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The Book of Life: is Both Entertaining and Educational
By Sandra Olmsted
Producer Guillermo del Toro and director Jorge R. Gutierrez, who makes his feature directorial debut, use the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead as the basis for a romantic fairy tale with elements of universal myths.
While obviously intended to share and explain Hispanic culture, The Book of Life also shares a philosophy of life that encourages celebrating every day as a gift, accepting that life ends, and remembering loved ones who have died. Playing on the educational angle, the story begins in a museum during a field trip where five kids encounter a tour guide named Mary Beth (voice of Christina Applegate) who shows them The Book of Life and tell them the tale of Manolo (voice of Diego Luna), Maria (voice of Zoe Saldana), Joaquin (voice of Channing Tatum). Mary Beth uses wooden dolls to illustrate the story, and when the films flashback to the setting of the story, the characters retain marionette elements of those wooden figures, however, the characters have very expressive human faces.
According to The Book of Life in the museum, the small town of San Angel, Mexico, where Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin live, is the center of the universe in The Land of the Living. When these three friends are children, La Muerte (voice of Kate del Castillo), who rules The Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba (voice of Ron Perlman), who rules The Land of the Forgotten, make a bet about who Maria will marry, Manolo or Joaquin, and if Xibalba wins La Muerte with exchange kingdoms with him.
The beautiful La Muerte and her festive realm incorporate the icons of The Day of the Dead festival, such as painted sugar skulls and colorful graveside celebrations. Because the worst thing that can befall a person is to be forgotten by the living, The Land of the Forgotten is bleak and dark, and Xibalba looks like the Grim Reaper. Of course, La Muerte and Xibalba interfere in the lives of Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin in order to be the winner of the bet.
While the story of interference in human lives by godlike supernatural beings isn’t anything new, director Gutierrez’s The Book if Life presents the story in amazing 3D animation and with cultural twists that makes the story more fascinating. In keeping with producer Guillermo del Toro pride in his heritage, viewers learn how the Mexican acceptance of death makes life sweeter, like a sugar skull.
When Maria returns from boarding school, Manolo and Joaquin both want to marry her, but her father wants Maria to marry the famous soldier Joaquin so that he will protect the town from evil bandits. Meanwhile, Manolo dreams of singing from the heart and halfheartedly pursues his family tradition of bull fighting. Other characters include Candlemaker (voice of Ice Cube), who keeps track of the living, and the cast includes many Hispanic actors, actresses and singers, such as Cheech Marin, Hector Elizondo, Placido Domingo, Danny Trejo, and Gabriel Iglesias.
Diego Luna, who sings many songs, has a fabulous voice. In addition to traditional and popular music from Mexico, the sound track includes universally recognizable songs such as, “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love with You.”
The Book of Life is worth seeing in 3D because of the intricate and beautiful production and character design. Director Gutierrez, whose background includes design work, also wrote the screenplay. The Book of Life also reminds viewers of older meanings associated with All Hallow’s Eve aka Halloween, All Saint’s Day, and All Soul’s Day aka Nov. 2 aka The Day of the Dead. The Book of Life, a Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation release, runs an exciting 95 minutes and is rated PG for mild action, rude humor, some thematic elements and brief scary images. The Book of Life opens in theaters Oct. 17.
