Comments on: OCH NO: Pixar’s “Brave”

By: Bob Clark

Bob Clark — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 17:48:46 +0000

I’d be hard pressed to say where any “melancholy” fits into the picture– most of the “spirited” humor distracts from any of the main themes that could plumb into more challenging depths, and keeps it all in “very special episode” sitcom territory. The visuals are lush, granted, but only in a very general way, without any real concentration or direction to give them purpose.

By: Sam Juliano

Sam Juliano — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 05:09:06 +0000

It’s almost 1:00 A.M. on Friday morning here on the East Coast, and I needed to do a few things before hitting the hay, already late in view of morning summer school classes. Anyway, I saw the late show of this film with three of the young ones and I must say I loved it. I’d go with 4 of 5. A few of the hit friendly songs did water it a down a little bit, unfortunately. Still, I loved Patrick Doyle’s score overall, and even a few of the songs were terrific. I’ll have more to say about the film on the Diary but right now I am thinking of the lush visuals, spirited humor, terrific voice work, and the proper melancholy that informs this brooding Celtic tale.

Another Pixar triumph. What else is new? Yeah it’s not perfect, but it’s still exceptional.

By: MovieMan0283

MovieMan0283 — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 20:41:59 +0000

Yeah exactly, it isn’t that American films lack any sentimental or straightforward content, it’s just that these qualities seem more tacked-on and insincere than ever. For whatever reason the voice of American pop culture is sardonic and ironic right now an has been for some time. Side note, though: it seem Picar is at its best when it falls silent – maybe it should make a totally non-talkin film now that Wall-E and Up have paved the way and The Artist has started to make silence socially acceptable again.

By: Bob Clark

Bob Clark — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:26:33 +0000

Yeah, and that’s a bad thing if you’re looking for something other than snark in storytelling or entertainment. It’d be one thing if “Brave” or the bulk of the Pixar stuff were actually aiming for satire or commentary in their comedy– “Wall-E” might count in that direction– but for the most part their humor just seems to be there to distract the audience (kids and adults alike) and maybe make them comfortable with any earnestness they sneak in, usually blunting it into boring wonderbread sentiment. Only Bird’s movies so far have really married the right amount of indigenous humor to sincerity and made it stick (Doctor’s stuff comes close, too).

By: MovieMan0283

MovieMan0283 — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:47:48 +0000

Yeah that’s probably a cultural thing. American pop culture just seems way more comfortable with and fluent in comedy than sincerity and that’s been the case for at least a decade if not more. When it tries it get serious there’s something rather stiff and unconvincing in the proceedings. When it goes for funny it’s letting it’s hair down. Good example is how Daily Show and Colbert tended to offer the most popular and effective commentaries on the Bush era while more straightforward films and shows seemed forced. Something about our self-consciousness, among other qualities, makes humor the go-to mode for cultural expression.

By: Bob Clark

Bob Clark — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 14:41:17 +0000

It’s both, but if I had to hazzard a choice I might say that the stylistic thing is the bigger problem. Narrative wise, Pixar’s stuff rests in the same safe zone that Disney’s work always has. Stylistically, however, we have a sense of exageration in the pumped up humor that’s really the problem in their work overall. I’ve always been kind of annoyed by how American animation has an almost obligatory air of comedy (granted, anime and european fare can often be just as humor driven, but it’s not quite as uniform), but what bothers me about Pixar is how inorganic it is in the bulk of their films. In the best cases, it can rise naturally as a part of their narrative and aesthetic choices, but when it’s tacked on or draws time away that could be spend on developing the character, story or vision, it’s a detriment.

By: Sam Juliano

Sam Juliano — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 14:07:06 +0000

“Pixar has one basic vision, and they’ve become essentially a big corporate creative voice– ironically, by trying to be something of a creative commune.”

This is a fair enough complaint, but in the end it does little in my perception to compromise the artistry. It does little to diminish the remarkable emotion strange hold on the viewer that has resulted from superbly drawn characters and polished screenplays. You have again written with supreme scholarship and authority, but it’s not an argument I support myself, as I’ve expressed before to our friend Stephen. I haven’t seen BRAVE yet.

By: MovieMan0283

MovieMan0283 — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 09:51:00 +0000

Interesting point and well-stated. Do you feel this is primarily a narrative issue or that it’s stylistic too?

By: Bob Clark

Bob Clark — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 05:44:52 +0000

I think what bothers me most about Pixar is how, perhaps aside from Bird, Stanton and Doctor, they don’t encourage individual creative forces so much as they foster and develop talents to fit in with a very defined house style, one that’s even more pronounced than what you had in the classic period of the studio system, where even the least enterprising directors could assert themselves a little in odd ways and be called an auteur by the French decades later. Other studios like Ghibli or Gainax may have commonalities between productions, but you can tell the different voices at work immediately. Pixar has one basic vision, and they’ve become essentially a big corporate creative voice– ironically, by trying to be something of a creative commune.

By: MovieMan0283

MovieMan0283 — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 05:35:20 +0000

Excellent piece. In an astonishingly weak field (weakest in history, I’d say) Pixar tends to make the most original and interesting films in Hollywood these days. Yet I’d have trouble calling many of their films truly great – probably for the very reasons you point out.