![]() ![]() ![]() Hector, whose descendants put up no photo of him, tries to cross every year by disguising himself as someone else who does have an ofrenda photo, and keeps getting caught and returned. (One might wonder what happened in the days before photos, but that, and other equally interesting questions, are left to the viewer's imagination). The rules governing the Land of the Dead are both complicated and unforgiving: souls can't cross back to the Land of the Living, even for a holiday visit, unless their ancestors have put their photo on the family's ofrenda, a ritual altar for the Day of the Dead containing a collection of objects associated with the familial ancestors. He meets Hector, a ne'er-do-well who seems good only for comic relief, and he meets his hero, Ernesto de la Cruz, as big a celebrity in death as in life. There he meets the ancestors he has heard so much about over the years. In order to "seize his moment" and enter the talent show his family forbade, Miguel tries to steal Ernesto de la Cruz's guitar from his mausoleum, and thereby becomes cursed and sent to the Land of the Dead. The film is visually gorgeous and inventive, so I was prepared to enjoy that aspect of it even if the story was cliched. The story was heavily weighted in sympathy with poor little Miguel, forbidden by these old, hidebound meanies from following his sacred dreams. At first the idea that the family hates music and has banished it from their home because of their musician ancestor who abandoned the family seemed overdone and melodramatic to me. The scene in which his grandmother smashes his guitar is particularly harsh. His family of shoemakers is mean to him, and seemingly tone-deaf about what he needs. He plays a homemade guitar and sings, hiding in the attic where he has built a little shrine to his musical hero, Ernesto de la Cruz, a celebrity singer and guitarist. ![]() PixarĬoco starts out as a sort of Cinderella/Harry Potter-ish tale, with a child, Miguel, who doesn't feel like he belongs with the rest of his family. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |