The Problem with Over-criticism

This is my video essay on the film Ratatouille and on what makes a good critic. For a film that is about a rat achieving his culinary dreams, it also shines a light on what is the most honourable goal for any critic: to discover and defend the new.

In my view, this is the other side of being a critic, whose role shouldn’t just be to separate out the good from the bad but to also find something new and unorthodox that deserves attention. It’s about those moments where you take a risk in recommending something genuinely worthwhile, despite where it has come from or what shocking new ground it broke.

The bold discovery and defense of the new. That is the Ratatouille way.

This is my video explaining why.

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What is Ratatouille?

Ratatouille is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The eighth film produced by Pixar, it was written and directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005, and produced by Brad Lewis, from an original idea from Bird, Pinkava and Jim Capobianco. The title refers to the French dish ratatouille, which is served at the end of the film, and also references the species of the main character, a rat. Set in Paris, the plot follows the rat named Remy, who dreams of becoming a chef and tries to achieve his goal by forming an alliance with a Parisian restaurant's garbage boy.

The film stars the voices of Patton Oswalt as Remy, an anthropomorphic rat who is interested in cooking; Lou Romano as Alfredo Linguini, a young garbage boy who befriends Remy; Ian Holm as Skinner, the head chef of Auguste Gusteau's restaurant; Janeane Garofalo as Colette Tatou, a rôtisseur at Gusteau's restaurant and the staff's only female chef; Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego, a restaurant critic; Brian Dennehy as Django, Remy's father and leader of his clan; Peter Sohn as Émile, Remy's older brother; and Brad Garrett as Auguste Gusteau, a recently deceased chef.

The development of Ratatouille began in 2000 when Pinkava wrote the original concepts of the film. In 2005, following Pinkava's departure from Pixar, Bird was approached to direct the film and revise the story. Bird and some of the film's crew members also visited Paris for inspiration. To create the food animation used in the film, the crew consulted chefs from both France and the United States. Lewis interned at Thomas Keller's The French Laundry restaurant, where Keller developed the confit byaldi, a dish used in the film. Michael Giacchino composed the Paris-inspired music for the film.

Ratatouille premiered on June 22, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California, with its general release June 29, 2007, in the United States. The film grossed $623.7 million and received widespread critical acclaim for its screenplay, animation, voice performances, and Michael Giacchino's score. It also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for several more, including Best Original Screenplay. Ratatouille was later voted one of the 100 greatest motion pictures of the 21st century by a 2016 poll of international critics conducted by the BBC.

Jan Pinkava came up with the concept in 2000, creating the original design, sets and characters and core storyline, but he was never formally named the director of the film. By 2004, Pixar added Bob Peterson as a co-director and he was given exclusive control of the story. Lacking confidence in the story development, Pixar management turned to The Incredibles director Brad Bird to direct the film, taking over Pinkava's role in 2005 while Peterson left the film to work on Up. Bird was attracted to the film because of the outlandishness of the concept and the conflict that drove it: that rats feared kitchens, yet a rat wanted to work in one. Bird was also delighted that the film could be made a highly physical comedy, with the character of Linguini providing endless fun for the animators. Bird rewrote the story, with a change in emphasis. He killed off Gusteau, gave larger roles to Skinner and Colette, and also changed the appearance of the rats to be less anthropomorphic.

And if you’re still reading this – hello.

This video is made through Fair Use under copyright law for the purposes of education in criticism or review; as well as parody or satire. https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92c https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod

Видео The Problem with Over-criticism канала Motion In Art