Luca

"The world is a very dangerous place and if I have to send you to the bottom of the ocean to keep you safe, so be it."

Disney Pixar's Luca takes the concept of a fish-out-of-water story more literally than most. Luca is a sea monster who lives in a community off the coast of Italy. These creatures have the ability to appear human when they aren't wet and when Luca meets Alberto he inadvertently finds himself on the surface which he becomes transfixed by. When Luca's parents find out they plan to send him down to the deep to keep him safe but Luca decides to stay with Alberto on the surface and head to the village of Portorosso and get hold of a Vespa. 

We expect Pixar films to look beautiful and this is no exception. It's first act introduces us the sea-monster world which is a delightful fantasy that feels like it takes ideas from the likes of The Little Mermaid and Aquaman to give us a delightful underwater world- I have doubt that we'll see more of this place in Pixar shorts which would certainly be most welcome. From there it takes us to Portorosso which may be a fictional town but is actually the closest Pixar have got in an exercise in realism. It really feels like an Italian town and is inspired by the director's own life growing up as well as paying homage to Fellini. 

The film's plot drifts a little all over the place. Luca and Alberto meet Giulia who is desperate to win a local triathlon event and defeat bully Ercole so they team-up in the hope of earning the money to buy a Vespa. At the same time Luca's closeness with Giulia causes a rift between him and Alberto, Luca's parents have emerged from the sea and are trying to find him and there's the constant threat that they will get wet and be seen and killed by the locals. On the whole it's quite light but there is one scene between Luca and Alberto which is powerful and heart-breaking. 

Clearly there's an intention that being a sea monster is an allegory for being gay. As well as the fact that the film draws comparisons to Call Me By Your Name what with Luca hanging out with an older guy in a summery location, there film deals with having to hide your identity and the fear that people will despise you for who you are. When Luca's identity is inevitably revealed though the reaction is far more positive than he would have thought even with Giulia's father standing up for him because he has got to know him. There's lot of nice touches including a pair of old women who briefly appear earlier turning out also to be sea monsters and a piece of dialogue saying that some people will hate you but you will find the people who don't. 

There's nothing much wrong with Luca but it doesn't feel especially radical. It feels like it could have gone further- it could have explicitly included some sort of homosexual relationship between Luca and Alberto for example. It's story doesn't feel especially knew and there wasn't really a moment that made me go "wow". 

Luca does work as a counterpart to Pixar's last release, Soul. Whilst Soul felt like it was directed more towards an older audience Luca feels like it is for a younger one. It's fairly light and there's plenty of laughs, many of which are physical comedy (but also an excellent cameo from Sacha Baron Cohen). 

Luca is far from Pixar's best movie but it's a lovely summer animation with a good heart that I'd certainly be happy to view again.