A change is in the air as Spring kicks into high gear. Mother Nature’s tempestuous mood swings have us in its throughs, much like those growing into adulthood. Some readers may not remember what it is like to be in those formative years. Or, at least, they recollect those halcyon days through more rose-tinted glasses.
As spring break is upon us, some younger relatives may be visiting. If so, these films will make for a good way to pass the time. Maybe even help to start a conversation.
Pixar’s latest on Disney Plus, Turning Red, doesn’t feel like a departure in quality the way recent efforts have. We follow Meilin, a thirteen-year-old girl, as she navigates junior high and family life. She’s an over-achiever, excelling at everything she does. It is that confidence that makes us wonder where conflict will arise. But as we become immersed into Meilin’s home life, the plot quickly reveals itself. She’s the pride of her father and mother, however, she wants to break out.
Like most tweens she likes boys and those pesky hormones kick in. And they effect Meilin in an unexpected way.
Must like Kafka’s Metamorphosis, she wakes one morning as a giant red panda. To director Domee Shi’s credit, this story doesn’t devolve into a nightmare. Through a family secret we find out why this is happening. Its metaphors to growing up and life changes isn’t hard to see. This feels like a natural extension to the puberty button joke at the end of Inside Out. My place here is to ward you off from showing this to young children as Twitter moms have. Credit to the reader from what I have stated, thirteen should be your warning. Conversations would be in order after, but albeit for Disney to present us with lessons.
Some critics have bemoaned placing the story in the early 2000s. Domee Shi has merely taken his experience growing up and imbued that onto this character. Adolescence hasn’t changed much in that timespan, and it only serves to make the emotions more credible. The references to Gigapets and trendy lingo is not different than Sixties references. And boy bands as we all know are common denominators over decades. One’s Monkees shift into the next’s New Kids on the Block and so on.
No story has had universal appeal over generations as Romeo and Juliet. Like most timeless tales, each new take on it reveals something new about it, as did Stephen Sondheim when he wrote the very song. West Side Story is nothing new to you, dear readers. But it is precisely why Steven Spielberg’s vision so captivating.
The classic 1961 original film, an Oscar winner in its own right, feels like it shouldn’t be tampered with. Etched in stone like the ten commandments, Robert Wise’s direction has a timeless quality while still being vintage. That being said, it is Spielberg’s own expertise and craft that makes this his own. He, along with his long-time cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, puts into the action. Gone are the birds-eye shots and now we are down with the street gangs. The camera weaves in and out, almost feeling like we are dancing alongside the Jets and the Sharks.
The story hasn’t been messed with much; sequence of songs have scrambled a bit. All of which amounts to what we have seen before. But at the same time, it is given a breath of air not seen since Rita Moreno sang of America. Now Ariana DeBose takes those duties, and Moreno mans the corner shop; life has a way of changing. Hopefully you can see this on the big screen now in Oscar season. If not, many platforms have this available for you and your grandchildren’s enjoyment. Happy viewing, readers.
