#ale abreau

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Boy and the World (2013) was written, directed, edited, and animated by Ale Abreau. No birthplace could be determined. He has five director credits from a 1998 short to Perlimps (2022), nine years after his previous credit, Boy and the World. His first feature, Garoto Cosmico (2007) is rated even higher than Boy and the World, but I have not yet seen it.

#boy and the world #ale abreau #animated features

[adamwatchesmovies]

Boy and the World (2013)

Boy and the World is not what it seems. Its visual style evokes childhood drawings and there isn’t any dialogue. This might lead you to think it would be well-suited for children… but there’s no way kids would “get” this. While it can feel a little long, even at 80 minutes, it’s an ambitious film with bold imagery and a story whose depth will take adults aback.

Told without dialogue, a young boy named Cuca lives happily with his family until his father leaves by train to find work. When Cuca decides to venture out of his home to find him, he meets a variety of characters, including an old cotton picker and a rebellious young adult working in a clothing factory for a futuristic city floating above the ocean.

What actually happens in Boy and the World isn’t important because much of it is disguised through symbolism and allegory. This movie is about how the unfair relationship between individuals and work. Parents have to leave their children behind to make a living in big establishments that will replace them with robots/machines the second it becomes financially viable, plantation owners get rid of the older and sickly laborers because they only want to pay the people who are the most efficient at their jobs, products made on the backs of the lower class make their way to the higher echelons of society, what happens when the working class rises up against those who stomp on them and the aftermath of it all. You don’t have to be Brazilian for any of that to resonate with you.

Some critics have suggested Boy and the World is well-suited for a young audience. I’m not so sure. Like so many of these metaphor-ladden tales, until you understand what’s being said, this can feel like a lot of randomness. Combined with the lack of dialogue, the absence of humor, no clear beginning, middle, or end, and the heavy message, it’s pretty easy to get… a little bored, wondering what’s coming next. Or maybe I’m just a dum-dum. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this film by Alê Abreu. I just wanted a more cohesive narrative; some idea of where things were headed, of what I should expect next. For this reason, I suspect I’d like this film more upon a second viewing.

The most striking aspect of Boy and the World are its visuals. While the characters evoke children’s drawings, they are not scribbles brought to life. There is a clear understanding of anatomy and a mastery of character design on display. Both ensure you always know who is who, what they’re feeling, and how we should feel about them despite the limited facial expressions and lack of dialogue. Even if you don’t recognize that glowing orbs actually represent songs or music, you'll understand the emotions in every scene. There’s a particular moment when the boy is reunited with his father that just annihilates you. It’s so good I’m shocked I haven’t seen it snipped out and perpetuated through the internet.

Boy and the World might not be my kind of movie… but then again, it might be. The more I think about what I saw, the more I appreciate and admire it. I certainly won’t forget the way it made me feel, which is the mark of a great film. (On Blu-ray, September 20, 2021)

#Boy and the World #Ale Abreau #Vinicius Garcia #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Felipe Zilse #Lu Horta #Marco Aurelio Campos #Cassius Romero #2013 movies #2013 films

[randomthoughts]

FBB 2019: Early Winners & Losers

Here’s who’s winning on my team and who is losing: WINNERS Mitch Garver ($1) - .354, 7 HR Jose Abreau ($26) - 9 HR & 34 RBI & leading the AL in RBI Tim Beckham  ($1) - .271 7 HR, 20 RBI Dee Gordon ($27) - .304, 10 SB Freddy Galvis  ($1) - .269, 5 HR Jake Odorizz - 2.78 ERA 9.5 K/9 Charlie Morton - 2.64 ERA 11 K/9 Ken Giles - 1.65 ERA, 8 SV LOSERS Yonder Alonso - .172 BA Greg Allen - .105 BA. 0 SB Wily Peralta - 6.35 ERA, 1 SV THE MIXED RESULTS Carlos Carrasco - 5.60 ERA but 12 K/9 Reynaldo Lopez - 6.38 ERA, 10 K/9

THE WOUNDED Justin Upton - Injured in spring training Shohei Ohtani - First appearance 5/7 Mike Clevenger - back injury, out for 6 weeks The loss of Upton has killed my hitting. My team is currently in 8th place. I had been hovering around 5th place and that gave me hope that I might be able to surge up the standings, but now I’m not so sure.

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

There is no cinematography credit for Boy and the World (2013), so it is assumed to be writer, director, editor, and animator Ale Abreau.

#boy and the world

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Writer, director, editor, and animator Ale Abreau said Boy and the World (2013) began as a documentary on Latin America.

#boy and the world

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

All the drawings in Boy and the World (2013) were hand made by writer, director, and editor Ale Abreau. Remarkably, there are no other animation credits in the film.

The film was Oscar nominated in 2016 as Best Animated Feature, but lost to Inside Out, which must have emplyed hundreds of animators.

#boy and the world