What is the Price?

I've got nothing but respect for Brad Bird. He was a force behind some of the Simpsons funniest years (1992-1996 FACT), moved on to direct the fabulous (and outlandishly underrated) "The Iron Giant" and most recently has dazzled everyone with "The Incredibles". That is a HECK of a track record. Add to that the fact that he does relatively interesting DVD commentary tracks and you have a winning combination in my book.

The first thing that stuck out to me the most in recently listening to his audio track on "The Incredibles" was how dedicated he was to the film's basic motif of the mundane vs. the incredible. It's so refreshing to hear a director talk about how he is building atmosphere, why a scene is blocked a certain way, or why this lens effect was used here, and showing how this supports the themes of his film. You know, basically just talking ABOUT THE FILM. So many commentaries are full of the film's legal struggles or there-was-this-one-day-where stories that do nothing to inform the cinematic technique/artistry. Half the time I want to tell the commentary to shut up so I can listen to the movie. I guess it is true that the DVD is still being realized as a tool...and it will probably be outdated in a few years anyway...then I'll have an extensive coaster collection...sigh.

The other thing that scored the Birdman..."Biiiiirdman"...some major points was his little talk on telling stories to children. There was one section of the film that he wanted to keep in but eventually had to take out for time/flow reasons. In it, a secondary character quite specifically dies almost on camera. In his commentary he says that he wanted to keep it in to show that there is a price that is paid. He says (in more or less words, I don't exactly remember) that he is sick of heroes portrayed for kids today. More often than not, they fight crime and come away unharmed and no one really gets hurt. He says that kids should know and NEED to know that there is a price. They need to know that somewhere out there, someone is making a sacrifice so that their lives are better or safer. The conventional wisdom says that death isn't good for children to see, but that's a load. They don't need to see the blood and gore, but they need to feel the loss, becuase it is only through that loss that they are able to appreciate the value of what they hold dear in their own lives.

And it's not like this idea is missing in "The Incredibles", it just isn't so in your face in the final cut. That's also one of the main themes of "The Iron Giant". In my opinion, this is a guy who's in touch with some values and morals and puts them in his work. Who knows, maybe he's just borrowing them because they play so well, but as they say in the Army "False motivation is better than no motivation at all."