Shine With Grace

I wanna make things, Dad!

Stay away from the human.  It’s dangerous.  Now shut up and eat your garbage!

 

Ratatouille is the “ultimate impossible film” which depicts Remy the rat who becomes the best chef in Paris, France.

I felt in love with the film before actually watching it, when shown the trailer - and have not been able to fight against its spell that lures me into the theater…

The Trailer 

Isn’t it fantastic?

The Story

Remy was no common rat.  He’s born with great taste, and therefore assigned the “poison sniffer” job for screening safe (garbage) food for his family.  He hated it.  He wanted to make things, he liked to cook. Nobody (no rats) understood him.  His dad asked him to be realistic - rats were born to eat crap.

Due to an accident he met the garbage-boy-turned-chef (Linguini) who couldn’t cook and therefore started their partnership.  Dream coming true…

The adventure began…

   

The Characters

The characters look so real - and by saying so I don’t just mean the sophisticated CG animation, but the characters of the characters.  Remy and Linguini were the total opposite of each other.  Remy dreamed big, he never accepted no for an answer.  He’s adventurous and talented.  Linguini, on the other hand, was a boy with no drive.  He was unwilling to confront with other people and stand up for himself.  All other characters, such as Collet (the only female cook in the kitchen), Skinner (the cunning and mean chef), Emile (Remy’s brother, who was easy-going, grumpy and fat)… have a unique personality.  The Pixar team has only again done an incredible job in building the characters.

The Animation

The animation is so sophisticated that the street views of Paris look like a photo (the night light of Paris look so soft in the smoke); the (CG) food looks hot and steamy and fresh and tasty; the mouses look so real but cute (see how soft and shinny the hair is?)…  From Toy Story to Monster Inc., to Finding Nemo and The Incredible, to Ratatouille now, Pixar is making greater progress each time in their CG (Computer Graphic) techniques.  In order to make it more real, the team has actually taken a cooking class and spent a week in Paris to ensure they know what they are drawing.  

Fantasy / Reality

It is such a heart-warming and inspiring movie!

Believe in yourself - “Everyone can cook!” (Even a rat…)

In Ratatouille, there is one character that is particularly interesting - Gusteau the five-star chef who existed in Remy’s imagination.  Whenever Remy wanted to give up or run out of ideas, Gusteau would appear, talk to him and ask him one or two important questions that unlock Remy’s dilemma.  Did Gusteau really exist?  Was he Remy’s imagination or a ghost?  It may not even matter.  He may be that tiny little voice / the gut that we all have, but took the form of Gusteau in Remy’s case.  

Ratatouille is a magical movie.  It has the charm to make the most unimaginable become believable.   It is an animation film and the protagonist is a mouse.  Yet, it is all very human - the characters are not flat - they have their love and fear, they have their history, they have their dreams but at the same time limitations.  And that’s why the viewers can resonate with the characters and be inspired by the seemingly most unrealistic story. 

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