Up (2009) revIew: why MovIng on Is okay

By Elliot Walker Hayes

Up is about moving house: not in the figurative sense of leaving one and going to another, but rather in the literal sense of moving a house. The film starts with our protagonist Carl (Ed Asner) and a girl he seemingly has a liking for, as children. Carl and the girl, Ellie (Elizabeth Doctor), gush over an explorer called “Charles Muntz” together - a man they both idolise and wish to emulate. Shortly after this scene, we are presented with arguably the greatest opening to a film ever: a montage (that in all honesty, I could write another article about) depicting Carl and Ellie’s life together. In this montage, they get married, fix up a house and sit in their armchairs next to one another. After this, we see Carl’s seemingly mundane job as a balloon salesman at the local zoo where Ellie works. These balloons represent Carl’s love and devotion for Ellie, as he is willing to do a mundane job simply to be close to her while she does her dream job. We see them grow older and, as time slips by, so does their dream of going to Paradise Falls in South America. Carl decides that it’s never too late to have an adventure and buys them both tickets as a surprise, but Ellie sadly collapses and passes away before they can go.

Following this, we see an older Carl still living in their house, alone. As pressure to sell up the house for its valuable real estate mounts, Carl decides that enough is enough and, using balloons, is able to lift his house into the air and sail it to Paradise Falls. Yet, whilst mid-air, he hears something unexpected: a knock on the door. He opens it to find our other protagonist, the boy scout Russell (Jordan Nagai). Initially Carl seems unimpressed to learn he has a stowaway on his very personal journey though, as the film progresses, Carl grows increasingly fond of Russell (alongside the other characters they meet on the way), as he starts to realise the possibility of a life beyond the loss of Ellie. After happening upon a strange ostrich-like creature that they name Kevin, Carl and Russell are captured by Carl’s childhood hero, Charles Muntz, who has been driven mad in the pursuit of a rare bird. The explorer is the film’s representation of what can happen to a person if they are unable to move on from the past. His relentless pursuit of this bird has ruined not only his reputation but also his life, even driving him to murder tourists he suspects will find the bird before him.

After their escape, Russell wants to go back to Charles’ blimp to rescue Kevin, though Carl stubbornly refuses, causing Russell to run off. Realising he has made a mistake, Carl tries to pursue Russell but, due to his age, can’t keep up and decides instead to use the house to get to Russell. However, the balloons have partially deflated. In order to refloat the house, he starts emptying it of everything from his past and, in the process, he finds a scrapbook ccontaining a message in which Ellie thanks him for their adventure. Carl, staring around the now empty house as it drags along the ground, notices the last thing that remains: Ellie’s armchair. As he pushes the chair that was both physically and metaphorically weighing him down out of the door, the house floats into the air. Thus, the chair is left where Ellie always wanted to be, in Paradise Falls.

After returning to the blimp, Carl manages to defeat Muntz by tangling him in the balloons. Muntz, still clinging to his past, weighs the balloons down and falls to his death. As Russell dangles from the blimp,

Carl is presented with a choice: Russell (his future) on the one hand and the house (his past) on the other. One must be let go. Carl - finally realising which is more important and realising that, not only is he allowed to move past his trauma, but also that Ellie would have wanted him to - releases the house. Once he has pulled Russell up, Carl watches his house slowly drift away into the clouds. The house, a sign of his life with Ellie, is laid to rest.

Whilst watching Up, the viewer cannot help but empathise with Carl’s feelings. They become immediately attached to Ellie during the opening montage, and genuinely feel the loss when she is so cruelly ripped away. I felt a sense of relief when Carl let that house go. I am sure he did too. All said and done, Up is a film about moving house, moving past trauma and moving whoever is lucky enough to watch it.