The Book of Life

The Book of Life directed by Jorge Gutierrez and produced by Guillermo del Toro

Review by Katie Rose

                The Book of Life is a recently released film that has been truly underrated. Colorful, creative, and unique, this children’s movie tells a magnificent tale of self-discovery and love.

                The story begins in Mexico where the spirits of the dead place a bet. The first spirit is La Muerte (Kate del Castillo), a beautiful and joyful woman who believes in humanity and rules The Land of the Remembered. The second is her downer of a husband, Xibalba (Ron Perlman), who rules the miserable Land of the Forgotten. In Mexican tradition, the spirits of your ancestors live in wonderful, heaven-like place as long as they are remembered by someone still alive. If they are forgotten, their souls move to a place much more akin to hell. La Muerte and Xibalba place a bet involving three children who live in village: Manolo (Diego Luna), Joaquin (Channing Tatum), and Maria (Zoe Saldana. Manolo and Joaquin are very obviously in love with the free spirited Maria, and the two spirits place their bets on whom they think Maria will marry when they grow up.

                However, it is really never a real competition. Maria’s preference is clear from the start. The story is really about Manolo, and his journey to gain acceptance from his family, and to accept himself. His story leads him through both lands of the dead, and forces him to face his worst fears.

                There are many aspects of this story that are refreshingly different from how love triangle situations are usually played out. Throughout their lives Manolo and Joaquin remain best friends, despite their competing love for Maria. Joaquin is a jerk at points, but he never is turned into the villain of the story. He genuinely loves and cares for his friends, and in the end sees his own personal growth towards becoming a better man.

                Maria is truly a magnificent woman who does not take crap from anyone. She is independent, fierce, talented, funny, and compassionate. She calls out Joaquin out on the sexist ways he treats her, and demands to be treated with respect. This is a really fantastic way for little boys to see how NOT to treat a woman, and for little girls to see how they deserve to be treated, and shows them it is okay to stand up for themselves.

                La Muerte is flawed only in her love for her husband. She is fair, powerful, and has a mean temper. However she is defined by her love of humanity and her love of fun. When crossed, her anger is quite spectacular. 

                Apart from the lovely representation of women in this movie, it is also extremely important to point out that this movie not only is a respectful depiction of a non-white European culture, it is also almost entirely produced and acted by people of Hispanic descent. Diversity in film is truly hard to find these days, and positive representation for children from different ethnic backgrounds to see is just as important as it is for representation of women.

                Putting all the gender and cultural related issues aside, this film is genuinely very good. The animation style is unique, and the colors of Mexican culture jump off the screen and make your eyes sing. That sounds cheesy but it is really true. The world creation in this movie is fantastic, particularly with The Land of the Remembered, which is one giant Day of the Dead festival that never ends. The story telling is not completely without flaws; the transitions are very quick and Manolo’s journey is not always clear, but overall it is an engaging, funny, and heartfelt film.

Final Recommendation? Watch it in theaters if you can still find it, buy it on Blu Ray to watch with your kids! It is extremely important that this movie does well so that more like it can be made; not only for the representational aspects, but because this film shows a potential for what future animated films can look like.  There is also a fight scene at the end that made me laugh so hard I was crying. Seriously…it was that funny.