Pixar's on the Up with first cartoon ever to open Cannes film jamboree

UP
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CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

HISTORY was made last night as Pixar's Up became the first animated film to open the Cannes Film Festival. Unlike some of the damp squibs of recent years, this 3-D delight proved the perfect curtain-raiser, offering stunning visuals, a touching story and, as you would expect from the people behind Toy Story, The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc., lots of laughs.

Speaking at a press conference, Pixar chief executive John Lasseter was in no doubt what the prime slot meant. "It's one of the greatest things that's happened to us in our careers," he said. "You have to understand what this festival means to a film-maker, being one of the most prestigious festivals in the world."

He added that he was looking forward to seeing the audience at the gala premiere in "tuxedos, bow ties, and gowns", wearing 3-D glasses. "That's going to be fantastic," he laughed.

A film about all ages for all ages, Up concerns the exploits of Carl Fredericksen (expressively voiced by Ed Asner), a grumpy, 78-year-old widower who tethers helium balloons to his house and flies away to the waterfall in South America that he and his late wife, Ellie, once dreamed of exploring together.

The couple's relationship, from their first meeting as kids who bond over a fascination with discredited 1930s explorer Charles F Muntz (Christopher Plummer), through marriage and the discovery that Ellie cannot have children, to her death, is beautifully handled. Its wordless presentation recalls Wall-E and the influence of silent greats such as Chaplin.

You realise that in just a few minutes, directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson have, aided by composer Michael Giacchino's elegant score, danced us gently and poetically from the carefree joys of childhood to the sad sight of a man alone in the house he shared with his first love.

Taking flight, Carl starts to gain a new lease of life, although he remains tethered, literally, to the past. He is not alone, though, soon discovering a stowaway on his porch in the shape of a chubby eight-year-old boy scout (Jordan Nagai). Unable to get rid of him, the odd couple gradually grow closer, realising that they can give each other what they're missing in their lives. Up isn't as touchy-feely as it sounds. There's the reappearance of the missing Muntz (Christopher Plummer), dogs with thought to speech translators, and a fair amount of jeopardy. Add in a chocolate-loving exotic bird, some creaky hand-to-hand fighting between Carl and Muntz and subtle life lessons, and you have a film that works on several levels.

3-D enhances the experience without becoming the reason for the movie or drawing attention to itself. Objects do not fly out of the screen, although there are moments when you might be hoping they would. Instead, the film-makers use the process like a window, using depth and space to enhance the narrative's emotional and psychological thrust. The images are some of the most beautifully detailed and finely textured in any Pixar film.

Fully deserving of its prime slot at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, Up is a high watermark in Pixar's output and bound to get an Oscar nomination. More importantly, it left critics on the Croisette feeling buoyant yesterday, which makes a change from opening movies in recent years.

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Glamour and glitz reign as movie world comes to town

ACTRESSES Elizabeth Banks and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is also a former Miss World, arrived at the Palais de Festival last night for the premiere of Up which opened the Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera.

It was the first time an animated film had launched the glittering event.

Celebrities donned 3-D glasses for the Disney Pixar film about a grumpy old salesman who attaches countless balloons to his house to get airborne and floats off on an adventure.

Hundreds of fans lined the Croisette, the luxury resort's waterside boulevard, to catch a glimpse of the stars coming down the red carpet.

The festival runs until 24 May when the top prize, the Palme d'Or, will be announced.

Among the 20 directors hoping to win the coveted trophy are four past winners, including Quentin Tarantino with Inglorious Bastards, starring Brad Pitt, Samuel L Jackson and Mike Myers.

Three British films are also in the running for the award. These are Bright Star, about poet John Keats, directed by Jane Campion who won the coveted Palme d'Or in 1993 for The Piano.

The others are Ken Loach's Looking for Eric, starring footballer Eric Cantona as the personal hero of a postman and Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank, a domestic drama starring Michael Fassbender.