Upside Down - Blu-ray

Movie: Have you ever wondered why you feel sad sometimes, even though you don't know exactly why? Or why certain things make you happy and make you laugh? Why some things disgust you and others make you really angry? The answer lies in the control center right in your mind. Here, joy, fear, disgust, sorrow and anger join forces to keep your emotional balance in order. This is the case for eleven-year-old Riley, for whom joy has always done most of the work. But then the girl and her parents have to move to the big city and suddenly the emotions go crazy. Joy still just manages to keep Kummer from causing complete chaos. But when an accident washes them both, along with important core memories, into very remote regions of Riley's mind, Fear, Disgust, and Anger have to hold down the fort at headquarters. And that has disastrous consequences, which Joy can only stop if she manages to find her way back in time, along with Kummer.

Whenever PIXAR Studios releases a new film, the reviews usually gush with superlatives. With a few exceptions, such as the Cars films, the works from the PIXAR forge not only find enormous favor with moviegoers young and old, but are also absolute critics' favorites. And rightly so, as the films regularly manage to appeal to audiences of all ages while telling truly beautiful, multi-layered stories. For example, the studio has created numerous classics of modern animation with Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Toy Story 1-3. It's hard to believe that the ingenuity and creativity that was on display in those films can be increased. But with Everything's Upside Down, director Pete Docter (Above), his co-director Ronnie del Carmen, and the entire creative team have once again outdone themselves.

With that said, the idea of looking inside a person's head and having their emotions act as characters isn't really new. The 90s sitcom 4x Herman, for instance, used a very similar premise, with mind, love, fear and lust running the control center in the brain here. But while the initial situation isn't new, the execution of the story is truly unique. The ingenuity displayed here is just as fascinating as the different worlds the creators came up with for the inner workings of the human mind. The viewer learns in a playful, original, and incredibly funny way how to get an earworm, why teenage boys often can't get a word out at the sight of a girl, or why certain memories eventually just get erased.

Trying to describe what makes this film so special on a visual level alone is nearly impossible. It's just as impossible to discover all the little details that have been incorporated here on a single viewing. Everything is upside down is just predestined to be experienced over and over again. What is much more apt to describe is the emotional level on which this wonderful work operates. Docter's script not only does an excellent job of capturing the emotional inner workings of a little girl. Rather, there are quite a few observations in the story that really any viewer can relate to. Most of the time it's very funny, but sometimes it's also extremely touching and sad. There are probably very few people who don't shed at least a little tear at a scene in which a farewell to a certain part of childhood is discussed. At the press screening, quite a few adults could be observed reaching for their handkerchiefs as inconspicuously as possible - including the writer of these lines.

Alles steht Kopf proves once again that the prejudice that animated films are pure kids' stuff is no longer true - especially not for PIXAR films. There are a lot of gags and ideas that children can't even understand, while there are other scenes that make the little ones laugh heartily. And that's what makes a good family film, namely that it offers entertainment for all, even if on different levels.

If there is something that disappoints here, then it is the pre-film. Visually quite successful is the background music extremely annoying and the story, although quite cute, somewhat unimaginative. You've seen much better from PIXAR. But as far as the main film is concerned, there's nothing to complain about. One of the best animated films of recent years and undoubtedly one of the most beautiful films of 2015. For this there is a very clear: Absolutely worth seeing!!!!!

Picture + Sound: The audiovisual quality of the Blu-ray is excellent. The absolutely clean picture shows off the film's many wonderful little details very well with its very high overall sharpness. Colors are mixed very powerfully and there's nothing really wrong with the matching of contrasts and black levels either. The audio is available in the German version in a powerful Dolby Digital 7.1 mix, which already fills the surround channels with such life that the comparison to the slightly livelier English DTS-HD MA 7.1 track doesn't really disappoint. Overall, for the technical realization of the film there is a clear: Very good!

Extras: While the DVD has hardly any bonus material to offer, there are at least a few extras on the 2D Blu-ray. However, the full package is only available on the significantly more expensive 3D Blu-ray, which has a full bonus disc to offer. Buyers of the 2D Blu-ray have to make do with the short film Lava (7:12 min.), the brand new short film Riley's First Date (approx. 4:40 min.), as well as featurettes about the women of Alles steht Kopf (approx. 11:22 min.) and about Mixed Emotions (approx. 7:12 min.). There is also an audio commentary by director Peter Docter and producer Jonas Rivera that is worth listening to. Not really much, but definitely recommended for fans!

Conclusion: Alles steht Kopf is a wonderful film that looks into the mind of a little girl in an imaginative, humorous and also moving way. One of the most beautiful animated films of recent years, it may be a little too complex for very young viewers, but will quickly enchant adult viewers as well. The Blu-ray presents the colorful goings-on in Riley's head in very good picture and sound quality. The bonus material is clear, but quite okay. Overall, the following applies here quite clearly: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp