It is indeed a story within a story. The soldiers might have been government soldiers, not necessarily border guards. Or maybe guerrilla soldiers. This is the Colombian reality, not US. But yes, it would have been hard to make it clear.
The one thing I particularly liked was the multi-racial representation. Especially since children can come in different racial makeups from the same parents. Like one redheaded, one brunette, one mestizo or black. This is not unusual in Latin-American families, whereas the national passtime is to find out what color your kid is. There is a long conversation to be had on this. I was happy to see it portrayed in the movie.
The music was for the most part very good. Lin Manuel Miranda did a good job in following the cadence of Colombian music. And this is fantasy after all. All things considered. A town like that, in the middle of the jungle, might have been discovered and destroyed in no time, magic or no magic. So it's unrealistic from that point of view and I can see where the criticism comes from. But I liked it.
Agreed, but I can also see that some of the references trend a little specific on the Colombian side (disclosure--I worked there for a while). Yellow butterflies are symbolic of all you say, but they are also a specific literary device in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Life in the Time of Cholera (and as a result, a motif associated nationally as representative of the Colombian spirit).
Similarly, the soldiers that kill Pedro seem to be more generally symbolic of "la Violencia"--the armed conflicts that have continuously displaced rural people throughout Colombia's history. I think the cool thing is while the script acknowledges war loss can be an impetus, it doesn't get into what specific conflict was at play. The movie made clear that the details don't matter--trauma happened and it is shared by even later generations (which has a universality that I can recognize in memories of how my childhood best friend--who is Jewish--dealt with the Holocaust stories her elders told her when we were growing up in the 1970s).
I know that there has been lots of online discussion whether Pedro had a breakdown, although not from my Colombian friends. Certainly, while Abuelo's treatment causes Pedro to literally disappear, gifts of revelation are culturally honored there and not considered to be reflective of mental disability. Pedro's persistent love--manifested by his literally going into the walls and repairing la casita--is another trope that recalls Marquez's ghosts.
I think it was pretty genius to put these things into a children's story. I'm surprised that Marquez's influence works so well at that level. I'd never expect it from Disney.
I loved this review so much, this part made me well up: "Sometimes we end up like Bruno -- checked out of our family life, but still physically present, quietly trying to patch up the cracks in the family, knowing all along that the whole enterprise is doomed. Sometimes the only way to break the cycle is to leave the family, either partially by setting firm boundaries and moving some distance away, or totally by actually estranging oneself from the family." Who wrote Enanto, I will have to look that up - they are very insightful, like you. xo
It is indeed a story within a story. The soldiers might have been government soldiers, not necessarily border guards. Or maybe guerrilla soldiers. This is the Colombian reality, not US. But yes, it would have been hard to make it clear.
The one thing I particularly liked was the multi-racial representation. Especially since children can come in different racial makeups from the same parents. Like one redheaded, one brunette, one mestizo or black. This is not unusual in Latin-American families, whereas the national passtime is to find out what color your kid is. There is a long conversation to be had on this. I was happy to see it portrayed in the movie.
The music was for the most part very good. Lin Manuel Miranda did a good job in following the cadence of Colombian music. And this is fantasy after all. All things considered. A town like that, in the middle of the jungle, might have been discovered and destroyed in no time, magic or no magic. So it's unrealistic from that point of view and I can see where the criticism comes from. But I liked it.
Unbelievably astute reading, my fellow witch.
Agreed, but I can also see that some of the references trend a little specific on the Colombian side (disclosure--I worked there for a while). Yellow butterflies are symbolic of all you say, but they are also a specific literary device in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Life in the Time of Cholera (and as a result, a motif associated nationally as representative of the Colombian spirit).
Similarly, the soldiers that kill Pedro seem to be more generally symbolic of "la Violencia"--the armed conflicts that have continuously displaced rural people throughout Colombia's history. I think the cool thing is while the script acknowledges war loss can be an impetus, it doesn't get into what specific conflict was at play. The movie made clear that the details don't matter--trauma happened and it is shared by even later generations (which has a universality that I can recognize in memories of how my childhood best friend--who is Jewish--dealt with the Holocaust stories her elders told her when we were growing up in the 1970s).
I know that there has been lots of online discussion whether Pedro had a breakdown, although not from my Colombian friends. Certainly, while Abuelo's treatment causes Pedro to literally disappear, gifts of revelation are culturally honored there and not considered to be reflective of mental disability. Pedro's persistent love--manifested by his literally going into the walls and repairing la casita--is another trope that recalls Marquez's ghosts.
I think it was pretty genius to put these things into a children's story. I'm surprised that Marquez's influence works so well at that level. I'd never expect it from Disney.
I loved this review so much, this part made me well up: "Sometimes we end up like Bruno -- checked out of our family life, but still physically present, quietly trying to patch up the cracks in the family, knowing all along that the whole enterprise is doomed. Sometimes the only way to break the cycle is to leave the family, either partially by setting firm boundaries and moving some distance away, or totally by actually estranging oneself from the family." Who wrote Enanto, I will have to look that up - they are very insightful, like you. xo