It is an incredibly subversive message for 2007 (and frankly, for today). Ratatouille argues that talent is not the property of the elite. It is a fluke of nature that can appear in the most unlikely, unwanted places. Even if you mute the sound, the film is a feast. The way light bounces off a demi-glace. The sound of a perfectly seared steak. The steam rising from a bowl of soup in a cold attic. Pixar’s animators spent months studying the physics of simmering liquids and the texture of cracked pepper.
Title: Ratatouille Year: 2007 Director: Brad Bird Distributor: Pixar Animation Studios / Walt Disney Pictures ratatouille.2007
If you haven’t seen it since you were a kid, rewatch it. You’ll realize that you spent your childhood laughing at the rat running across the ceiling, only to grow up and cry at the critic finding his soul. It is an incredibly subversive message for 2007
5/5 stars (or should I say, 5/5 Eiffel Towers). "Surprise me." — Anton Ego Even if you mute the sound, the film is a feast
It is also, quietly, a movie about death. Gusteau is a ghost, a memory, a conscience. The entire plot is driven by a longing for a past that no longer exists.
This is the movie’s quiet, radical heart. It’s not about lowering standards; it’s about removing prejudice. Remy is a rat. By every biological and social law, he should be eating garbage. But because he has the discipline to wash his hands, the courage to sneak, and the artistry to pair sweet with savory, he deserves a seat at the table.
His subsequent review is the most beautiful monologue ever written into an animated film: "In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment... But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new."