Boy & the World (2013)

Boy, I knew that foreign films often had to wait a year for Academy consideration, but this one ran against 2015 animations. Maybe it can take longer for nations that rarely get Hollywood's attention. I think the only other Brazilian movies I've seen are Black Narcissus, City of God, and Central Station, none animated, so this was a new experience for me.

Some outside sources identify the boy as Cuca, but both the film and IMDb call him only Menino, which means "boy." Actually, that may be the only comprehensible dialog; the rest -- what little there is -- turns out to be Portuguese played backwards, in keeping with the occasional flipped writing. Subtitles exist on the DVD only for the deaf and hard of hearing, not translating or transcribing more than "Menino." In a way, it's fitting that this movie vied with Shaun the Sheep for the Oscar. Even the plot is similar in its simplicity, to a point.

The boy, who is either very young or just very small and foolish, lives in the country and has curiosity as his most obvious personality trait. His father moves away for city work. After missing Dad a while, he decides to head for the city as well, without so much as a note to his mother. Many unexpected events happen along the way, bringing him into the temporary custody of different courteous men who happen to work in the textile industry. In effect, he gets a tour of the process from cotton picking to clothing sales...and labor protests.

The lesson isn't pretty. We eventually see a live-action montage of the real stuff, which is no prettier. The director, Alê Abreu, had set out to make a documentary before settling on a remarkably different genre and format. He made all the drawings himself.

And how does the animation look? Sometimes pleasantly artsy, with a hint of synesthesia (musical sounds appear as colored bubbles to the boy) -- but always arrestingly crude. The characters are highly abstract and unable to express themselves facially. Backgrounds are often big on white space. Frankly, I sooner expect such quality from 3-minute shorts than 80-minute features. Every element appears so basic that I feared I would give up on watching to the end.

Oddly enough, it's near the end that things suddenly get jarring and confusing. Viewers have different ideas of what happens in the last few minutes. But we all agree that it must be bittersweet.

I compared the feel to StS above, but it's really more like The Triplets of Belleville or maybe The Illusionist. Quirky if not impossible things often happen in an atmosphere ranging from sunny to bleak. You wonder how seriously to take them and what's worth a chuckle.

Do not think from the protagonist's age, the simplicity, the PG rating, and/or the animation status that this would be a good movie to show kids. Most would get bored and ultimately sad. Maybe Brazilian kids would relate better. The adults had best go in looking for innovative art more than consistent entertainment.