It
turns out FDR was right about fearing fear. Fear of an epidemic is sweeping a
dystopian Brazilian city not completely unlike São Paulo, but the disease is
essentially fear itself. A shy ten-year-old boy never thought of himself as
courageous, but he just might find the insight and wherewithal to combat the strange
phenomenon in Gabriel Bitar, Andre Catoto & Gustavo Steinberg’s
Oscar-qualified Tito and the Birds (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
Tito
is a smart kid, but he carries a lot of emotional baggage, much of it stemming
from his parents’ separation. He blames himself for the explosive failure of the
experiment that got his scientist father thrown out of the house. Young Tito is
also obsessed with rebuilding his dad Rufus’s ornithological machine that would
allow people to communicate with the birds.
It
turns out, he is not the only one interested. Rufus was subsequently recruited
by the villainous media and real estate tycoon Alaor Souza, but his tenure was
not a happy one. Rather inconveniently, he had his consciousness transferred to
a pigeon, but at least that allows him to visit Tito. If Tito manages to
perfect their family invention, he could learn more than the truth about his
father. Evidently, the pigeons are carrying some deep ancestral memories that could
give people the courage to fit the fear-driven pathogen turning the infected into
quivering Shmoo-like blobs.
You
kind of have to just go with that last part about the birds, but in general,
the allegorical elements of Tito are
smartly developed and resonate on a deep level. Some critics will surely try to
weaponize the film in their broadsides against Trump and Bolsonaro, but the its
themes do not fit into a neat ideological box. Cautionary warnings regarding debilitating
effects of fear can just as easily apply to the risk-averse drive for
nanny-state regulation as it does to border walls and gated communities.
Be
that as it may or may not be, the over-riding reason too see Tito is the stunning animation. Bitar,
Catoto, Steinberg, and their team of animators blended conventional digital
animation with classical oil painting to create a truly unique look for the
film. It is often sinister-looking and expressionist, but also lush and
colorful. When you watch it, you literally feel like you are sinking into this
world. Other films like Jean-François Laguionie’s The Painting has employed roughly comparable techniques, but Tito’s imagery and cityscapes are truly distinctive.
As
an added bonus, Tito also functions quite
well as a family drama and story of friendship. The title character has compelling
relationships with his three companions, Sarah, his brash platonic best pal,
the nervous but resourceful Buiu, and the Teo, his former bully who matures
into friend during the course of their adventures. In addition, Tito’s search
for his father hits all the classic archetypal notes, but also features plenty
of unique, ornithological wrinkles unique to itself.