I’m not crying. You’re crying.
Perhaps the most emotionally shattering montage in all of cinema, not just the Pixar repertoire, but all of it, is the opening sequence of the wonderful Up, which, without a word of dialog, introduces us to Carl and Ellie as childhood friends, and then, in an unbelievably short span of about four and a half minutes – it feels like 30 – follows them through their entire lives together. Every little moment of loving joy, every setback, every time life gets in the way of their dreams, the crushing moments of heartbreak and disappointment, flow over the viewer until all of us out here feel as if we’ve lived these lives ourselves, right to the terrible end, when Carl has to face the sorrow of being the one left behind. I remember all the reviews at the time seemed to begin with the same sentiment, more or less along the lines of if you don’t cry during the first five minutes of this film, there’s a few vital parts missing from your soul. Well, no missing parts here. I sobbed like a baby, and still do, every time.
For me, it’s the final shot, when Carl walks alone up the path of the once abandoned home he and Ellie played in as little kids, before buying it, fixing it up, and spending their decades there together; that’s the one that does me in. I’ve seen that walk. I watched my father take it, years ago, and now, as my own time grows shorter, I take some admittedly selfish relief in being the older, more feeble spouse, all too likely to be the first to go. I don’t think I could carry on alone, the way Carl does, preserving the old house as a shrine to Ellie’s memory. I don’t know what I’d do.
Posted below are a couple of those YouTube reaction videos that fascinate me so much, dozens of folks watching Carl and Ellie’s story, all of them going to pieces just like I do, and, I’m guessing, like you do too. Some actually seem angry that Pixar would do this to them at the start of what they supposed was going to be a light-hearted cartoon, like the filmmakers were just being cruel. No fair. No, it’s not, but I guess that ‘s the whole point.
the needlefish 