To begin with, let’s get it over with the now-usual accolades – a brilliant Pixar film(whoever expected anything else), WALL•E raises the bar among animation films to such an extent that it can only be reached by a yet-unmade Pixar ‘product’(it’s almost an insult to call it that). Irresistibly sweet and heart-warming, it’s an achievement of visual storytelling, and even with two robots as its principal characters, it’s a greater testament to the beauty of holding hands than any other ‘human’ movie made in recent years.
Which brings me to the central point of this piece – every time I watch a new Pixar film, I get the impression that, while these guys busily go about their daily jobs of redefining the very principles(and art) of creating moving images, they somehow manage to keep in touch with the foundations of ‘cinema’ as an entertaining medium to a far greater degree than most other offerings of contemporary ‘popular’ film-making. While mainstream Hollywood still reels under the ‘shock-n-awe’ effect and ‘big bang’ theories of its major production houses, Pixar seems to understand the arresting impact and lasting memories that the simplest of images can create in the human mind. Note the scene where Wall•e and Eve perform a ‘Space Ballet’ as they wheel around the mother spaceship – a breath-taking symphony of light and colours, given great company by a sweet background score.
Much of the film comprises little or no dialogues, and to my mind, these are the superlative portions of the film. I can’t remember the last movie that I had seen with such little words and yet so much to say – from contemporary diet issues to inefficient waste disposal, from the excesses of ‘social networking’ to our increasing dependency on machines, nothing escapes their attention. The only bit that disappointed me – I only wish they’d had the courage to pull off what could have been that perfect ending to a fittingly perfect movie – call me a sadist, but Wall•e would have stayed with me forever, if only he could have forgotten ‘Eva’….