I had forgotten what a dark work Finding Nemo is. It's one of the few films that reinforces my adulthood feelings of abandonment, and plays like one of the Brothers Grimm's tales.
It begins like way too many Disney films with the death of a spouse/mother. Two cute clown fish, Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) and Coral are setting up home near on a reef in a beautiful anemone. After viewing their hundreds of fish eggs, a barricuda comes. Marlin is knocked out; and when he awakens, Coral has disappeared and all the fish eggs but one are gone--Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould). Not only is Nemo the only offspring remaining, but he has a handicap, a stunted fin.
Because of this traumatized beginning Marlin intends to protect Nemo from anything that might ever harm him. He takes Nemo to his first day at school and doesn't want to let him go. When Nemo rebels and swims out to a fishing boat, Marlin is beside himself. Then what Marlin has always feared occurs: a diver comes and kidnaps Nemo. A desperate Marlin tries to stay with the boat, but it eventually disappears, leaving Marlin alone in a vast ocean.
Marlin's adventure is constantly fraught with peril: crossing the wide ocean, facing sharks, surviving underwater mines, a frightening humpback angler fish, and stinging jellyfish, riding the sea currents with a 150 year old turtle and his family, being swallowed by a whale, reaching Sydney, Australia, only to be almost eaten by sea gulls, pelicans, and crabs. Eventually rescuing Nemo, Marlin grows of course, learning that to totally protect any child from harm means to not allow them to grow and learn.
Nemo's adventure mirrors his father's only concentrated in a dentist's office aquarium.
The most charming character of the film is Dory (voiced by Ellen Degeneres) who has short term memory loss. Her character grows also, learning the importance of family and acceptance, which allow her to conquer her memory.
The film was always beautifully illustrated in vivid colors. The 3D elements add a great deal to the film. Often I have found after production 3D doesn't always work, but here it definitely reinforces the sense of distance and vastness of the coral reef world.
Although the audience was filled with small children when I saw the film, I found myself questioning whether the positive family and character building themes transcend the sheer terror of being deserted by a parent and finding one in peril over and over and over and over. I did hear some of the children talking to their parents in worried tones about what was happening. If I had small children, I think I would have to ponder whether to bring them to the film.
Finding Nemo 3D (2012) *****
No comments:
Post a Comment