Cinema Styles: Coco is a matter of life and death
Film: Coco (2017) Directors: Adrian Molina & Lee Unkrich [Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2 & 3]
Cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach
How to Watch: Disney+
Runtime: 105 Minutes Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy Rating: PG Awards: Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song (“Remember Me”)
Note: This review is part of our legacy series. Coco celebrates its 5th anniversary this year.
Today is November 1, marking the first day of Día de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday dedicated to paying respect to loved ones who have died. Inspired by this celebratory tradition, Pixar Animation Studios released the animated masterpiece Coco in November of 2017. It tells the story of aspiring musician Miguel, confronting his family’s multi-generational ban on music. He endeavors to enter the Land of the Dead to find his great-greatgrandfather Ernesto de la Cruz, a legendary singer. Coco became an instant-classic, and spent more days at No. 1 at the box office than any other animated film in this century.
Coco is a beautiful, life-affirming piece of cinematic art. It’s filled with stunning imagery and rich visual delights, especially within the colorful and psychedelic Land of the Dead. It has a focus on family, especially the legacy we leave behind and the lineage that precedes us. It’s a magical film, both literally and in terms of showing the magic of human connection, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Coco is a film about life as much as it is about death. Even though most of the characters in the story are deceased, they were all once alive. Death gives life meaning. Since life is finite and our time is limited, every decision we make matters. Coco is concerned with this idea. As Miguel plunges into the depths of the Land of the Dead, he also plunges into his own soul in an unforgettable story of selfdiscovery and familial connection.
This is a movie filled with musical significance; showing the power and beauty of music in all its forms. Miguel pursues his passion because he feels the internal pull of something he cares deeply about. This movie is about pursuing those passions, even if every external factor in one’s life seems determined to prevent them from reaching their goals. It’s also a film about the ways music can heal what’s broken and form deep connections between individuals. It contains a beautiful score from the great Michael Giacchino, and memorable songs including “Un Poco Loco” and “Proud Corazón.”
The most significant song in Coco is the Oscar-winning “Remember Me,” written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-lopez. This song is representative of the versatility of music in general, as it’s sung multiple times in a variety of ways throughout the movie. It’s sung fast, slow, with a full band, solo with an acoustic guitar, in English, and in Spanish. It’s also used in a variety of contexts; some somber and some celebratory. It’s the recurring musical motif that holds the movie together, and emphasizes one of the film’s central ideas. Coco makes the argument when we die, we live on through the memories of our living loved ones, and “Remember Me” is the perfect encapsulation of that idea.
The best scene in this movie is also one of the best scenes in film history. It’s one of the renditions of “Remember Me,” and it’s a duet between Miguel and his great-grandmother, Mamá Coco. It’s the emotional apex of a perfectly-orchestrated story, and it’s guaranteed to make you shed a few tears. It’s a magical moment. When Coco joins in with Miguel’s singing, the emotional significance is overwhelming. After being silent throughout the movie due to her memory loss, Coco’s first words are the lyrics her father sang to her before his tragic death at a young age. This scene reveals why the film is named after Coco. She’s the character who bridges the gap between the living family members and the deceased ones. When Miguel crosses the literal bridge from the land of the living into the land of the dead, he’s utilizing Mamá Coco’s deep connection to both sides.
Coco is a film that celebrates Mexican culture with genuine love and tangible respect. The filmmaking and animation team traveled to Mexico multiple times to research the culture, people, food, and traditions. They visited several areas of Mexico, and spent most of their time in Mexico City and Oaxaca. Many of them were deeply and personally affected by their research into Día de los Muertos. The movie’s detailed design elements came from these research trips. The orange flowers seen frequently in the movie are Aztec Marigolds (aka Cempasúchil), and they’re traditionally used to guide the deceased to the living. The look of the Land of the Dead was specifically inspired by the colorful, stacked houses on the hillsides of Guanajuato.
Coco might be the best film Pixar has ever made. It’s a beautifully-animated and emotionally-complex masterpiece about what it means to be alive. It celebrates culture, tradition, and family using a vibrant color palette. It will make you smile through your tears, and cry while laughing. Life and death have always been connected, but no movie more expertly and beautifully forms a bridge between the two.
Bobby Styles studied Film at UCLA, and worked as an editor and producer on several film, commercial, and music video projects in Los Angeles. He currently teaches the intermediate and advanced Video Production courses in the Multimedia & Technology Academy at Monache High School. His column appears in The Recorder every Tuesday.