I have seen many people discuss whether Luca and Alberto are pure friendship, yes, the main theme of this film is to celebrate pure friendship.
The director and screenwriter Enrico Casarosa is from Italy. You may have seen his Oscar-nominated short film "Luna":
The director's father had a bad relationship with his grandfather, so "Moon God" was created. The prototype of this film is the childhood Enrico himself, he was born and raised in the port city of Genoa, Genoa, summer vacations in the Cinque Terre, jumping from high stones into the sea is everyday. The small towns in the film are taken from the Cinque Terre, especially the representative fishing village of Vernazza, which is picturesque, and their beautiful images are fixed by time. Focusing on the nostalgic style of a seaside town with strong Italian style in the summer from 1950s to 1960s, "Luca" is a love letter sent by the director to his hometown and childhood.
The production cycle of this film is five years. In 2016, the main creator formed the first team to go to Genoa to collect materials and toured the Cinque Terre and surrounding towns. From the terrain and vegetation to the food characteristics to the color of the sea and the sound of the waves, the sound of the sea was all true. Record, and strive to be a word "specific". The virtual town of Portorosso in the film is a master. It is said that almost every street, scene and object can be found in the local prototype, such as the cave in the stills:
From the stills, you can see that the film is colorful, hand-painted, and traditional 2D animation style. Some scenes may have the taste of Hayao Miyazaki. The director grew up watching Hayao Miyazaki's "Future Boy Conan" (1978), and Hayao Miyazaki fans were deeply influenced by it, and they even met. Hayao Miyazaki went to the director's hometown of Genoa for shooting for "Three Thousand Miles to Seek His Mother" (1976) (the protagonist Marco lives in the port of Genoa), which can be said to be very destined. Animation supervisor Michael Venturini said in an interview that in order to find design inspiration, they watched all the animations that the director watched when he was a child, and also referred to Adman Animation and Lycra, which are good at making stop motion animations. The team is committed to simplifying the lines, and try to use pictures and character expressions and actions to convey information.
Part of the film was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s 1992 work "Porco Rosso/Red Pig/Porco Rosso" (the background is Italy in the 1920s). As a tribute, Portorosso was originally planned to be Luca’s surname, but in the end it was used as a small town. The name corresponds to Monterosso in the Cinque Terre. (Luca's last name is Paguro, which means hermit crab in Italian. Alberto's last name is Scorfano, which means scorpionfish in Italian)
Luca's role is set to be 13 years old, with big eyes and full of curiosity about the world. The main thing he did every day was goatfish, until he met Alberto, who was 14 years old. Alberto is independent and free-spirited, completely opposite to Luca's character. The prototype is the director's childhood friend Alberto.
The director met Alberto when he was eleven or twelve years old. He was born in 1971. They met in the 80s, but it should be noted that the background of this film is set in the 5th and 1960s , because the director loves the movies and music of the golden age of Italy too much. Now, he drew a lot of inspiration from hand-painted, stop-motion animation, and the works of Italian filmmakers such as Federico Fellini. Fellini’s 1953 autobiographical "The Dangling" talks about the sour and sweetness of young people growing up in five small Italian towns. The protagonist Moraldo is eager to escape from his hometown to the big city, and finally leaves everything behind and rides the train alone. No, "Luca" pays tribute to the film at the end and uses the same train design. Luca's dazzling dreams and fantasies in the film are inspired by "Eight and a half 8½" in 1963, which is one of the director's favorite movies. In order to stay close to that era, the film reproduced the architectural style, food, fonts, square posters "Roman Holiday", "La strada", "Twenty Thousand Miles Under the Sea"), transportation and other elements of the time. The Vespa design in the film is based on the 1959 style. The director really had a scooter at that time, and the two would ride around the coast. In order to use Vespa in the film, it also contacted Vespa's company to obtain authorization. In a certain scene, Alberto posted a headshot of a real person on his self-made car and learned his expression. He was Marcello Mastroianni in "Italian Divorce" in 1961. His daughter Chiara Mastroianni voiced Luca's mother Daniela in the French version of "Luca".
As reflected in the movie, Alberto lacked family care since he was a child. He was unruly, while the director was protected by his family when he was a child. He was a little timid and shy, and his completely different personalities attracted them to each other. Alberto is a small trouble maker, and he will get into all kinds of troubles with him, but he will force himself to walk out of his comfort zone to test the unknown, just like leaving the water and climbing over the cliff in the film.
My best friend Alberto was a bit of a troublemaker," the director explained during an early press preview of the film. "I was very timid, I had a bit of a sheltered life until I met him. I met him around age 12 and he was wild and free to do what he wanted, his family wasn't really supervising him. We couldn't be more different and that is really the kind of friendship where opposites attract. We're also a little bit of losers and outsiders , so it also felt right, the idea of being sea monsters as the way that we felt a little bit different and not cool as kids," he shared. "So Alberto got me out of my comfort zone and pushed me off many cliffs, metaphorically... In fact, I might not be standing here if I hadn't learned to chase my dreams from him. So that is the kind of friendship I wanted to talk about, those kinds of deep friendships,important friendships that make us grow up, change us, that make us find ourselves. That is at the heart of Luca.
That is at the heart of Luca, the core, or biggest theme of the film, is friendship , the friendship between an introverted child and an extroverted child, they know themselves and achieve each other as they grow up.
The Sea monsters in the film are derived from ancient local legends and folk songs in Italy. The Cinque Terre is rich in legends, and most of the legends are made up by fishermen to scare others so that they can stay away from their top secret fishing spots. When the director was a child, he liked the old maps with sea monsters, and wondered if there would be sea monsters hidden among ordinary people.
The sea monster shape in the film refers to the 16th century Renaissance map and sea monster sculptures everywhere in Italy. The design direction is "not creepy or scary", and the director does not want to scare the audience. The action design of the sea monster in the sea is based on the marine iguana. Character supervisor Beth Albright revealed that the deformation part of the sea monster leaving the water refers to the witches in the X-Men movies. They all have scales, but this is not enough because the transformation of the witches is not what the team wants. There is also a reference to Gigi, the black cat in Witch's Delivery Service. In order to achieve a natural and smooth deformation effect, special technology has also been developed. Little knowledge, there are 3436 scales on Luca's body.
The director originally said that the sea monster was "a metaphor for feeling different." At that time, he and Alberto were not popular, not very gregarious and not cool. They used sea monsters to refer to "nerds", "outsiders", and "others." "," "misfits", "underdogs", etc., mainly highlight one difference, incompatibility, out of place, weird, excluded, and can be interpreted in many ways. Although the little girl in the film Giulia is not a sea monster, but She is also an unpopular "heterogeneous". Sea monsters can also be regarded as prejudices and stereotypes. After all, it is just a name for the unknown in the mouth of humans. In the eyes of Sea monsters, humans are just Land monsters who are good at killing.
We hope that sea monster could be a metaphor for all sorts of feeling different – like being a teen or pre-teen. That moment where you feel odd. There are all sorts of ways of feeling different. It felt like a wonderful way to talk about that and having to accept ourselves first, whatever way we feel different.
Our main theme is actually friendship, but a sense of self-acceptance is a huge part of this.
In addition to praising friendship, another theme of this film is self-acceptance , knowing oneself, self-identification, self-acceptance , and tolerance of one's own differences. Everyone will have attributes different from others, some are generous and open, and some choose to hide, or even regard them as flaws. This difference is really broad, including but not just sex.
The relationship between Luca and Alberto and the metaphor of Sea monsters are two independent topics. Don't generalize. The original intention of the former director is pure friendship, while the latter uses sea monsters to express childhood frustration and unpopularity. The audience may substitute their own experience when watching sea monsters, and have different views and interpretations. This is absolutely open. The sea monster does not specifically refer to a certain group or individual. It is not single or clear. It can be everyone . For example, someone asked if the director was related to refugees, immigrants, or ethnicity:
"I love the metaphor of the sea monster, that it really opened it up to all these other readings," says Casarosa. "I've had people ask me, is it a refugee story or immigrant story, or about race? We were aware making the movie that this was a wonderful journey of owning your own identity, and coming out with it – whichever that identity is. I thought that everyone would bring their own identity to it."
"My experience was about me and my best friend growing up feeling like losers," he says. "But it's great that people have their own experiences and that this speaks to them."
And speculation for some remarks after the online trailer released, when the media asked the director whether the queer film about the conception, the director repeatedly mentioned his shot just pure friendship, but also not yet entered puberty men and women feelings of the child Pure and strong friendship between . (He replied to a tweet that he and Alberto are straight men. The director is married and has a daughter.)
"I was really keen to talk about a friendship before girlfriends and boyfriends come in to complicate things," Enrico revealed when asked to clarify the friendship between the two boys. "We really said,'Well, this is that moment before those things come in to complicate the picture.' So, that was really never our plan and this was about their friendship in that pre-puberty world."
When asked about the interpretation of LGBT+, the director said: I love the idea that [the LGBT+ allegory] can be brought in and projected. I think the best movies leave some room for a read into it.
Where I keep on thinking that the read into all the otherness and difference feels right is that [Luca] is a story about, at a certain point, like, “Here I am. Let the chips fall where they may.” And so that is a coming out moment. We kept on saying, “This is not about people accepting them.” Some people will accept and some people won't. But it's more about, “I'm going to fly my flag and I don' t care, and here's me." That was such an important part of this coming of age. And the friendship is such a big part of it, too, because they are the people that are around you and see you for who you are, and they don't care [about] whatever differences [you have]. So we love the line in the movie, “Am I too much?” No, you're cool. I love that whatever possible way we feel gets brought to this movie. So yeah,it wasn't exactly how I started because my story was a little different, but I love that there's that read into it..
"This is not about people accepting them" corresponds to the two lines in the film: Some people, they'll never accept him./ But someone will. It means that you don’t care about others accepting them , but you must first accept yourself and embrace yourself. . We may be ashamed to show when we are pursuing ourselves, and the value of friendship is that they see who we are, and their tolerance helps us build self-confidence and accept our true self. This is so important in growth.
The ending is more ideal. Humans accepted the sea monsters smoothly without any hindrance. Perhaps the main creator wanted to focus on self-acceptance. (I see a lot of complaints about this, and I really don't describe it very much. I sweat for Luca on the train.) I personally think that the role of the village bully Ercole is more instrumental. Every time he appears, he just creates contradictions around Luca. At first I thought he would be a sea monster that looked like a catfish. The thief called to catch the thief. He was the only one who put the sweater on his shawl on a hot day and was afraid that it would get wet. The method that doesn't deform, that's why I'm so crazy... The fact is that I think too much.
In fact, Luca's early script concept was more like "Walk with Me". Cicco was originally Luca's friend, a pufferfish-shaped sea monster, and later used him as Ercole's follower. Luca and Alberto also tried to become ordinary people through magic tokens, but instead of succeeding Alberto became a kraken (North Sea Giant Monster). Luca fought against humans in order to protect him. But in the end, I chose not to make it too complicated and focus on the two protagonists.
The whole film revolves around friendship, without a grand world view, Pixar has a smaller format this time? People are born with family affection, love is an eternal pursuit, and friendship seems to be less cared about. It comes earlier than love, there is always no clear end point, and it may be quietly put down inadvertently. But it also needs to be operated, and it can also be lifechanging, and it is also worthy of a film to tell. Mountains and rivers, do you really have a friend who can be called a bosom friend? Are there friends around you for sure about each other? Are childhood friends still in touch? Do you remember those times occasionally? Even if the separation is only the memory, every time you remember, it is the eternal light and heat that once again transmits you power. I would like to be illuminated by friendship in this life.
In reality, Alberto joined the Italian Air Force as a fighter pilot and a colonel. He was involved in the production of the film to a certain extent, and his opinion was also part of the final decision. Parting is always inevitable. The train scene corresponds to reality. The blue middle line symbolizes Luca's leaving the ocean to live in the human world, just like the director who left Italy in his 20s to pursue his ideals.
Some netizens think that Luca and Call my by you name have similarities, which are purely coincidental and are limited to coincidences. Look at the director's reply:
Casarosa said that the characters were just friends and that the parallels to Guadagnino's film were only a coincidence, stating: "I love Luca's movies and he's such a talent, but it truly goes without saying that we really willfully went for a pre-pubescent story ... This is all about platonic friendships.
It’s said that the location hits other novels, but no, one is Cinque Terre, the other is Bordighera (the movie is mainly filmed in Crema), and there is a Gulf of Genoa in between. Riviera is not a transliteration of riviera. Refers to a seaside resort. It’s said that the protagonist’s hairstyle is the same, so let’s search for the director’s own picture. People’s hairstyle is just that... Since the director answered that it’s a coincidence, don’t worry too much. Check out other interviews:
"We were a little bit surprised. As much as Luca Guadagnino is quite awesome - I love his movies," director Enrico Casarosa tells ET with a laugh. "We always looked at this very much in that time pre-boyfriends and girlfriends and pre-romance."
During the production process, someone suggested: make a love triangle, the director still insists on his position, this time we will only talk about friendship:
"And we had to actually defend that, because in the middle of this journey, people were like,'Well, just let it be a true triangle.' But we just wanted it to be about friendship," Casarosa says. "I feel like we have wonderful movies coming up that deal a little bit more with after puberty, where there is the puppy love and the romantic side. It wasn't something that was part of the DNA of this. I wanted it really to be a little more in that earlier stage of trying to find yourself. But I do appreciate that people can read into any kind of oddness and outsiderness of these characters, that I hope there's something universal for everyone to take from it."
Why the protagonist is called Luca: When asked why he chose Luca as the film's title, Casarosa said that he based the film on his friendship with his childhood friend, Alberto, but he couldn't just use in his own name (Enrico), and chose "Luca" because it's simple, and "is pronounced well in America too."
The director played three cameo roles in the film, one is a fisherman who shouted "what's wrong with you, stupido?" (later followed by Alberto), one is a fishing man who whistles by the sea, and the other is a man playing cards in a small town ( He won and threw the cards on the table while saying "Scopa!"). In the beginning, when Luca was chasing the escaped fish, he mentioned that a fish named Enrico was either dead or visiting the world. Enrico is the director's name haha.
There will be cut plots in the future, for example, Alberto's father came back one night, but left again.
If you have any questions, you can ask the director. He is very active on a social network and interacts with netizens.
The above information refers to interviews with various directors, and the original text can be found by searching for keywords. Some expressions may not be smooth enough, I hope it will help you. Please point out any mistakes.
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