The pleasures of The Book of Life is found both in and outside the brackets. The story [within the story (within its story)] may be easily dismissed derivative—and it is—replete with archetypal tropes and often unreliable characterization. Yet it remains characteristic, not strictly in its distinct visual identity but as well in its somewhat preening self-awareness.
The narrative, which is framed within a contemporary setting, retells one of the stories in the mystical Book of Life—a ginormous volume of stories, or, to put it more accurately: an entire library of unauthorized biographies. The mysterious tour guide who ushers a pentad of children to a mysterious passage (the film’s very own Platform 9 ¾), is an ardent storyteller, making use of meticulously sculpted woodworks as characters to the story she is telling; she is the show’s fantastic marionette, at the arrest of her puppetry, her invested audience. This framing arc is referential to the work of filmmakers of children’s animations, not entirely overturning the film, much less the genre, but merely declaring its consciousness about its audience. When the tour guide gets to the darker parts of her story, one of the kids squirms, rightly: “What is it with Mexicans and death? We’re just kids!”
Of course there is the possibility that, being an unreliable narrator the inner story is filtered to suit her patrons. You can’t simply trust a woman who walks you literally through impossible metaphysics and depicts death in her story as an eternal getaway to unlimited street parties, can you? An interesting inquiry would be that if it were adults that listened to her storytelling, what then will become of the story? Will the land of the Remembered remain as festive and joyous? Will the land of the Forgotten remain as bleak and nightmarish? Will there be a line, at all, dividing two planes? Or will there be just an unfillable void of nothingness? Just thinking about it is exhausting and, though it rings condescending of the film, I am glad that it had stuck with its detention kids.
The ‘characteristic’ in the film does not end with this seemingly ornamental framing. The whole lot is widely entertaining, what with the indulgent insertions of repurposed covers of popular songs such as Mumford and Son’s “I Will Wait,” Radiohead’s “Creep” and others.
The main arc finds a chthonian rivalry/love affair between two deities (La Muerte, played by Kate del Castillo, ruler of the Remembered; and Xibalba, played by Ron Perlman, ruler of the Forgotten) who, as ever true with lovers, settle things over bets. The wager: swapping of realms and the giddy pleasure of shutting out your lover. If Maria (Zoe Saldana) in time marries the mariachi-wielding romantic Manolo (Diego Luna), Xibalba is forbidden to ever meddle in the lives of mortals; if she marries the courageous Joaquin (Channing Tatum), Xibalba gets to trade realms with La Muerte. Of course, being a natural meddler, Xibalba will get in the way, and the consequence this time is much bigger. There is a fun but disposable bit featuring Ice Cube’s god-like Candlemaker, too. From here the film begins to explore thematically, from Latino kinship to misguided feminism, and progress visually (the image and sound of the film is aided with a glorious sense of detail—such beauty!).
And so it has come to this. If you permit this bookending paragraph, one way of describing the Jorge Gutierrez-directed and Guillermo del Toro-backed animation feature would be: The pleasures of The Book of Life is found both in and outside the brackets. (As aforementioned). They might not be as deeper pleasures as one would prefer, but as a tender and stimulating escapism, it is certainly worth your admission.
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THE BOOK OF LIFE
Jorge Gutierrez / USA / 2014
Animation, Adventure, Comedy / 95 min. / G
Screenplay: Jorge Gutierrez, Douglas Langdale
Cast: Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum…
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the film in one line of dialogue:
“Savage.”
~Skeleton Jorge (voiced by Plácido Domingo)
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