Disney/Pixar’s ‘Luca’ is the studio’s most unique animated features that needs to be seen in theaters
Silenzio Bruno! In other words, silence that doubtful voice in your head. You will be hearing this throughout Disney Pixar’s brand new film ‘Luca’ and if you are like me, you will continue to hear this powerful affirmation long after watching this movie. Directed by Enrico Casarosa, Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) is a beautiful and heartwarming story about a boy named and you guessed it, Luca and his newfound friends and their summer journey that ultimately leads to some important life lessons for us all.
Friendship, acceptance, and believing in oneself are just a few of the many underlying lessons you will take away from this film. Taking place in a beautiful small sea-based town in Italy, the local residents have quite a relationship with the sea as it’s an integral part of their everyday lives. However, the relationship is a complicated one being that they hunt “Sea Monsters”. This small town has made it a focus to keep an eye out and hunt these local folk legends. Our protagonist just so happens to be one of these “sea monsters”. However, the true monster in this story is not what you may think.
Luca lives off the shore in this underwater village with his Mom, Dad, and probably the sea’s coolest grandma ever. Seriously if I had her around growing up, I would have never gotten caught sneaking out. Hearing a story from his grandma who had been to the surface and “endured the change” sparks an interest in what is above the water. While exploring, Luca meets his new best friend Alberto (voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer) who is collecting fallen objects from the land and bringing them to his Island home.
This is where Luca sees firsthand how Alberto turns into a human. When out of the water and completely dry the sea monsters turn human but in order to maintain that guise, they must remain completely dry. Luca spends time with Alberto who is living by himself and waiting for his dad to return home. Luca soon falls in love with the land and all the wonders it has to offer. Yearning for freedom, Luca and Alberto get to work on making their own Vespa which serves as the film’s McGuffin and symbolic sense of freedom and the character’s yearning to explore.
Luca and Alberto fantasize about going to the mainland to find an actual Vespa and travel the world and their fantasy soon becomes a reality when Lucas’s parents catch him going to the surface. Their solution is to send Luca to the deepest of oceans with his uncle. A little extreme if you ask me but I guess these sea parents don’t mess around! Not having it Luca swims off and finds Alberto and the two make their way to the mainland to essentially run away. And so their journey begins.
Making their way to the town of Portorosso and successfully hiding who they really are they run into a girl named Guilia (voiced by Emma Berman) who is training for the annual Portorosso Cup which is an Italian triathlon consisting of swimming, cycling, and eating pasta. The three friends run into Guilia’s nemesis and in a sense the villain of the film Ercole (voiced by Saverio Raimond) who has won the tournament the last few years and likes to compete against underage kids. The bully persona that the movie presents with Ercole is a tad bit cliche for my liking.
Guiliana who is independent and strong-minded lives the summers with her father who appears to be one badass fisherman despite his handicap. The three friends agree to team up to win the Portorosso Cup and Alberto and Luca are allowed to live in Guiliana’s treehouse. How she convinced her father to allow two random boys to live outside her window is beyond me but hey it works! But he does put the boys to work which only makes sense. With Giulia being a summer-only local, she feels connected to the boys being that they are new as well. They call themselves the underdogs and I’m here for this story.
The three begin to train and Luca and Alberto are enjoying their newfound human lives. Guilia and Luca become closer as Guilia teaches Luca more and more about the human culture which only increases Lucas’s curiosity. Hearing and learning about school, Luca wants to go away and learn just like Guilia, however, Alberto is adamant that their kind is not welcomed. Alberto becomes a bit jealous of Luca and Guiliana’s relationship and accidentally reveals himself to be a sea monster. This scares Guila at first and in turn, Luca pretends to be scared as well while remaining in his human form and calls him out as a Sea Monster, betraying their relationship.
Soon after Giulia also finds out Luca’s secret but accepts him. The movie becomes a bit stale and dragged out in the middle here but it soon ramps back up in the end. Oh and do not worry! Luca’s parents really do care and have made their own way to the surface and endured the change and they spend the majority of the movie in the same town looking for their son.
With the friends disassembled and the race coming up Luca goes to apologize to Alberto who reveals that his father had sadly actually left him. Playing heavily into his sense of jealousy of Giulia because he has fears of being abandoned again. I give praise to this movie for writing in such a strong character who also shows vulnerability.
The race begins and Giulia and Luca compete individually. Luca is set to win when all of a sudden it begins to rain. Alberto comes to the rescue with an umbrella to protect Lucas’s identity and the two finish and win the race. Their sea form does take place and the whole town then sees who they are. With just a little push back the town accepts the boys.
My biggest take away from this part of the movie is that we are one people no matter where you come from we are all one. The actual monster of this film is neither the land or sea creatures but actually the negative judgment of others. The movie ends in a heart-warming fashion. Using the prize money Alberto surprises Luca with a ticket to go away to school with Giulia.
Letting go of his jealousy and coming to the understanding that the two boys are on different paths this story concludes with a warm feeling of maturity, friendship, and trust, and wanting the best for the people we love. One of the final scenes is Luca on board the train with Giulia while Roberto is chasing after the train saying his goodbyes.
This is a great movie for people of all ages, for both family and friends and the underlying messages alone are worth the watch. There are similar tones to many other Disney movies I will say but I enjoyed the way they uniquely addressed them. Silenzio Bruno is something we can all take away from this film. With so much going on in this world it can be hard to not overthink and be fearful. Luca reminds us to ignore that voice in our head and to keep on keeping on.
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