Encanto Movie Review: Paying Rich tribute to the ‘Ordinary’

A still from Encanto. Pic/Youtube

Encanto
Cast (Voice): Stephanie Beatriz, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Rhenzy Feliz, Wilmer Valderrama, Diane Guerrero, Carolina Gaitan, Angie Cepeda, Jessica Darrow, Mauro Castillo, John Leguizamo, Maria Cecilia Botero, Adassa
Director: Byron Howard, Jared Bush
Rating: 3/5

Disney's 60th animation offering appears to take the Pixar route. Like Pixar's recent tribute "Coco," highlighting Mexican culture, "Encanto" breaks out to embrace Colombian roots. It's blindingly clear from their recent forays that both Pixar and Disney are attempting to broaden their horizons in order to increase their fan base by targeting native stories from regions hitherto unexplored by Hollywood. And that kind of inclusiveness is a welcome move no doubt.

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Like every regional folk tale, this one too has a lesson in it for everyone willing to imbibe from it. This film tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, living hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, situated in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The reason for that enchantment are miracles granted to every child born to the family because of the hardships they endured previously. Unfortunately or fortunately ( depending on your point of view) there's one child Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) who doesn't fit in because when it came to her turn to be granted the miracle, it just did not happen. The family is afraid to go back to their ordinary existence and hence shuns the ones who don't make the magic happen but in the end when they are threatened with the loss of the magic, it's the ones who are shunned who bring the miracle back into their lives. The lesson to be learnt, is that even the ordinary, seemingly untalented ones have an important role to play in our lives and we must perforce treat them with the respect and importance we afford the ones who we believe are more talented. The message is clear but not necessarily preachy.

Encanto is a visually enchanting work and the beauty here lies in the regional details that the film highlights. The features, personalities, flowers, animals, songs and music of the Colombian region are schematically entrenched in the storytelling here. The narrative incorporates varying skin tones and hair textures as part of the same family and the distinctive Columbian lifestyle, food habits and native fashion lends the story strong roots. Directors Jared Bush, Byron Howard and co-director Charise Castro Smith create a tender tale about misfits coming good eventually. The evil here is within, a misguided sense of self-importance brought on by special gifts - so there's no real villain to fight. The conflict is subtle and the drama hinges on self-realization. The animation, design and color palette are what creates a sense of enchantment here. The colors are splendid, the costumes and production design are detailed, and the Madrigals' house (central to the story) is magical. Lin-Manuel Miranda's tunes make the musical interludes interesting but the songs are not memorable enough to linger in your memory. Encanto may not be the best Disney creation but it's certainly a brave and charming one!