Cannes reacts to Up

I’d love for somebody to find me a photo of the VIP guests at the theater with their 3D glasses on. Until then, we only have their words to describe their unanimously awestruck reaction:

The film, in its aerial beauty and its melancholic undertow, recalls Albert Lamorrise’s The Red Balloon and Hiyao Miyzaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle. No recent animated picture has been quite so suffused with an awareness of human mortality. A subplot, in which Carl and Russell try to protect a rare 13-foot bird nicknamed Kevin from a legendary hunter, ensures the film has enough breathtakingly exciting sequences for anyone who craves action as much as atmosphere. (Sukhdev Sandhu, Telegraph UK)

It really is a lovely film: smart, funny, high-spirited and sweet-natured, reviving memories of classic adventures from the pens of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne, and movies like Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Albert Lamorisse’s The Red Balloon, though I sometimes felt that my heart was being warmed by tiny invisible laser-missiles fired from the screen and digitally guided directly into my thorax. (Peter Bradshaw, Guardian UK)

The level of animation is superb. Of particular note in Pixar’s move to 3D is a refusal to indulge in gimmicks, such as objects flying at the viewer to make them jump. Effort is concentrated on giving an added depth of field, especially when classic shots of cinema such as the camera zoom are mimicked… It works because it serves the story experientially without being obtrusive and Pixar should be applauded for appreciating that the 3D audience is maturing. (Kaleem Aftab, Independent)

The film sensitively and gently presents the dreams and disappointments that make up most of our lives while it also finds sage humour in the incongruity of a pensioner embarking of a jungle adventure… Early on, there‚Äôs a brilliant, tear-jerking chapter, free of dialogue, that runs through Carl‚Äôs life from boyhood to dotage. From there, the story proper begins… (Dave Calhoun, Time Out)

Up tackles some seriously heavy issues in the most entertaining way imaginable, and such juxtaposition is aided by the animation, which remains colourful even when the tone of the film turns dark. Where WALL-E’s earthly vistas were practically photo-realistic, Up utilises a more stylised form of animation, and the result is a true feast for the eyes that perfectly complements the film’s flights of fancy. (Chris Tilly, IGN Movies UK)

It’s an unusual, magical film with which to open an art-house festival. A nod perhaps to the 3D technology that is almost certainly going to become standard issue for all big box-office animations. A nod also to the fact that cinema — especially in Cannes — remains an awfully big adventure. (James Christopher, Times UK)