Idk if anyone has already pointed this out, and there most likely have been since I am a little late on this train;
But, something that caught my attention around my second or third rewatch of Encanto was the fact,
Bruno never holds eye contact for very long.
There’s a few scenes that are very good at showing this; one that does best, is the whole 5 or so minute long scene with Mirabel finding Bruno in the walls and finding out everything he had been doing.
So many good examples happen throughout this scene. There’s their first meeting after Bruno fell, where he just kinda stands around before breaking the silence by leaving.
There’s the scene with them going through the walls towards his room and Mirabel sees that he’s been trying to fix the cracks; him going into different characters (or personas) to try and lighten the situation and also quickly breaking eye contact after the whole “real gift was acting” thing.
Even when they finally get to his room and Mirabel comments on it, his eyes are all over the place, never staying one place for too long - avoiding hers as much as he possibly can (could also be out of embarrassment but imma still count it)
And the scene just keeps on giving them, like with the whole plate thing and Bruno sitting down in his chair playing with the string from it;
He never instigates eye contact, and acts like he doesn’t want it in fear of disappointing or angering the other (or something idk if I’m reading too much into it)
Where am I going with all this?
Well, one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie - and I think it’s the favorite for many - is the scene with “Dos Oruguitas” with Alma’s whole story and all that.
One part of that scene that always hits the most in all that to me, is when Alma leaves her room and walks by the different family members in order of when she wronged them and began putting extra pressure on them (Starts with Bruno, then Isabela, then Luisa and then Mirabel).
Not only does it gives us a chronological line of who in the family feels most pressured (don’t get me wrong, the others in the family most likely have their own pressure too, but these are the characters that are most explored in the movie)
But it also shows us something different about our boy Bruno;
Before he notices Alma, he looks to the ground like he always has, but as soon as he notices her walking towards him
This is a boy who admires his mother for everything she does and is his only role model to look up to
and what makes this scene hit even harder?
He is looking for her eyes
The man who avoids eye contact and often is the one to break it during conversations with others
Is looking for his mother’s eyes
Wanna have it hit even harder?
He is practically begging for it, begging for his mother to notice him, begging for his mother to just see him
And she ignores him completely
And him, who have only ever wanted to be noticed - to be seen as something else than a curse and a failure
Because the one figure he ever looked up to, failed to be there for him
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