Jon The Blogcentric

I was lucky enough to see Boy And The World when it was in film theatres in Vancouver. I’m glad I had the chance to see it.

Cuca is a small boy who lives in a village of a distant world. Cuca has all the imagination of a child his age. One day his father leaves to find a better job. As he says goodbye, he gives him a reminder of him. Cuca buries it near a tree. Over time Cuca is impatient and then goes on a search for his father.

Cuca’s search takes him to various worlds. One of farmers, one of cotton pickers, one of construction workers. Each world is magical and musical and tells its own story. The villagers are often seen celebrating in the streets. However each world is threatened by the greyness of lifelessness. One day Cuca meets a man whom he believes to be his father. He keeps on following him to the jobs he pursues in the various worlds he visits. Then one day Cuca makes it to the big city and is disgusted with what he sees. The film doesn’t end on the happy note we hope for but it does end with a message of hope.

This is a very unique 2D animated film. The film is very colorful and very mesmerizing while keeping one focused on the main story at the same time. There isn’t much dialogue and the Portuguese doesn’t have subtitles added to them. However it’s not needed because all the visuals with their actions and patterns tell the story and send the message. Hard to describe the film’s best quality. All too often when I look back, I remember how the film dances and comes alive with colors and music. Almost every scene that tells a story or sends a message turns into a colorful musical splendor.

The film also has a lot to say about the negative elements of society depicted in the film. Even without saying much or without saying a word at all, you can tell the differences when you see the common people in the ‘world of color’ and the world of the city and of industrialization in ‘black, white and grey.’ That scene near the end where Abreu focuses on corporations and industrialization and its dehumanizing effects in Brazil is also set to music just like with the positive parts. The dreary music that comes with it also sets the mood. That was the key quality of the film: the use of music and colors to tell the story and deliver a message.

Top acclaim should go to writer/director Ale Abreu. He is an animator who has a short but merited list of animated films and shorts to his credit. Most of which have never been seen outside of Brazil. Boy And The world is probably his first film or short seen outside of Brazil. Actually the film’s first release outside of Brazil was at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. The film won an Honorable Mention for Best Animated Feature because according to the jury: “it was full of some of the most beautiful images we’ve ever seen.” If you’ve seen the film, you’d understand why. I believe Abreu created a masterpiece.

Since Ottawa, the film has done a very good job at creating an impression at film festivals over time. In Brazil, it won two Cinema Brasil awards for Best Animated Film and Best Children’s Film and the Best Brazilian Film at the Sao Paulo Film Festival. Further accolades include Official Selection feature at the Shanghai Film Festival, the One Future Prize for Abreu at the Munich Film Festival, Best Screenplay at the Cairo Film Festival and Best Feature at the Annecy Film Festival. Bigger acclaim just came months ago as it won the Annie Award for Best Independent Animated Feature.

Before the Oscar nominations were announced, the nominees for Best Animated Feature were expected to be given to films that fared better at the box office like The Good Dinosaur, The Minions Movie or The Peanuts Movie. Instead the animators branch of the Academy decided to show some favoring to some artsier films including Boy And The World. I will admit if it weren’t for its Oscar nod, I would not have seen it.

Boy And The World is a different type of animated film and for the better. It has its own style, its own feel and its own charm despite also delivering a socially-conscious message. A rare gem of a film.