Monday, December 21, 2009

The Ten Movies That Defined My Decade.


3. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)

Who would've guessed that the decade's most romantic film would have almost no dialogue and its protagonists wouldn't even be human?
Not me for one. When I first saw "WALL-E" I was moved beyond my wildest dreams, I left the screening elated and mildly depressed wondering how on Earth had the filmmakers been able to stimulate the brain, eyes and heart at the same time.
The story of a robot who becomes one of the last inhabitants on planet Earth (read my review here) had a direct ecological message, as well as mentions of obesity, consumerism and indifference.
Some of its elements were deemed as part of a liberal agenda on Hollywood's side and truth is that Disney is after all a capitalist company, so yeah they will want to make a buck out of current issues if they can.
But the beauty of "WALL-E " wasn't in its obvious discourse but in its subtle, delicate undertones. How it drew people to the movies again and have them not complain about lack of unnecessary dialogue.
The first part of the movie is like a symphony you just need to sit back and relish in and then there's the fact that the entire movie itself plays like a crash history of motion pictures with WALL-E going from playing Charlie Chaplin to Keir Dullea in under two hours.
If to this you add the enigmatic, but nostalgic, inclusion of Babs in "Hello Dolly" you have everything to make one of the most unique movie experiences the decade gave us and the one animated film made I'd put in my own time capsule.

2 comments:

Luke said...

Ahhh! I LOVE this movie. Would've been truly bummed had it not made your list. (And I'm also really loving the photo choice. I don't think I've seen that still before!)

Notas Sobre Creación Cultural e Imaginarios Sociales said...

Glad you liked it! I was gonna rank it number 2, but then I figured since it was barely released last year I should let this one lie there a few more years to see if I grow to like it even more.
You're right about the still as well, I'd never seen it before and just loved it.