‘Luca’: Friendship, adventure and sea monsters

Disney’s latest animated film ‘Luca’ takes a charming adventurous trip to the Italian coast. With an IMDb 7.5 rating, it is set in the fictional seaside town of Portorosso on the Italian Riviera of the 1950s.

The movie begins with Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay), a young sea monster who dreams about co-existing with humans (known to them as land monsters), riding a Vespa scooter, trying different types of pasta, and even going to school. Unfortunately, he can’t do that because both realms believe that they are terribly dangerous to each other and humans literally hunt them. Needless to say, curiosity gets the better of him. With the help of his new best friend Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), Luca gathers all his courage and steps onto the surface and what happens next surprises him. He discovers that luckily when sea monsters dry off on the land, their scales can disappear and transform into human form.

After being dragged to the surface, Alberto teaches Luca the fundamentals of human life, like walking and gravity. In sharp contrast to introvert and hesitant Luca, Alberto is fearless, a little reckless, and is never afraid to try new stuff. But right after they start to explore the human world, they become entangled with a local bully Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), and a human girl named Giulia (Emma Berman). Giulia befriends them and compels them into the town’s annual triathlon competition which includes many different sports as biking, swimming, and eating pasta. And by doing that Luca can get a Vespa scooter, which he eagerly wants. But what scares him is that they better not get wet, because the slightest splash morphs them back into shimmering green sea monsters. Yet, he takes the challenge in order to live happily along with humans.

To feel a connection with this 96 minute animated film, you don’t need to grow up like Luca, live under the eyes of his overly protective parents (Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan). You don’t need to have had a summer that can change your life, or suffer torment from a bully. You don’t even need to be a sea monster to relate. You just need to understand that “There are a million things you think you can’t do, but all you need is just a chance”, as Giulia says. It encourages us to try out new things and what we want to do.

Unlike many animated films, ‘Luca’ gets beyond the old tropes and highlights a character with disabilities. Giulia’s single father Massimo Marcovaldo (Marco Barricelli), is an imposing fisherman who was born without an arm. At first glance, his stature and fishing spears frightens the daylights out of Luca and Alberto. But eventually, Luca and Alberto find their way into Massimo’s big heart. Since the movie began streaming in June, the internet has applauded Massimo’s character for including a limb difference on-screen so deftly. Director Enrico Casarosa said in an interview that, at first they thought about Massimo’s character losing his arm in World War II but then they came up with the line, “this is how I came into the world” to portray limb difference without making it a defining characteristic.

Pixar’s tradition of making beautiful movies continues with this film. Director Enrico Casarosa and his team did a magnificent job of bringing small-town Portorosso to life, giving it a warm, lived-in feel, and the immense amount of research that went into recreating the ethos of the era is well-justified. With multiple color spurts of Italian scenes, the film represented the country’s magnificent aesthetic. Cobblestoned streets wind their way into squiggly lanes of tall houses packed one after the other, noisy neighbors pour out into the open plaza for an afternoon chat with friends, and when children call out to each other for a round of street soccer. The imagery in Luca is not skin deep. The almost outrageous attention to detail that is common to each Pixar movie is very much present here and can be appreciated only during a re-watch session. All of the beautiful artworks, animation, visual storytelling, and also music were so perfect that you would want to visit this fictional yet amazing place in Italy again and again. It may not feel as complex as some films but it instead leans into the childlike wonder of growing up and reflects that in how the story is told visually. It works wonderfully.

Ultimately, 'Luca' is a very sweet and simple movie that at its core is about friendship and growth. This growth comes through a transformation in multiple ways. It all comes down to growing to be the best person one can be and embracing the differences in others. At first glance, this could seem overly simplistic. However, watching this film warms the heart and one realizes how very important this message is. The characters are endearingly written. The friendship at the center of the film, between Luca, Alberto, and Giulia, is lovable, sweet, and feels organic. It reminds us what a wonderful thing it is to have friends in your life. Friends who guard your secrets like they are their own, stand by the other despite their better judgment, follow each other into the unknown, believing that they will be able to face it all, together.

Overall, 'Luca' is a fantastic coming-of-age story that is Pixar’s most lighthearted film to date. It’s all about accepting differences whether you talk about sea monsters or portraying disabilities. So, stream 'Luca' and dive into the fictional world of sea monsters.

* Rumaiysa M Rahman is a 10th grader at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Dhaka