I watched UP! the other night, and I had a realization: this film might contain one of the best love scenes in film history. A big statement there, but I mean it. 

Take a look at UP!, by all regards one of the best animated films to date. Yet, it deals with the extremely troubling topic of “loss” - in a kids film no less. This is one of the more grown-up animated films to date while remaining at its core, a light and fun children’s movie, able to deal with a complex subject in a very real, barebones manner. 

There is one segment in particular that I’d like to mention and that is the montage of the couple as they grow old together. Masterfully done, the sequence, much like the one in Citizen Kane, is able to characterize the couple’s relationship in a very brief but impactful sequence. Cutting to the bone on what it means to love and putting a visual definition to one of the deepest and most complex of human emotions. It is very rare to find any film that is able to dissect a complex theme so thoroughly, even more rare to find it in such an accessible format, and even more rare than that, a sequence that is able to retain its audience and build off that point to provide an arch of conclusion to the viewer. Up! was able to give its audience that and so much more in what I will always describe as one of the greatest studies of love and loss ever to grace the screen. 

Hat’s off to Pixar for creating a film that challenges its audience universally. I love it.