Posted on Disney + on December 25,
Soul
has delighted since Friday many homes marveling and reassuring young and old after a year of pandemic and confinement with its invitation to explore our humanity in what it has most mysterious: the happiness and curiosity.
Soul
, which received the Cannes 2020 label, is in the hands of expert Pete Docter, already at the helm of the introspectives
Vice-Versa
and
Là-Haut
.
A metaphysical tale for 2020
New York pianist living only for jazz, Joe languishes in his teaching job.
After years of disappointments, he finally landed the concert of his life.
But an unfortunate misstep on an open sewer mouth throws him into the “Grand-Avant”.
In this indescribable place, new souls acquire their personality, character and uniqueness before being sent to Earth.
Decided to return to our lower world, Joe will support 22 who resisted all the distinguished mentors of creation, from Gandhi to Newton through the boxer Mohamed Ali.
The premise of the animated film can impress at first glance because it addresses the themes of death, the beyond, the unspeakable of the mystery of life.
But it is precisely this seriousness, this invitation to seize the present moment that makes it so charming and soothes at the end of a year of 2020 trying with uncertainties.
Initiated four years ago,
Soul
was born from a questioning of its director Pete Docter in front of his two offspring:
“From their birth, they manifested such different personalities.
How is this possible when they haven't even spent a while on Earth?
Why does he arrive with certain character traits? "
.
One
thing leading to another
, Soul
wonders where we come from, who we are and if we have a destiny.
The older ones will see it as a philosophical tale between an existentialist Joe and a 22 nihilist.
Soul
offers an invitation to let go, to refocus, to enjoy the simplest joys of everyday life such as this ray of sunshine, a good pizza or just the grace of a leaf fluttering in the wind.
The little ones will appreciate a gateway to more existential questions and perhaps the means of approaching these subjects with adults.
Soul
will also speak a lot to adolescents "
who are wondering how to find their place in society, who are assailed by doubts"
.
“
I put a lot of energy into my passion, animation, but that was not enough to make me happy.
Soul
challenges the cult of performance and shows that to be happy you don't need to be successful and shine at all costs.
You can be you, ”
Pete Docter pleads.
A graphics of insolent abstraction
A Michel and the grumpy Terry who counts Pixar / Disney souls
When we spoke to him in the fall of 2019, Pete Docter promised that we would be surprised by the looks of the Grand-Avant.
He didn't think so well put it.
Like his existential questions,
Soul
pushes Pixar's graphic limits in abstraction.
Souls have the appearance of droplets.
Those in charge of the Grand-Avant, the Michel, who traffic souls and carry out their counting have scarecrow figures.
These are living lines!
Their faces look different depending on the angle you look at them.
To do this, Pixar has developed a new technology that generates a new type of curve and allows animators to turn on or off each individual control point.
The outline of the Michel is a large white line that makes one think furiously of the grumpy little man of the Italian Osvaldo Cavandoli, whose adventures on a drawing sheet made all the salt of the cartoon
La Linea.
For his part, Pete Docter readily cites in his research the influence of Picasso, Calder or Brancusi.
The Micheles govern a vast campus shrouded in a perpetual dawn in the blue and pink sky.
There reigns elegance and mathematical perfection.
This space also has more psychedelic and New Age nooks and crannies with its grand infinite staircase to the beyond against a starry black night background.
In reverse, Joe's New York is warm and vibrant with familiarity, quirky with flaws and patina.
The librarians
Soul
paced Queens, clubs, schools and marching bands.
A majestic soundtrack
Herbie Hancock was a musical inspiration for
Soul
Pixar / Disney
“
Jazz was an obvious musical metaphor: it's the realm of improvisation without score, like life,
” says Pete Docter.
Musically, the style practiced by Joe is similar to that of Herbie Hancock, whose melodies have often been used in hip-hop titles.
The idea was to speak to connoisseurs as well as to the younger generations.
Keen to represent jazz in an authentic way, Pete Docter, his co-writer Kemp Powers and their producers called on professionals, including Herbie Hancock, Daveed Diggs, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington.
Their recommendations fed into Jon Batiste's soundtrack.
The musician signed the compositions and arrangements for all jazz titles.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, of rock band Nine Inch Nails and frequent collaborators of David Fincher, took care of melodies from the Soul World.
With their synthesizers, the duo wanted to distinguish regions: the “Grand-Before”, the “Great Beyond”, the “Astral Plane”, the “Who am I?
”Aka the Michel.
Everyone has their own identity.
An impeccable original version and French version
It's rare enough to point it out, but
Soul can
be savored and (re) seen in both original and French version and without the slightest drop in quality.
Across the Atlantic, Joe and 22 are voiced by Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey.
With us, it is Omar Sy and Camille Cottin who lend themselves to the exercise.
The star of
Ten percent
lets go, has fun, sparkles, and brings out the rebellious and punk side of 22, rebellious, blasé and indomitable like a teenager.
Omar Sy is in a more moderate register, perfect for chronicling Joe's slow awakening to life.
Ramzy Bedia doubles the whimsical Vendelune, a hippie who earns his living in the Big Apple by rotating billboards but who knows how to move between the two worlds.