Pixar's Inside Out press conference and Travolta Cooper at Cannes.
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Cannes, France - Collaboration.
Communication. The idea of operating as one unit has been a core theme in these
essays from Cannes. Such a theme made watching Pixar’s new film
Inside
Out the most memorable experience I’ve had at the festival. Disney’s
Pixar Studios is a studio consisting of several computer animation filmmakers. They’re
famously collaborative, all operating as one unit. John Lassater, who’s been
called as its “Creative Officer”, heads the studio. Mr. Lassater directed
Toy
Story, the first film unveiled from Pixar in 1995. Since then there
have been two more Toy Story films (making it one of the best trilogies in the
history of cinema) produced over a ten-year period and in between several
classic titles from Pixar. These titles include
Ratouille, and
The Incredible,
(directed by Brad Bird),
Wall-E and
Finding Nemo (directed by
Andrew Stanton), and
Up (directed by Pete Docter). Pete
Docter returns to direct
Inside-Out, Pixar’s fifteenth film,
and while it is a bold and somewhat dubious declaration to proclaim this to be
Pixar’s best (there are so many jewels in this crown) I’ll go out on a limb and
say it anyway. This might be the best Pixar film ever. I’ll go a bit further
and say that this might be the best film of 2015.
Inside Out is the story of Riley, an eleven-year-old girl who is
uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco.
Like all of us, Riley is guided by the voice (her emotions) in her head. In the
case of
Inside Out, this is literally the case. These emotions are personified
as Joy (voiced Amy Poehler). Joy is the
main and lead emotion who aims to keep all things positive. The story begins with
Riley’s mother (voiced by Diane Lane) giving birth to a newborn Riley. As it
happens, Joy appears and is naturally there to guide. Joy is quite content to
be alone and steer Riley’s life, so she’s a bit bothered when company
arrives. This company arrives in the
form of Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Fear (voiced by Bill Hader) Anger
(voiced by Lewis Black) and Disgust (voiced by Mindy Kaling). All five emotions live in ‘Headquarters’ the
control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise and steer her
through everyday life.
It is a fascinating and
ingenious concept. And the end result is nothing short of astonishing. Watching
the picture, it felt like Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze decided to
collaborate with Pixar on a story. One critic told me he got the impression
that this is the film Alfred Hitchcock would make if he did an animated movie. Like
the best of Pixar films it connects with you on both a cerebral and visceral
level. It’s both concrete and abstract. It is entertaining and engaging for
both adults and children. It is the highest of art, all disguised as popcorn
entertainment. I walked into the screening with conflicting emotions of my own.
On one end, I was filled with joy to be at the premiere of a Pixar film, and on
the other end saddened by the lack of Caribbean content at the film festival. In
the film, the turning pint happens as Riley faces the reality of her new life
in San Francisco. Once this happens, Joy
and Sadness embark on a special journey into the outer limits of Riley’s mind. All
of this while Fear, Anger and Disgust are left alone in Headquarters to guide.
Inside Out on the surface is basically (among many other things)
a coming-of-age tale. And this particular one is as universal and human as they
come. Collaboration is the theme that most spoke to me after this first
screening. This could be perhaps because of the space I occupied knowing full
well that if there will be a Regional Film industry then it will only happen as
a collaborative effort. Collaboration and communication is key to our emerging
film industry and we all play a role in how she comes-of-age. As with all Pixar
films, I’m sure I’ll see something else after another screening (I can’t wait
to see it again). By the end of the screening as the credits rolled I was on my
feet applauding. And then I looked around to see that the entire audience was
also on its feet. It was the longest standing ovation of all the screenings at
Cannes.
Other coverage:
Boos and Cheers at Cannes
Cannes: Myths and Legends
Bahamian production, The Cinemas on location at Cannes Film Festival
