Luca

Luca
Original title:Luca
Director:Enrico Casarosa
Release:Disney+
Running time:96 minutes
Release date:18 june 2021
Rating:
In a very pretty little coastal town on the Italian Riviera, a young boy, Luca, lives an unforgettable summer, punctuated by delicious gelato, tasty pasta and long scooter rides. He shares his adventures with his new best friend, but this happiness is threatened by a well-kept secret: both are in fact sea monsters from another world, located just below the surface of the water ...

Mulder's Review

Luca, the new animated film from Pixar Studios, turns out to be an excellent vintage as it succeeds in juggling skillfully the chronicle of the passage to adulthood but also in highlighting, with a certain nostalgia, a whole part of Italian cinema. After the superb animated short La luna (2011), Luca is director Enrico Casarosa's first animated feature. The script was written by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones. The original version features the voices of Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Maya Rudolph, Sacha Baron Cohen , Marco Barricelli, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, and Jim Gaffigan. The film is dedicated to the composer Ennio Morricone, who had been approached to sign the music before his death.

The main action of Luca takes place in a beautiful coastal town on the Italian Riviera where we discover Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay), a young boy who lives an unforgettable summer with his two best friends Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer) and the young Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman). Luca, Giulia Marcovaldo and Alberto have the ambition to win a race in their small town so that Luca can win a Vespa, his ultimate dream to travel. But Luca and Alberto share an important secret. They are human monsters who lose their true appearance by taking on a human appearance when they get out of the water. 

Once again, Pixar's undeniable knowledge of how to bring an animated film to life is marvelous here with impeccable animation, an original scenario that is a pretext for many humorous scenes and, above all, endearing characters. Pixar Animations once again shows that the success of a film does not rely on a pre-established formula. On the contrary, it is necessary to know how to keep one's childlike eyes to see the world and continue to propose beautiful stories.

Luca's great strength is to remind us of the golden age of Italian cinema with inspired directors and memorable interpretations. We can imagine that the Italian director Enrico Casarosa has called upon his memory to find the atmosphere of his childhood with the innocence of discovering the outside world. The film Luca manages to make us laugh but also to move us deeply between two scenes. When discovering this film, it is impossible not to think of Ron Howard's film Splash (1984) but by making the main characters younger and by showing an underwater universe that behaves in the same way as our society (Luca's family, the schoolyards...).

The only reproach we can make concerning this new masterpiece of Pixar Studios is that it is not released in theaters, as it seems to have been conceived to be discovered on a giant screen in order to enjoy a real immersion but especially to admire the great care brought to the animation. This film will be presented on June 17 during the Annecy festival and spectators will be able to discover it exclusively on the big screen.

Luca
Directed by Enrico Casarosa
Produced by Andrea Warren
Screenplay by Jesse Andrews, Mike Jones
Starring Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Marco Barricelli, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Jim Gaffigan
Music by Dan Romer
Cinematography: David Juan Bianchi, Kim White
Edited by Catherine Apple, Jason Hudak
Production companies : Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date : June 18, 2021
Running time : 96 minutes

Seen on June 05, 2021 (Disney + press access)

Mulder's Mark: