È un buon film.
Anzi, ottimo.
Ed è un film per tutti.
Anzi, soprattutto per tutti.
Ma perché?
I Lego hanno provato già molte volte ad entrare nei cinema.
Esperimenti discreti. Ma poveri.
Standard. Ma troppo.
Lavori pensati e indirizzati a un pubblico giovane. Molto.
Difficile attrarre più di qualche bambino appassionato.
E allora cosa fare?
Cercare nuovo pubblico.
Invitare ad entrare anche chi ad entrare non ci aveva mai pensato.
Ma come?
Con l’auto consapevolezza.
Con i riferimenti al cinema.
Con i riferimenti alla cultura popolare.
Con i riferimenti al cinema.
Con le battute divertenti. Con le battute dissacranti.
Con la morale per i piccoli.
Con le allusioni sessuali (non molte, tranquilli. E, tranquilli, molto allusioni) per gli adulti.
Con i riferimenti al cinema.
Il film con tanta abilità rompe la quarta parete.
E lo fa per chi in quel film non ci entrerebbe mai.
Lo fa all’inizio:
SCHERMO NERO
BATMAN (V.O.)
– Uno schermo nero. Ogni grande film inizia con uno schermo nero. –
Continua prendendo in giro i loghi che appaiono sullo schermo.
Smette. Non appena la storia inizia.
Mai più. Non viene rotta mai più la quarta parete.
Tranne alla fine:
SCHERMO BIANCO
BATMAN (V.O.)
– Uno schermo bianco. Ogni grande film finisce con uno schermo bianco. –
Ecco. Il gioco è fatto.
Chi non poteva/voleva credere, adesso crede.
Lo spettacolo è lì davanti a lui.
E se lo gode.
E si diverte.
E poi?
L’ha fatto con The Lego Movie.
Lo sta facendo The Lego Batman Movie.
Lo farà con The Lego Ninjago Movie (che segue i passi con un trailer uscito proprio mentre scrivo).
Cerca nuovo pubblico e lo trova (chi dubita guardi i numeri).
I Lego stanno battendo il terreno.
Un terreno fertile.
A quando:
un Lego Horror,
un Lego Thriller,
una Lego Rom-Com,
un Lego Sci-Fi?
A breve. Forse.
Un aneddoto (che è piaciuto a chi mi correggeva):
Un bambino francese sedeva alla mia destra.
Chiedeva continuamente, curioso, alla madre:
“Cosa è successo?”.
Dubito parlasse molto Italiano. Probabilmente per niente.
Ma era sempre attento. Rapito da quello che vedeva.
L’ho anche sentito ansimare, durante una scena particolarmente tesa.
It’s the movies, baby. It’s the movies.
– english version –
The film’s good. Really good.
Perhaps almost too good, for a “kid’s movie” (My use of “kid’s movie” refers to the older Lego movie experiments, the ones before The Lego Movie, that were movies clearly targeted towards kids, taking themselves way to seriously).
That’s why I think it wasn’t thought up as such.
But rather as a movie for everyone, with the right things for everyone.
But how did they do that?
One of the most crucial elements of pretty much any form of art is the ability to let the viewer/experiencer identify him/herself with what’s happening in front of them.
And cinema knows it all too well.
This brings us to The Lego Batman Movie, with it’s masterful display of audience manipulation (mind you, I don’t intend to use “manipulation” in it’s derogatory meaning). One that specifically targets more mature audiences.
Why mature audiences?
After a very close call with bankruptcy back in 2003, The Lego Company realised something was wrong. This led to a restructuring of the entire company, with manufacturing data and consumer base analysis to go along with it.
One thing was clear, people of all ages play with and consume and collect Legos and Lego related products (Merchandise, movies, games, etc.).
Conscious of their vast appeal, they could now try and expand their reach to even more people (not just kids and Lego enthusiasts).
After the success of The Lego Movie back in 2014 they discovered a new El Dorado of never before reached customers.
So back to The Lego Batman Movie.
It’s interesting to notice how actually “mature” the movie is. It’s self-consciousness and horde of pop-culture and movie references (especially movie) make it appealing to watch for anyone, and actually more interesting and funnier for older audience members.
The movie itself implements a very clever way of breaking the fourth wall: it does it at the very beginning, from the very first frame (on a black screen, Batman’s voice recites “A Black Screen, every great movie starts with a black screen”) and completely stops after all the company logos have been shown on screen (and relentlessly made fun of, again by Batman’s voice) and the actual story begins to unfold.
From that point on it is never broken again, not even once, except for when the movie finally ends with a white screen and Batman’s voice makes a comeback “A white screen, every great movie ends with a white screen”.
This way of breaking the fourth wall is a masterful way of enclosing the audience inside the realm of the movie.
It works by letting you in and closing the door behind you, only to reopen it once the movie’s over.
This is obviously only necessary with older viewers, who might be quite reluctant to be drawn into a movie that will probably be perceived has a “kid’s movie” (I’d also like to note that the jokes used in those fourth wall breaking moments are pretty much impossible, or at least very difficult, to understand for the younger audience: different jokes (or funny moments) actually had different members of the audience laugh: it was either adults only laughing, kids only laughing or both together. ).
A little anecdote.
A French kid who was sitting right next to me, kept curiously asking his mother “What just happened (on screen e.n.)?” [I can online imagine he didn’t speak much Italian (if none at all)].
But still, regardless of the language barrier, he was completely enraptured by what was happening on the screen. I even heard him gasp during a particularly tense scene.
“Conclusion. Every great essay ends with a conclusion.”
The targeting of an audience as vast as possible wasn’t just an unwanted side-effect.
The Lego Company is now aware, more than ever before, of the full potential of their company and is moving in the right direction.
Just as I’m finishing writing, a trailer for The Lego Ninjago Movie has just dropped in, following in the same footsteps as it’s two predecessors.
I’m confident in a few years we might have a Thriller or Rom-Com or Sci-Fi Lego movie and we’ll have to look at it in a very serious way.
It’s the movies, baby. It’s the movies.
di Edoardo Spallazzi
