Discover great cinema and the connections that made it possible.
UNITED STATES · 2017
Coco
Synopsis
Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.
Cinematic DNA
Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina researched the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema to ground Coco not in stereotype but in cultural precedent. Roberto Gavaldón's Macario — the first Mexican film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film — showed them how to treat the Day of the Dead with spiritual gravity, how to handle poverty and spirituality without sentimentality. Unkrich cited this explicitly in 2017 interviews. Macario is available on MUBI.
Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke were looked to for their beautiful and immersive worlds.
— Hayao Miyazaki · Entertainment Weekly
Films with Similar Themes
family legacy · pursuit of dreams · music and passion · afterlife and mortality · cultural heritage
