Film: Rio
Year Released: 2011
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Visiting Brazil is in my Bucket List. That is why I took up Portuguese as part of the Foreign Language requirement back in college. Everyone else enrolled in French and Spanish classes.
If I were given the chance to go to Brazil, I wouldn’t care much about shopping for Havainas or Ipanema flip-flops, I would rather spend my time wandering around the rain forest, watching people do the samba during the Carnival, and seeing the Christ the Redemeer up-close. If only.
But God is indeed great! He gave me a chance to get a glimpse of Brazil thru the movie Rio. It became my introductory class to this lovely country.
The film opened with Blu, a nestling macaw from the rain forest of Brazil. An unfortunate twist of event brought him to a small town Minnesota, where he was found by the caring human Linda. Blu lived like a human for the past 15 years. He brushed his teeth, drank hot cocoa, and read books. But things didn’t end there. He was brought back to Brazil where he met the independent Jewel. Together, they set off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro. This was where their story began.
Running around the forest (because Blu can’t fly) while chained together, the two lovebirds met Rafael. Being the local resident, Rafael led them in the search of Luiz, the bulldog who can help them get unchained. Along their way to find Luiz, the trio met the musicians – Nico and Pedro, whose soothing songs made Blu and Jewel fall in love.
The movie is all about the culture of Brazil – the music, the dance, the sun, the game, the parade. Rafael was singing The Girl from Ipanema to his wife when he first met Blu and Jewel. The whole city was glued to their TV screen during a football match. The streets were full of people, and birds, doing the samba. It was a paradise!
Everything was as colorful as the umbrellas parked on the beach.
One of my favorite scene was the panning shot of the Christ the
Redeemer statue. Even in its animated form, the statue was breathtaking.
Not being a fan of zoology nor ornithology, I had a difficulty though in identifying the which kind of bird each character was. I didn’t even know what kind of monkeys does Rio have. I assume that most of these animals, except for the bulldog, are found in Brazil. I just find them all adorable just like all other talking animals are.
The characterization of this film reminds me of the old Disney film, The Lion King. Although I find Blu way more fun than Simba. He’s also smarter, book-wise, than the lion. Blu and Simba shared the same conflict of accepting their fate. Simba was insecure in leading his pride. He was afraid that the rest of the lions would not accept him as their king. Blu couldn’t accept the fact that he is, well, a bird. A flying bird. What helped them accept their true calling were in fact their female leads – Nala for Simba, and Jewel for Blu. Both ladies are not the usual damsels in distress. They actually fought back and hard against their nemesis while making their male counterparts fall for them at the same time.
The other characters in Rio share the same personality of the characters in The Lion King. Rafael, for instance, played the wise thinker like Rafiki the baboon. Nico and Pedro reminded me of Timon and Pumbaa, who shared comic relief and music. Even the group of little monkeys reminded me of the pack of hyenas.
Watching the film was truly an enjoyable ride. It made me more determined to save more than enough to visit Rio in real life.
