The author of this article is @North of the Little Wan family
Find the spiritual corner of everyone in the light and shadow
In less than a month, Pixar Animation Studios is celebrating its 35th birthday.
From the earliest animated short film "Naughty Jumping Lights" to the 11 Oscar-winning little golden men who now sit on them, they tell us with practical actions that even a table lamp can be loved by audiences around the world.
To this day, Pixar still challenges the boundaries of traditional animation with its wild imagination.
Whether it's talking toys or flying cabins, cute little theaters in the brain or alternative dimensions of life and death, under their extraordinary magic, the neglected emotions of life resurface on the big screen.
The famous saying "Pixar is a masterpiece" is still valid.
And this summer, their 25th work follows the warm Mediterranean breeze, bringing us the coolest summer limit -
"Sunny Days in Summer"
Finding extraordinary ideas in real life has always been Pixar's specialty, and this time "Summer Friends Sunny Days" has built two very different worlds.
One is a human town full of Italian style, where people make a living from fishing and are afraid of the mysterious creatures in the ocean;
The other is the habitat of sea monsters in the Mediterranean Sea, which is isolated from the rest of the world, and sea monsters live a "nomadic life" isolated from the world.
And our story begins in this wonderful underwater world.
The protagonist, Luca, is a competent "herding monster", and despite his daily life, he has an irrepressible curiosity about new things and a strong yearning for the world beyond the sea.
One day, he meets Alberto, who is also a sea monster. Alberto was a freewheeling sea monster, abandoned by his father at an early age, and mixed between land and sea.
The human objects he brought immediately attracted Luca's attention, they were an extension of human power, and they were tools for achieving freedom in the eyes of the two.
In contrast, the world of sea monsters is so monotonous that at Alberto's invitation, Luca defies her parents' advice and sets foot on land for the first time.
What is even more surprising is that after leaving the water, the sea monster will gradually change into the appearance of ordinary humans.
Alberto told Luca that there was a small human town not far from the sea, where there were not only unrestrained humans, but also shiny Vespa brand scooters.
If they had it, the two would be able to ride it around and achieve true freedom.
So, for the sake of motorcycles, and in pursuit of their dreams of freedom, Luca and Alberto embarked on a small town tour.
Here, they meet julia, a human girl, and make a deep friendship with her.
When she learns that the two are racking their brains for a motorcycle, Julia offers to win prize money by participating in the town's traditional project "Triathlon" (cycling, swimming, eating pasta).
In the process of continuous training, their friendship continues to sublimate, and this friendship about sea monsters and humans continues to attract attention in this town...
At first glance, "Sunny Days in Summer" is a story about two sea monster boys venturing into a human town.
However, under Pixar's ingenious conception, the core of a story about "identity" has gradually become clear.
At the end of the film, people and sea monsters, finally regardless of their previous suspicions, have become a part of this Italian town, and the residents who talked about sea monsters before have gradually understood and accepted their differences.
Luca and Alberto also grew up on this adventure and found their place in this happy and peaceful town.
It can be said that Pixar uses the delicate relationship between sea monsters and humans in "Summer Friends sunny days" to express the problem that minorities in today's society are still discriminated against.
In addition to taking a unique view of the issue of "identity", "Summer Friends Sunny Day" is definitely one of the most personal works of all Pixar's animation works.
Although this is not the first time that the story has been set in a country with an exotic culture, it is the first time that the Italian town can be portrayed so beautifully and vividly.
The reason for this lies in the director Ericon Casa Rossa. The art designer director himself admits that "Summer Friends Sunny Day" has a strong autobiographical nature.
The whole story is inspired by the legend of the sea monster that the director heard in his childhood, and the human town in the animation is based on the place where he lived as a child.
Therefore, the ubiquitous Italian culture in the film will be so natural, which contains the director's attachment and love for his hometown.
And Alberto in the film is the director's best friend Albert Sulas, so Luca naturally represents himself.
When talking about this film, director Ericon Casa Rosa always thinks of his childhood.
"I spent almost all my summer childhood on the beach, when I was really shy and it wasn't until I met my best friend at 11, this little naughty egg who lived a completely different life than mine... So I'm like making a story about friendship helping to grow. ”
And "Summer Friends Sunny Day" is not only a personal "memoir", but also a "collection" of Italian film culture.
The most prominent of these is "Roman Holiday". As the most representative of Italy's Hollywood films, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Pike roam the streets of Rome freely, riding a Vespa brand scooter.
This motorcycle is well known in Italy, and almost all young italians are eager to own such a motorcycle and start a wonderful love journey.
The poster for Roman Holiday in the film
When it comes to famous Italian directors, Federico Fellini is definitely a name that cannot be ignored.
In "Sunny Days in Summer", we can get a glimpse of the poster of his famous work "The Great Road", and we can also see the "beautiful photo" of the actor Mastruani, who was popular by him.
Actor Marcelo Mastruani starred in Fellini's classic "Eight and a Half Parts"
It is also worth mentioning that the name of the town in the animation is derived from the flying pig from the Italian Air Force in Miyazaki's animation "Porco Rosso".
This free and romantic pilot not only represents the cultural symbols of Italy, but also carries the days of dreams and loves, which seems to form a wonderful intertext that can only be understood and ineffable with this film.
Overall, "Summer Friends Sunny Day" may not be Pixar's best work, but the simple and sincere childhood friendships in the film, those familiar with the taste of movies, and those desperate jokes and jokes will make people laugh inadvertently.
Watching the whole movie, it is as if bathed in spiritual baptism, sweeping away depression and worry, making people feel comfortable, although the end of the film is inevitably clichéd, but the enthusiasm and innocence of summer, Pixar has always controlled well.
Note: Some of the pictures in this article come from Douban and the Internet, if there is infringement, please take the initiative to contact us.