Voices: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Daveed Diggs, Phylicia Rashad, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson Directors: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers IN Pixar’s “Soul,” the afterlife houses something called the “Hall of You.” It is a museum of formative memories. We learn the film’s protagonist, a musician named Joe, became a jazz-head after his father took him to a club when he was 10. It grew into a lifelong love for the art form. If we could peer into our own “Halls of You,” many of us might likely find how our own lifelong love for the movies started with a Pixar film. For ’90s kids, it was perhaps “Toy Story.” For 2000s, it was “WALL-E.” For kids in the 2010s, it was “Inside Out,” where Pete Docter made us peer inside our own minds, and get in touch with our emotions. “Soul” surveys a no less complex world, plunging us to an unsurveyed narrative terrain that defines the essence of being human. Middle-school music teacher Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) finally gets the breakthrough he has been dreaming of all his life. He has the opportunity to play piano alongside noted saxophonist Dorothea Williams in her band. When a break like that comes after you have waited for so long with a mother insisting on “back-up plans” and “real careers,” the euphoria knows no bounds. “I will die a happy man if I could play with Dorothea Williams,” he says, as casually and figuratively as one does in a joyful frenzy. Only this throwaway comment turns more literal than he would have liked. Hours before his gig, he falls into an open manhole — and dies. Instead of dropping into the sewers, Joe, or rather his soul, finds himself on an escalator to the Great Beyond. Refusing to accept his fate and eager to return to his Earthly vessel, he attempts to flee the afterworld with the help of an unborn soul. To get back to Earth, Joe must first blend in to the afterworld. He does this by enrolling in a mentorship program where he is assigned to help unborn soul number 22 (Tina Fey) awaken her inner spark, her lust for life. Only on doing so can she transfer to Earth and begin her temporal existence. However, 22 has defied mentorship from the likes of Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln and Carl Jung. She prefers the immaterial to the material, as evidenced by zingers like “You can’t crush a soul here. That’s what Earth is for.” Pixar has shown over the years they love the challenge of representing the unrepresentable. Remember “Inside Out”’s Abstract Thought? The afterworld is cut from the same conceptual cloth. The Great Before is represented as a meadowy cross between a summer camp and a Cubist art gallery. The soul counsellors, who oversee the Great Before, are like something out of Picasso’s line sketches, all angular forms and squiggly shapes. These stylistic choices also owe a lot to Norman McLaren’s figurative animation. Soul 22 is Joe’s guide (and ours) through the afterworld. Her snarky comments ensure the exposition dump doesn’t feel as weighty. The Great Before is where souls take shape and take on personalities before they sync up with their respective newborns on Earth. Soul proposes personalities, like aloofness and excitability, come pre-cooked before birth. The kids will love the body-swapping second act, where Joe finds himself in a cat’s body and 22 in Joe’s. Sure to raise a chuckle or two are the slapstick interludes, where 22 adjusts to Joe’s lanky limbs and navigates the various hurdles in the New York hustle. The film’s chronicle of daily life in New York boasts of a wealth of immersive detail. A world of street musicians, sign twirlers, and subway commuters comes to life, like in a Will Eisner graphic novel. The infectious score too sinks perfectly into this milieu. The sequences where Joe gets in “the zone” feature lively piano solos from Jon Batiste. If these give the film a strong jazz identity, the synth accompaniment from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross lends a precise cohesion to its overall mood. While most Pixar films appeal to children and adults, “Soul” is a film that would speak more to adults, especially those suffering through a midlife crisis. The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen. (SD-Agencies) | 