So here it is, the first Cannes review of 2009- and what better way to announce the start of the ceremony than with the grand unveiling of Disney/Pixar's
Up? Forget
Inglourious Basterds, forget
Taking Woodstock and forget
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus,
this movie is the centre-piece of this year's fest because it represents something greater than merely a movie. This was the moment that the festival truly embraced the blitzkreig technological advance that is the new
3D Revolution, and subsequently stole a march on a massive portion of the industry, who still lag embarrassingly in terms of the number of screens with 3D capabilities. But this isnt just notable as the moment Cannes embraced 3D: it is also the moment that this new technological usurper achieves exactly what every new advancement seeks... Today was the day when 3D gained respect. Look beyond
Thierry Fremaux's assertion that they opened their doors to 3D because it is "one of cinema's upcoming adventures", and you'll find an unbelievable confidence in the medium. The kind of confidence that would entrust the opening set-piece of the world's premier festival to a relatively new cinematic development- all respect to the exciting 3D productions already being made,
this is the validation the next gen film-makers needed . Hopefully this will act as the galvanisor that the industry needs to speed up the painfully slow roll-out across the globe- if the success of
Up's use of the medium is anything to go by, the chances are increasingly good. A lot has already been made of the fact that
Up is an animation, as if it is some kind of shock to see a "fancy cartoon" headlining such a prestigious event: the simple fact of the matter is that
Pixar are Hollywood royalty- the proper big-time big-hitters who come into this on the back of a ludicrously rich run of form, the like of which has never been seen before. And
Up stands up to even
Wall-E in terms of sheer unbridled enjoyment and artistic achievement.
Up is a triumph in simple story-telling, and it is also enormously brave in the way it achieves that accolade. The first ten minutes set out to break the audience's heart in an impeccably put together montage that charts the relationship of Carl and his wife Ellie: I freely admit I cried in this sequence, little fat tears hiding behind not-very-cool-looking glasses. If you've lost someone close to you, the sequence makes for particlarly poignant viewing- the way in which it captures the incredible pain of loss is one of the movie's real triumphs. The plot itself is pleasantly complex, somewhat at odds with the perfection Pixar manage in maintaining an air of simplicity. In a nutshell it goes something like this: Carl Fredriksson, balloon salesman, decides to embark on the adventure of a lifetime in honour of his newly departed wife Ellie and in spite of an ASBO for assaulting a workman attachs a load of balloons to his house and sets off for mystical lands, with an adolescent stow-away in check, meets a leggy bird named Kevin, and a dog, and manages to get embroiled in big game hunting shenanigans. That's not to mention the legendary hunter and his pack of technologically modified hounds either. As we have come to expect with Pixar, the design is impeccable, the voice work excellent, the music perfectly suited to the narrative and the characters mostly unflawed- my favourite aside from Carl himself is the wonderful, hilarious giant bird who Russell ingeniously nicknames Kevin and who was the source of every one of the biggest laughs in my screening. Kevin is clearly for the kids (although the slapstick will make everyone laugh) and looks to be the only reasonable merchandise opportunity to come out of
Up, which in itself is brave considering the untold added dollars merchandise has historically given the summer's big releases. The bird, along with hapless Wilderness Explorer Russell provide most of the light relief, acting as the perfect counter-balance to the impeccaly observed pathos that Carl's tragedy provides, and the real power of the film is its ability to segue between the two without compromising either objective. That is not to say I enjoyed everything- the 3D glasses, although a world away from the blue and red old faithfuls I used to hate, arent the most comfortable, especially if you have the kind of nose that looks as if it were carved on your face by an inebriated toddler like I do (alcohol + falling from great height = broken schnoz). They actually started to give me a headache after a while, but I think I was in the minority, judging by everyone else's apparently unblemished comfort, so I think that one can be chalked down as a being a product of nasal malfunctions. Likewise I wasnt a massive fan of the talking dogs- the idea did give birth to a couple of memorable gags, most notably the first few seconds of Alpha's malfunctioning voice and the first time "Squirrel" popped up, but then even they outstayed their welcome somewhat through unneccessary repetition. Maybe Im nit-picking here, and I do concede that Dug's relationship with Kevin the Snipe adds an extra dimension to the relationship dynamic of the characters- but at one point in the film I felt like the simplicity and intimacy of the movie (which was ostensibly a two man piece with the added interruption of the bird) was being compromised by this whole new group of characters. And to have talking animals, albeit technologically enabled ones, was a step too far away from the beautiful understated pathos of the first twentyish minutes. Final thought? Long live 3D and long live Pixar. I'm yet to be thrilled by the prospect of live action 3D, simply because it is pretty much an alien concept to me, but the 3D technique is so much a part of
Up's success that I simply now cannot imagine watching anything animated that doesnt take advantage. Do yourself a favour and go and see it in 3D, you'll thank me for the recommendation.