Now Showing: Acapella

 

Acapella

Genre: Animation/Musical

Director: Pete Docter

Writer: Jacob Jones

Plot: 

DISCLAIMER: The following film you are about to watch contains no dialogue. The only sounds you hear will come from the soundtrack. Any conversations are taken from lyrics and do not count as actual dialogue.

Ode to A Struggling Artist

Our story begins in Paris, France, where many enter The Louvre, enjoying the various pieces of artwork and examining the sculptures,.We turn to our subject for the day, a lowly artist, blankly staring at the pictures on the wall. He slowly walks to his small house out in the suburbs, the world appearing gray and dismal. When he arrives home, he sits on his stool and stares at his easel. As the artist remains frozen by the easel, it becomes clear. He has no idea what to paint. The artist fantasizes about having his piece featured at The Louvre, but where do you start?

Suddenly, the door swings open and the artist’s concentration is interrupted. It’s his wife. She smiles apologetically, motioning to see if he wants dinner. He shakes his head, he’s too busy right now. The artist’s wife nods, kissing him on the forehead for support before sauntering off. When the wife leaves, the artist sighs dreamily, a large smile replacing his once-wrought distress. Before he can begin painting, however, he must put on some music. The artist grabs his phone, finding a vast array of music to choose from, only to go for his favorite group, The King’s Singers.

Ah, Mon Beau Labourer!

As the artist begins his painting, we catch a glimpse of his mind as each song plays.

We go back several centuries as a fair young maiden stares longingly from her vineyard to the house of a handsome young farmer. One afternoon, the plowman arrives at the maiden’s house. The maiden, seeing the opportunity, invites him to stay by the vineyard, the plum tree has grown ripe and is ready for picking.

The maiden and plowman stand by the tree, eating the fresh plums. All the while, the farmer attempts to lighten the mood with some cute, yet comedic, expressions. On the fourth attempt, the maiden sighs and lets out a giggle, only to shrink away when she sees a group of young men staring at them. Unable to hide her feelings, the maiden admits to sighing for him, and that it really is no secret that she likes him. Especially now that the neighbors seem to know. Goodhearted as he is, The farmer takes the maiden by the hand, whisking her away to another part of the vineyard. The two share a warm embrace as the sun sets.

An Artist Enamored

The artist finishes his picture, still romantically bewitched by his wife. To him, she is a reminder of undying love and joy, and this picture, that of a maiden and her lover, is a fine example. He appears ready to sign off on it, only to stop and ponder. Love is a powerful emotion, that is true, but so is rejection. He pauses for a moment to reflect.

In a flashback to the artist’s days in high school, we see him entering prom, nervous and yet hopeful. He observes the field, the vast array of bodies dancing or chatting with one another. Yet, among the fray, one stands among the rest in terms of beauty, a woman wearing a long green dress with sleeves. The artist approaches the young lady, extending a hand. Taken aback at first, the lady is whisked away when another man strolls in, taking the lady’s hand, leaving the poor artist heartbroken.

Back in the present, the artist can only help but sigh as he finds a safe place for his painting and starts anew.

Greensleeves

We find ourselves in medieval times where a young man conducts a small choir. He’s about to finish for the day when his eyes come across a beautiful young woman wearing a green dress. For whatever reason, the men around him stop what they’re doing and attempt to make advances toward the girl. She observes them and merely waltzes by, giving a curtsy to the young conductor and a request to play a song of her choosing.

From there, the young lady dances around the bemused and lovestruck men, all desperate to win her heart, but unable to do so. The conductor can only watch, amused by their antics and amazed at the woman’s calm nature. Eventually, the men grow weary and head off, leaving only the conductor, the choir, and the lady. Feeling generous, the lady offers a hand to the conductor and the two begin to dance, the choir joining along in their own ditty. At the end of their encounter, the lady spins the conductor back to the choir and saunters off into the sunset.

An Artist Content

Our artist friend puts the finishing touches on his second piece, that of a lady with a green dress dancing about, the men around her frustrated as they vie for her attention. At the end of the day, some people are best by themselves, and that’s okay. The artist smiles, having seemingly found his masterpiece, heading to the kitchen for dinner.

As he and his wife have dinner, however, he begins to take great interest in the jazz music from the radio, an old-timey band from the olden days. The artist takes in the music as he eats his meal, by the time he’s finished, he’s gained another idea and returns to his easel, preparing another piece for his slowly growing collection.

Freddy Feel Good

This time around, we’re transported to the 20s where we learn of a small five-piece band consisting of hunky drummer Yum-Yum, smooth-sailing bassist Ace, sly Clyde, and his trombone, the youthful and lively Snooty on clarinet and the ringmaster himself, Freddie Feel-Good and his trumpet. Unlike with the prior two pieces, there’s no big story here as Freddie and his band jive and swing their way to Carnegie Hall, causing quite a party in New York.

An Artist Inspired…and Tired (Evolution of Music)

The artist bounces on his stool only for him to yawn. He looks up at the clock and realizes how late it’s become. The artist takes one last look at his latest work before calling it a night. As the artist makes his way to his bedroom, he accidentally opens a door to another room, one empty and abandoned. He shakes his head before closing the door. Once in bed with his wife, he falls fast asleep.

In the artist’s dream, we find him exploring the many centuries worth of music, all the while interacting with the various figures that made those songs what they are. From swinging with Cal and Minnie the Moocher to being the bugle boy of the Andrew Sisters, standing by Ben E King, learning respect with Aretha Franklin, and celebrating with Kool at the Gang among other musical treats, there seems to be no end to the excitement for the artist. As the artist continues to venture into modern music, he finds himself unable to touch MC Hammer, going crazy with Gnarls Barkley and having a good night with The Black Eye Peas.

An Artist Awakened

Unbeknownst to the artist, he feels a tickle and not long after, he awakens with a loud and powerful sneeze. The artist finds his wife smiling at him, holding a feather. The artist turns toward his alarm clock, stunned upon seeing how long he slept. His wife hands him the daily newspaper as he rushes off to get his coffee and bagel.

As the artist reads through the newspaper, he comes across an interesting article regarding the Louvre. Allegedly, the owner of the Louvre is looking to add some big pieces in the coming weeks and encourages all those interested to send him their best work. Intrigued, the artist returns to his work area to re-examine all his pieces. His wife follows him, showing interest in all three paintings. However, the artist no longer feels they are enough. In his mind, he must think bigger.

The artist sits on his stool, prepares his brush, and soon realizes that he’s painting for the first time today. With that in mind, he opts to start small.

La Belle Si Nous Etons and Il Est Bel Et Bon

Indeed he does as enters Paris, France, a rich, young lad merrily wandering about in his mansion when his eyes spot one of the pretty maids. From there, he begins to serenade her with all the things he wishes to do with the maid, including baking pies, feeding ducks, and singing in the garden.

As flattered as the maid is, she merely pats him on the head. Baffled, the young man follows the maid outside as the two go to town and approach the market. Along the way, they come across a group of ladies. The foolish man sneaks away, looking to find the maid a gift, only to bump into a farmer girl and her coup of chickens, stepping on one hen’s foot. The chickens soon chase after the man, eventually pecking him by a nearby stall.

Seeing this, the maid shoos the chickens away and checks on the now humiliated man. The farmer girl comes up to the young boy and kisses him on the forehead, taking pity on his plight. The moral of the story? Even if by accident, one should never mess with chickens.

An Artist Conflicted

Upon finishing his piece, appropriately titled “A young lad’s fowl folly”, the artist thinks to himself, wondering what the best piece to send to the Louvre is. The artist looks outside, observing a nest full of birds when one flies away. He scratches his chin before putting his thoughts onto paper once more

The Turtle Dove

On top of a large tree, sitting on a nest are two turtle doves, both with tears in their eyes. The female dove must depart for an unknown period of time and it’s unclear when she will return. Despite this news, the dove vows to return to her lover, though he may roam ten thousand miles just to do so. The male dove, despite his heartache, promises to stay true to her until the stars fall from the sky, the sea runs dry and the rocks melt from the sun. The doves embrace one another before the female dove flies away. As a final show of his devotion, the male dove calls out to his lover. By this point, however, she is already well in her flight as the sun sets on the open sea.

An Artist Disappointed

Upon showing the finished product to his wife, she wipes several tears from her eyes, nodding in approval. The artist observes his picture, the dove flying among the sun and sea, and shakes his head. To him, this piece must be bigger than anything he’s ever worked on before. It soon dawns on the artist that there’s one thing greater than love itself, the creation of the human species. And what better way to showcase this, he thinks, than to showcase the birth of Jesus Christ himself. The wife is skeptical, having seen several pieces of it before, but the artist remains steadfast, grabbing the biggest possible piece of paper for his easel.

Mary, Did You Know?

We’re then transported far back in time, back to the very first Christmas in Bethlehem, where the virgin Mary sits inside a manger, lovingly caressing her newborn baby when a mysterious light appears from outside. She heads outside, finding the archangel Gabriel. He has come to give Mary news from God himself. Mary carries her sleeping baby and follows Gabriel outside.

In a flash, Gabriel takes Mary and her baby Jesus to the modern day, or at least, an ideal version of said time, where people celebrate one another’s time and company, where all the children are well-behaved and cordial, and in church, the blind and deaf are together in prayer for a man named Jesus Christ, the lamb in the manger.

Mary and Gabriel return to Bethlehem, Gabriel giving the baby a light pat on the head before departing. Mary, tears in her eyes, embraces her baby and looks out into the stars, all shining above her and Jesus.

An Artist Frustrated

It looks as though this may be the piece that gets the artist into the Louvre, only for him to run out of blue paint. Angered, he kicks over his stool and storms off. He walks about the streets of Paris, staring at the sidewalk. The longer he walks, the more distraught he becomes, slowly realizing that he may not be able to reach the Louvre after all. The artist sits on a bench in the park, looking down at the ground when he hears a bird singing in the distance. The artist looks up, finding a young woman taking care of a blackbird. The woman sees the artist, checking to see if he would like to help take care of the bird. Seeing nothing better to do, the artist accepts the offer.

Blackbird

The artist soon helps feed and nourish the bird to health. The artist then notices the gingerly movements of the bird and curiously motions to the woman. The woman, bird, and artist then travel to a small building where multiple animals, including dogs, cats and birds await them. As it turns out, this is an animal shelter for those who are injured or in need of care. Amazed, the artist offers to help however he can. As he does, an amazing sight occurs as the blackbird, now in full health, flies off into the sky, the woman and artist waving goodbye.

An Artist’s Realization

Much time passes, yet the artist doesn’t notice until the sun goes down. He waves goodbye to the young lady and animals, traveling to the art shop and gathering a new set of paints. As the artist returns home, he takes a glance at the world around him. From kids playing ball and people conversing in small cafes to couples holding hands and the beautiful smells coming from bakeries, the world at times seems calm and simple. It dawns on the artist at that moment, he may not need to do anything special for the Louvre. It can be as simple as it can be. With his conscience now cleared, the artist returns home and goes to work.

Simple Gifts

And sure enough, this final picture is a portrait of normal life in Paris, France, from the biggest of cities to the smallest of towns, each person has found a thing that they are most satisfied with, be they lovers, friends or family. The final shot is that of a happy family sitting by the fireplace, enjoying one’s company.

An Artist At Peace

The artist smiles, proud and confident that this piece is the one, and heads off once again, not paying attention to his wife as he does. He marches his way to the Louvre, being followed by his wife and the woman he helped earlier, and goes to see the manager, ready to showcase his work.

Unfortunately, the manager shakes his head, sending him a letter that contradicts what the newspaper says. It reads: “We do not accept new pieces at this time. We’re sorry.” Despondent, the artist heads home, his dreams shattered. Feeling sorry for the artist, the wife and the women head home, brainstorming ideas.

The next day, the depressed artist finds himself unable to get out of bed when he hears some commotion going on from inside the house. He wakes up, opens the door, and finds several people inside his house. Baffled, he finds his wife, unsure of what’s happened. His wife ushers him off to another part of the room where he finds the woman in the once desolate room and all of the pictures the artist had finished inside, including a few others. Touched by their act of generosity, the artist gives the wife and woman a big hug and the three join the masses in observing their pieces.

As a final shot, the main players of their respective pieces, those being the lovers from the vineyard, the lady with the green dress, the leader of the five-piece band, the maid and the young man, the turtle doves, and even Mary, observe the matter from afar, all intrigued by what is happening inside.