Alike by Daniel Martínez Lara & Rafa Cano Méndez

Alike is a short film about creativity and imagination and how the system stifles or disregards them today. This is shown through the relationship between a father and his son. The father who has already been affected by the system, seems to use his son to keep his color. I feel the color in their skin symbolizes how they are still creative and happy. Although the father , Copi , doesnt seem as enthusiastic as his son, Paste, he seems happy and likes how his son seems to love the world around him. Paste one day encounters a solo violin player in a patch of color in an otherwise colorless world. Although Paste seems to enjoy it and does not want to leave to school, Copi drags him away. As the work day goes on we see Copi’s color fade, showing how he becomes apart of the mass number of people working with him, emotionless and just going through the motions. When the day ends he uses Paste to bring his color back. But as the days go by, Paste slowly begins to loose his enthusiastic jumpy characters well as fade a little bit. His father notices this when he does not return to his original color anymore. So he takes Paste to see the violinist, bringing a smile to his face right away. When they reach the spot the violinist is not there, and Paste turns to leave looking disappointed. When he turns around he sees his father standing in the middle of the ‘park’ (i guess) playing an imaginary violin, making Copi’s color back and bringing a smile to Paste’s face.

This animation really pulled at my heartstrings, especially because of the soundtrack.There is no talking in this film. The entire song consists of a an instramental piece, which goes along with the ups and downs of the story. I feel the music along with the expressions and body language of the characters helped tell the story of the father and son excellently. I like how the use of bright colors as well as the lack of them really helped visualize the mental states of the characters. I also really liked how the background fades to just white in scenes where they have a moment, like the first hug that demonstrates how Copi gets back his color. This allows no distraction to interrupt that moment between them. I