On June 21, Elemental, Pixar’s new film, was released in Italian cinemas, and I rushed to see it the day after its release because I have always loved Pixar films: their ability to tackle enormous and profound themes in a universe of colors, with funny and endearing characters, and with a technical mastery that I am not professionally qualified to assess, but that my eyes know how to appreciate.
Films such as Up, Monsters & Co, and Inside Out live on in my memory. And this film continues along that same path, one that magically weaves together lightness, smiles, and unexpected depth.
The first thing that struck me personally, when I reflected on it, was the fact that I went to the cinema with my whole family and, when we came out, we had all been moved, each in our own way: children and adults alike. In this sense, it is a film that knows how to speak to everyone, another great strength of Pixar.
What is Elemental about?
This film is about the simplest and most complex thing one could imagine at the same time: in the style of a romantic comedy, it tells the story of a (nearly) impossible love, that of Ember and Wade.
Why nearly impossible? Because Ember and Wade are a fire girl and a water boy who live in Element City, a metropolis where elemental beings made of water, earth, air, or fire live side by side.
This enormous city, reminiscent of New York (the director is originally from New York, in fact, and is the son of Korean immigrants who brought a great deal of his own life story into this film), is a city where, on paper, everyone is welcome. But when Ember’s parents arrive there, with her mother pregnant, they literally experience many doors being slammed in their faces because the representatives of the other elements are all afraid of fire. Ember’s father, however, does not give up and manages to build a business in the city’s suburbs. He knows hardship and has great dreams for his daughter, but the extremely difficult life he has led has taught him one strict rule: “Elements do not mix,” fire must stay with fire. And it is precisely this fundamental rule that Ember breaks when she gradually falls in love with Wade.
Love is certainly a challenge, because we must be ready to trust, let go of our certainties, change alongside the other person, and seek a connection that, when imagined between water and fire, is frightening, just as any relationship that asks us to go “beyond ourselves” can be frightening from a certain point of view.
More than a film
I certainly do not want to spoil it, so I will leave you to enjoy the wonder of this film, which is a joy for the eyes and the heart.
What I thought as soon as I left the cinema - and what I continue to think - is that it is certainly a film, but it is also more than a film, because with wonderful lightness it touches on emotions and themes that make us reflect and invite us to go beyond our certainties, which are sometimes capable of trapping us in unjustified fears: what frightens us so much, difference in ourselves or in others, could be only the beginning of an exciting new adventure!
An editor at Editrice Shalom
