“Coco” Brings the Pixar Touch to Death

By A.O. Scott

One of the pleasures of a new Pixar feature is the chance to be amazed by what animation can do. Sometimes you witness a big, bold breakthrough,like the computer-assisted rendering of fur in “Monsters, Inc.”, of water in “Finding Nemo”, or of metal in “Cars”. The innovations in “Coco” are no less satisfying for being of a more subtle kind. The grain of leather and the rusted folds of corrugated metal have a rough, almost tactile quality. Human bones, hairless dogs and orange flower petals look uncannily (but not too uncannily) real. There are moments of cinematic rigor—when the animators mimic the movements and focal effects of an old-fashioned camera in actual physical space—that will warm any film-geek’s heart. Not to mention the Frida Kahlo-inspired musical number with dancing papaya seeds1影片以弗里達·卡羅為原型創造了一個人物，存在于亡靈世界，在那里擔任舞臺設計，其設計的一臺劇目中，有亡靈從木瓜中爬出伴隨音樂起舞。.

觀看皮克斯新片的樂趣之一，就是能再度驚嘆動畫的呈現能力。有時你會見正重大的突破，比如電腦輔助設計形成的大膽創新——不管是《怪獸電力公司》中的怪物皮毛、《海底總動員》中的水流，還是《汽車總動員》中的金屬，都是如此。與這三部動畫相比，《尋夢環游記》毫不遜色，它的細節處理更為細致。皮革的紋理和波紋金屬銹跡斑斑的褶皺都略帶粗糙感，幾乎可以透過屏幕觸摸到。人形骷髏、無毛狗和橙色花瓣看起來真實且神秘（但并不詭異）。電影有些畫面制作很嚴密——制作者們模仿真實物理空間中老式相機的移動和聚焦效果——對任何一個電影迷來說，這無疑都是倍感暖心的時刻。更不用說電影中以弗里達·卡羅為靈感而創作的樂曲以及隨之翩翩起舞的木瓜種子。

[2] “Coco” is also one of those Pixar movies that attempt a conceptual breakthrough, an application of the bright colors and open emotionalism of modern, mainstream animation to an unlikely zone of experience. From the very start, the studio has explored the inner lives of inanimate objects like lamps and toys with a tenderness we now take for granted. It has also summoned the post-human future (“Wall-E”) and the human unconscious (“Inside/Out”) with breathtaking ingenuity. And now it has set out to make a family-friendly cartoon about death.

[3] Don’t let that scare you or your children away. There is a murder and a fatal church-bell-related accident, but the afterlife in “Coco” is a warm and hectic place, more comical than creepy.The story takes place during the Day of the Dead, when according to Mexi-can tradition (at least as interpreted by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina,who directed the screenplay written by Mr. Molina and Matthew Aldrich), the border controls between life and death relax and the departed are allowed temporary passage to the land of the living.A young boy named Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) makes the trip in reverse, which is not to say that he dies,but rather that his living self, through one of several metaphysical loopholes that the movie explains as it goes along,is transported into a fantastical world of specters and skeletons, who hold fabulous parties and raucous outdoor concerts.

[2]皮克斯的很多影片是在嘗試概念的突破（絢麗色彩的運用），并將現代主流動畫的情感引入之前不太可能觸及的體驗領域，《尋夢環游記》就是這樣一部力作。皮克斯工作室從制作第一部電影開始，就一直在探索像照明燈、玩具這些無生命之物的內心世界，探索之細膩，我們如今已習以為常。除此之外，皮克斯還運用其驚人的創造力探索了未來后人類世界（《機器人總動員》）和腦內情緒的繽紛世界（《頭腦特工隊》）。2017年，皮克斯工作室嘗試制作了這部以死亡為主題，適合全家觀看的動畫片。

[3]千萬別讓這個主題嚇跑了你或孩子們。確實，影片中出現了謀殺，還有教堂大鐘造成的事故，但是，《尋夢環游記》呈現的死后世界是一個溫暖而熱鬧的地方，并不讓人毛骨悚然，而是滿滿趣味。故事發生在墨西哥亡靈節期間。按照墨西哥傳統（至少本片導演李·安克里奇和阿德里安·莫利納是這樣解釋的；本片編劇除了莫利納外，還有馬修·奧爾德里奇），在亡靈節期間，生與死之間界限放松，逝者可以暫時重返生者的世界。故事中，一個名叫米格的小男孩（安東尼·岡薩雷斯配音）卻偏偏來到了亡靈的世界，他并不是因去世而來到了這兒，而是某個超自然的漏洞把他，一個活人，帶到了這個滿是幽靈和骷髏的奇妙世界。至于這個漏洞到底是什么，在電影情節一步步展開的過程中你會找到答案。在亡靈的世界里，會舉行盛大的聚會和熱鬧的戶外音樂會。

[4] Nearly as enchanting as that magical realm is the Mexican village of Santa Cecilia, Miguel’s hometown,where he is part of a prosperous clan of shoemakers. The cultural vibe of “Coco”is inclusive rather than exoticizing,pre-empting inevitable concerns about authenticity and appropriation with the mixture of charm and sensitivity that has become something of a 21st-century Disney hallmark. Here, the importance of family—the multigenerational household that sustains and constrains the hero—is both specific and universal.It’s what explains the particular beats of Miguel’s story and what connects him to viewers regardless of background.

[5] He shows a certain kinship with other well-known recent cartoon characters. A gifted musician in a family that forbids music, he is a bit like Remy, the “Ratatouille” rat whose kin were hostile to his artistic ambition,and like Mumble, the misfit penguin in“Happy Feet.” Miguel’s genealogical quest—a search for roots, lost ancestors and information that might explain who he is—resembles Dory’s journey in “Finding Dory.” The sidekicks who accompany him, animal and (formerly)human, are drawn from a familiar well of archetypes, and the final round of lesson-learning and reconciliation hits notes we have heard many times before.

[4]跟神秘的亡靈之地具有同樣魅力的是米格的家鄉，一個名叫圣塞西莉亞的墨西哥小村莊。米格家族世代生活于此，靠制鞋為生，生活富裕。《尋夢環游記》呈現的是包容而非排外的文化，預先消除了人們的擔憂。這個擔憂針對的是獨特魅力和敏感性糅合之后的真實性和適當性，而這種糅合已成為21世紀迪士尼的某種特征。影片中，家庭的重要性表現得既具體又普遍，那個多代家庭既撫育了主人公，也束縛了他。這就是米格的故事打動觀眾的地方，也是為什么不同文化背景的觀眾會跟米格產生共鳴的原因。

[6] But if “Coco” doesn’t quite reach the highest level of Pixar masterpieces,it plays a time-tested tune with captivating originality and flair, and with roving, playful pop-culture erudition.Miguel’s musical role model—and the source of the family embargo on musical expression—is a long-dead crooner and movie star named Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). In life and in death, he incarnates venerable ideals of romance and wounded machismo, or at least their show-business incarnations.(His greatest hits and movie clips form part of the texture of “Coco,” the way the old “Woody’s Roundup” show did in the “Toy Story” movies.)

[5]從某種程度上來說，米格與近年來出現的其他有名的動畫人物也有一定的聯系。在一個禁止音樂的家庭中，他這樣一個音樂天才的遭遇跟《美食總動員》中的小老鼠瑞米、《快樂的大腳》中的小企鵝曼波都有幾分相似，瑞米的家人對他想要成為“廚藝大師”的夢想總是嗤之以鼻，曼波則與帝企鵝家族格格不入。米格探索家族的往事——尋根問祖，搜集信息，試圖從中探求自己存在的意義——這與《海底總動員2：多莉去哪兒》中小魚多莉的冒險之旅頗為相似。陪伴米格的伙伴，不管是動物還是亡靈，都可以找到熟悉的原型。電影最后凸顯的教育意義和沖突的緩解也是我們之前在很多影片中都可以看到的。

[6]不過，即使《尋夢環游記》還算不上是皮克斯動畫的巔峰之作，但其獨創性和造夢天資引人矚目，幽默不羈地傳遞出流行文化的方方面面，這些所打造的是經久不衰的旋律，使其經得起時間的檢驗。米格的音樂偶像是一位過世已久的歌手、電影明星，名叫埃內斯托·德拉科魯茲（本杰明·布拉特配音）——也是他們家族禁止一切形式音樂的根源。德拉科魯茲不管是在世時還是過世之后，都是值得敬慕的對象。他的身上既有理想的浪漫主義情懷，也有身為男人的無奈與不易。或者至少可以說，他代表了從事演藝事業的大多數人。（他極受歡迎的幾首主打歌曲和電影片段均收錄在《尋夢環游記》的原聲帶中，就如同《玩具總動員》系列電影原聲帶中收錄了其主題曲《伍迪牛仔秀》。）

[7] The purer embodiment of that tradition is Héctor (Gael García Bernal), a ragged, forgotten ghost who befriends Miguel. What links Héctor with de la Cruz is a lurid story of passion, betrayal and longing. Their lives and deaths are a ballad whose meaning and melody Miguel must learn. In doing so, he will understand the thread that links him to both of them, and also the sources of the anti-musical animus that runs so strongly in his maternal line.

[7]米格的朋友埃克托（蓋爾·加西亞·貝納爾配音），一個落魄且已被世人遺忘的亡靈，更加純粹地體現了影片所折射的傳統文化觀。埃克托和德拉科魯茲之間有一個聳人聽聞的，關于激情、背叛和渴望的故事。他們生前和死后的故事都如民謠般，米格都必須了解。只有這樣，他才能明白自己和他們兩人之間存在著怎樣的關系，才能知道自己的家族，一個靠代代女性撐起的家庭，強烈反對音樂的根源。

[8]可可是米格太奶奶的名字，她才是整個故事的核心人物。太奶奶的母親伊梅爾達（阿蘭納·烏巴奇配音）是亡靈世界中米格家族的大家長，她脾氣暴躁。而太奶奶的女兒，也就是米格的奶奶（芮妮·諾埃爾·維克托配音）是一個說一不二的人，她是米格家族在人世間的家族權威。她們堅決禁止米格彈奏吉他，是因為音樂曾讓她們心碎，因為吉他與男人的自私任性有聯系。

[8] Coco is the name of Miguel’s great-grandmother, who turns out to be the heart of the story. Her mother,Imelda (Alanna No?l Ubach), is a furious matriarch on the other side of the grave, while Coco’s daughter, Miguel’s Abuelita (Renée Victor), is a no-nonsense flesh-and-blood autocrat. Their determination to silence Miguel’s guitar arises from heartbreak, and from the instrument’s association with the waywardness of men.

[9] “Coco” avoids the darker tones associated with this theme, in the way that old murder ballads are sometimes reconceived as children’s songs. It’s reassuring rather than haunting, which is a shrewd and successful commercial compromise,but a compromise all the same. ■

[9]《尋夢環游記》雖涉及“死亡”這一主題，但其呈現并不陰暗。一些古老的、有關“謀殺”的歌謠有時被重新演繹成兒童歌曲，《尋夢環游記》就是做了類似的演繹。影片讓人倍感安心，而非讓人惶恐不安——從商業的角度來說，這是一種精明而成功的妥協，但終歸是一種妥協。 □