Pixar’s romantic comedy explores interesting questions about bigotry and immigration, but lacks consistency because it doesn’t know which way to go
It was the year 1597 and the first theatrical performance of cheese and guava was about to change the course of fiction forever. The tragedy written by William Shakespeare immortalized there Love story between two young people whose families were great rivalsa narrative structure that has undergone numerous retelling since the play’s first performance. elementsthe new Pixar film is one of them, just in a different way.
This is because, at first glance, it is only one romantic comedy About the attraction of opposites, the animation uses the four elements of nature Fire, Water, Air and Earth to create metaphors about that cultural diversity, the intolerance and the immigration trip around the world, exploring topics such as selfdiscovery It is belonging. All of this could have provided an interesting insight, but what we find is a film that is afraid of itself and that it can’t work out its nuances because it doesn’t have enough faith in the strength of its story.
data sheet
title: Elements
Direction: Peter son
road map: Peter Sohn, John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh
release date from: June 22, 2023
country of origin: UNITED STATES
Length of time: 1h 49min
Summary: In a city where the denizens of fire, water, earth and air live together, a fiery young woman and a boy who lives with the flow discover something surprising yet elemental: how much they have in common.
Elements Poster.
Opposites attract
If the family of spark (Leah Lewis) came to town elementEverything they found seemed to be a sign that leaving their origins behind had been a bad idea. Because how can you build a solid foundation in an unfamiliar place that, no matter how many times you try to prove yourself wrong, will continue to reinforce the notion that you don’t belong there?
But even in the face of this reality, people are of Fire managed to create a solid community in which young Faísca could grow up alongside her family, while her father designed a life plan for his daughter, always thinking of strengthening the roots between them. But that all changed when drops (Mamoudou Athie), a member of the people of Waterhe appeared.
As Faísca and Gota get to know each other, what initially seemed impossible becomes one journey of selfdiscovery That shows the flaming young woman that, Despite being opposites, the two have more in common. as she imagines.
Elements explores the romance between two completely opposite characters.
From the outside, Elements appears to be just a simple Pixar romantic comedy. Animation is just that, after all, several tropes of the genre are present in the narrative, such as the idea of two completely different people falling in love, and even that great final romantic act after a conflict that touches all the emotional hearts and sighs in the rooms . From cinemas. It’s a narrative choice that cannot help but point to great classics of Hollywood fiction that follow this structure, such as message for you (1998) or How to lose a man in 10 days (2003).
However, as much as the animation largely follows this path, it is Sparkling dynamic with her father is the greatest spell in Elementos. Full of symbolism and analogies, the relationship between father and daughter is emotional because it can convey to the public the shock of such different generations, who have completely different desires and wills, but which exist deep down, when love is essentially become support and partnership always prevail.
Pixar’s new film is a metaphor for the immigrant experience of the world.
In this way we follow universal experiences winning the silver screen, fear of disappointing parents by wanting to take a different path than they thought, and wanting to prove that we are capable of pursuing our own dreams and living our own stories . In those moments, Elements manages to create a sense of identification, even if it’s not Pixar’s best work in recent years.
This is how, through Faísca’s doubts and desires, we managed to see a part of ourselves and the reality around us, especially with regard to the immigration issue. From the very first seconds of the animation, it’s clear that this isn’t just a simple story about two opposite young people who end up falling in love. It is clear that the novel is fundamental in advancing the protagonist’s journey of selfdiscovery, but it is impossible to ignore the metaphor that permeates the narrative: the coexistence of different cultures and how people behave in the face of that reality.
Everything is a choice
If, on the one hand, Elementos manages to present a universe with interesting analogies, the execution of this narrative finally gives the feeling that the studio that once provided stories like ‘Finding Nemo’ (2003) and ‘The Incredibles’ (2004) I knew I just didn’t know what to do with what I had in my hands.
Elements isn’t nearly as disappointing as Lightyear (2022), but it seems Pixar has been on a downward spiral since the success of Inside Out (2015). recycling of premises It is Bad decisions who manage to weaken even the best ideas. that happened Red: Growing up is a beast (2022) and even in the simple Two Brothers: A Fantastic Journey (2022), two animations that deal with good subjects but ultimately get lost in what they are trying to address.
Despite the impressive graphics, Elementos loses focus several times.
Perhaps it’s this excessive repetition of formulas that hampers the development of Elementos, an animation that wants to talk about everything at once, but doesn’t manage to muster the courage to leave the surface. It’s not about asking too much of the target group, because Pixar has been dealing with psychological questions and denser assumptions for a number of years in order to capture the attention of adults as well.
The problem is the metaphor that Elementos makes about the immigration experience not consistent enough to reach the level of productions like Fun Mind or even Soul (2020), two works that know how to use the subtlety of their premises to achieve their respective goals. This is not the case with the story created and directed by peter son (The Good Dinosaur) because of the animation fails to make a connection between the approaches presented in the narrative. Sometimes it even feels like we’re watching completely different films.
Not even the relationship between Faísca and Gota remains intact. As fun as it is to see the animation explore the extremes between fire and water, the narrative’s lack of focus ultimately hampers the development of the novel, which comes with trying to resolve a conflict that, frankly, is , was destined to be treated with superficiality from the start.
Elementos cannot support the metaphors and symbologies it wants to cover.
The bitter feeling grows when you consider that Disney has already managed to process themes that appear in “Elements” in a much more interesting way than it did in “Elements”. zootopia (2016) for example. It’s obvious that there are similarities between the two projects even the atmosphere of Elemento City is reminiscent of what we see in Zootopia which ultimately makes Pixar’s animation even easier (in this case, Zootopia seems more part be). of the catalog as Studio as Elements).
With this in mind, the story of a city inhabited by elements of nature, despite all the impressive visual work, could have been much more than it actually was, especially if we consider animations like Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022). and Manaranha: Through the SpiderVerse (2023) and the way both explored such classic and wellloved stories in innovative ways. In Elementos, the abbreviated execution of the narrative wastes the opportunity to explore the richness that this universe carries, as it chooses to only give the image of caring about its premise rather than actually doing so.
Therefore, Elementos will make you smile here and there, and the way Faísca’s personal journey grows in the narrative is emotional when accompanied by the family theme. But the work as a whole cannot live up to what it is trying to convey to the public. Finally, Everything is a matter of choiceand Pixar hasn’t been the master at it for a long time.
elements is running in Brazilian cinemas.
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