UP

UP the new 3D animation from Pixar is at one and the same time a simple and beautiful love story and an exploration of the medium of animation. 3D is used here not as an effect but as an enhancement, a way of transforming the artifice and artificiality of animation into a narrative of an old man's love of his deceased wife. The old man struggles with modernity, with change and with urbanization. His search for a lost Eden is really a search for his lost childhood. In fact the film is about the symbols and objects that make up and give meaning to life at any age. Well worth a visit to the theater.

Comments

[bartoszbos]

Simulations abound in Pixar's Up! While the symbols and narrative do point to the aforementioned struggles with modernity and urbanization, I noticed the use of simulations and simulacra ( translating dog collars, fake bird skeletons, the house as a makeshift airship, female bird posing as a male) to push the plot forward. Perhaps most interesting is the presentation of this 3D animated film using stereoscopic 3D. Woah, there must be a glitch in the Matrix! :)

[Ron]

Great comment. The use of simulation in all aspects of the film also infiltrates the story. UP is very much about the clash between virtual worlds and human feelings.