JoBlo.com Joins Guillermo del Toro and Jorge Gutierrez for The Book Of Life!
Its exciting for me as a viewer to see Guillermo del Toro lend his name and talents to animated fare. We saw that spark with 2012s RISE OF THE GUARDIANS and this coming October he is bringing the magic and wonder of the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead to life, thanks to the creative vision of director Jorge Gutierrez in his feature film debut. THE BOOK OF LIFE stars Diego Luna as Manolo, a young man who would rather pour his heart out in a song than become a matador as his family would like. His best friend Joaquin (Channing Tatum) is the medal wearing pride of the village and the two men are both vying for the heart of the lovely senorita Maria (Zoe Saldana).
We were invited by 20th Century Fox to a special sneak preview of the new film which was introduced by del Toro himself. The enthusiasm he shared was infectious, especially when we were given a glimpse at the colorful animation behind the film. After the introduction, Jorge took center stage to reveal approximately twenty-five minutes of the film, including the trailer which was presented in 3D. Of course, he offered the caveat that what we were about to see has not been completed, yet it will be a visual feast when it arrives on October 17th. To this, I have not a single doubt, as what we did see was an incredible treat.
"He came in with a beautiful trunk with skulls and flowers and he wanted me to help him produce this movie. Back then, like now, I was trying to have a personal life. I have too much work and I dont want to have to do something new. But first of all, he was fat, which is a plus in my book [Laughing]. This guy knows how to eat and he knows how to drink, so Im in. But the other thing that was incredibly impressive was his images. I try as a producer to find first time directors and Ive done it now many, many times, because I think that it is important to introduce new voices into the genre. And, when I saw these images, we started talking and little by little, I fell into his trap [Laughing].Once Mr. Gutierrez took the stage he went on to talk about what made this particular tale special to him.
THE BOOK OF LIFE is a very personal movie. There are going to be a lot of food metaphors. Its a cook book from my family and all the dishes that everyone loves in my family are in there. All the recipes are in there and they all came and they are all earned. All these stories are basically the story of my family. Some elements are obviously more embellished than others, because as my Grandfather Luis used to tell me when I was five-years-old, he grabbed me and he would say, Dont ever let the truth get in the way of a good story! And I got in trouble a lot after that. My Grandma hated that saying [Laughing]. But it really became the moment where I fell in love with storytelling.He went on to talk about the look of the film.
Stylistically the movie is very much inspired by Mexican folk art and Latin American folk art. The reason I love Mexican folk art and just things that are handmade is the idea that it is art by the people, for the people, about the people. These are reflections of who we are. The movie is a love letter to that type of art work. Full of texture and you can see the traces of the artist in these characters. This is apparent by the following footage with characters that looked as if they were handcrafted; especially the more spiritually inspired ones.The first scene involved a group of students trudging their way through a museum with a plethora of Mexican heritage art. Led by their tour guide Mary Beth (Christina Applegate), the teens are presented The Book of Life and its many true and legendary tales of old. There is a nice amount of humor, although one long-haired dude apparently felt that every character in the book was very pretty even the menacing Xibalba (Ron Perlman) who was created from tar and muck. The magnificently drawn La Muerte (Kate del Castillo) on the other hand is a skeletal beauty with a dark, red velvet, candle laden sombrero and gown. This fantastic site rules the colorful and impressive The Land of Remembering a bright and shining shrine to Day of the Dead.
Source: | JoBlo.com |
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