A RARE GEM ! MUST WATCH !!

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 2019)

The success of any movie depends directly on its ability to forge an emotional connect between the characters who inhabit the movie and the viewer. The greater we feel with / for a character, identify / empathise with their predicaments, feelings, choices and actions, the higher the chances of a movie's success. What if the main characters in a movie are the basic emotions themselves..? Would it make it easier or difficult to forge an emotional connect with such a movie ?
Pixar, the path-breaking animation studio that presented us with such classic delights such as Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Wall E, Up and many more have explored the above question in their latest ambitious animated feature, Inside Out. When 11-year old Riley, is forced to relocate from Minnesota to San Francisco with her parents, she undergoes an emotional roller-coaster as she is stressed out in adjusting to a new place even as she misses her hitherto dear home and friends. The movie captures this emotional turmoil of Riley by exploring the working of her mind through the interactions between her five basic emotions of Joy (a chirpy Amy Poehler), Sadness (adorable Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling).
While the movie deserves kudos for its high quality and vivid animation which we have come to expect from Pixar, what makes it tick is the fact that Director Pete Doctor (Up & Monsters Inc.) who has co-written this movie has conjured up a magical movie which works at so many levels. He presents a lively animated feature which breaches the hitherto accepted horizons of its genre to bravely explore the abstract world of mind and emotions, angst, existential crisis and depression. The movie succeeds mainly from its sheer brilliance in writing which successfully communicates, without compromising on an iota of entertainment value, the nature of every emotion,their behavioural outcomes, their utility and prominence in the larger scheme of our lives, the need to accept all of them as well as the need to strive towards a balance among them. Multiple abstract concepts which one would normally associate with psychology texts and self-help books such as formation of memories, transfer into and storage of long term memories, imagination, nostalgia, dreams, influence of emotions on memory, emotion - behaviour connect, loss of unused memory, repression, fears that fester in the subconscious, need for a balanced emotional state are presented through inventive and imaginative visuals in a sincere and heart warming manner.

Pixar has done what it does best.. Outdo Pixar.. in making the BEST animated features ever. This is an abundantly funny, yet, subtle, sensitive, profound and poignant movie that presents its inherently complex and abstract material in a lucid manner that appeals universally. It is a veritable treat which would satiate the appetite of every demographic one could imagine, effortlessly making each of them laugh and cry. Inside Out is a triumph in movie-making and am certain that it would find its place in the coveted club of everlasting classics in movie history.
If there could be ONLY one movie that one would see this whole year... THIS IS IT ! THIS IS IT !!