Boy and the World: Review, Cast and Director

Film: The Boy and the World

Cast: Vinicius Garcia, Ale Abreu, Lu Horta, Marco Aurélio Campos, Felipe Zilse

Director: Ale Abreu

Rating: * * * *

This award-winning, Oscar-nominated animated adventure from Brazil will resonate with children, adults, music lovers and artists. Hand-drawn in the simple style favoured by little children (stick-like figures, round faces) The Boy and the World narrates the story of a small farm boy’s discovery of the world as he embarks on an odyssey for his father in a distant city.

And the boy Cuca (Vinicius Garcia) experiences the world at its best and worst. Idyllic and bucolic in the country, the world is also a strange place that saps those who struggle to keep body and soul together. Traversing wintry landscapes and stormy seas seem to be preferable to negotiating life in soul-deadening factories and bastis. The boy gets a helping hand during his journey: comfort from a cute doggie, an old man (Ale Abreu) and a youth (Felipe Zilse)

Employing a judicious blend of crayon and pencil drawings, digital animation and evocative music by Ruben Feffer and Gustavo Kurlat, writer-director Ale Abreu underlines themes of courage and perseverance and also makes a social statement through the perceptions of a child: rural life is Eden-like; industrial townscape is futuristic and frightening. Through it all, the boy never loses sight of his wish to see his father (Marco Aurelio Campos) again and his family reunited.