that she would always remember him.
I think, in her own way, Mama Coco was trying to protect the memory of her precious father by keeping his photograph hidden from her family. It is not Mama Coco who places the photographs and flowers on the family's Ofrenda....it is her daughter who arranges the family’s photographs on the Ofrenda...and her daughter loathes music with a passion….as did Coco’s mother, Mama Imelda. They both believed that Coco’s father abandoned his family to pursue his dream of being a musician and so music is forbidden in their family. When Coco shows Miguel her father’s photograph, it is only his face is torn from the picture....not the whole picture with the guitar....just her father's face. I believe the photograph being torn in this way is not just mere happenstance…I believe Coco took the photograph and kept it because she believed that if she gave the photograph to her daughter, it would be destroyed. So she kept the photograph with her, remembering her beloved father in secret, until Miguel sang her the song that her father, Hector, had written only for her. When Miguel sang her the song, she knew that to remember her Papa, she needed to give the photo to Miguel so that Hector's memory would endure and they would be reunited.
“Coco” is, without a doubt, one of the most unique films that Pixar has created to date. The animation is some of the most creative and visually stunning that Pixar has produced since "Finding Nemo". The story, while more emotionally deep than some of Pixar's other films, is one that both children and adults can relate to because the message is so uniquely heartwarming and timeless. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2019 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.