Number one, the scene where Alberto pulls Luca out of the water.
Number two, the scene where Luca saves Alberto during the Portorosso Cup.
And number three, the final scene. You know,
This heartbreaker.
(Apologies for the quality, by the way. Had to find these all from YouTube clips.)
And I just want to say a thought that I had about all these scenes, and how while I’m sure that the animators didn’t really have the intention of this,
I think all three scenes kind of represent something here, in some sort of case of… accidental symbolism, in a way?
And this isn’t even a full-blown theory or anything. Just me making connections ‘cause, well, I like to think about this movie.
Let me explain myself.
(LUCA SPOILERS AHEAD! Obviously. Uh, those screenshots are kind of spoilers too, really. This entire post is full of them.)
In the first scene, Luca is hooked from the ocean by Alberto and brought onto land for the first time. What I’m focusing on is the action of Alberto physically reaching towards Luca, and straight up pulling him out of the water.
Luca has only ever known the ocean. He’s lived there his whole life, he has never been out of water. Except... Luca’s a dreamer. When the ocean felt too small for him, he had the desire to explore beyond the water, the longing to see the world. (”You wanna run off like your buddy Enrico? ‘Cause I’ve got news for you. He’s either dead, or he’s... out there, somewhere... seeing the world... but he’s probably dead!”)
When Alberto pulls Luca out of the water and shows him what the world is like beyond the surface, he essentially fulfills this for him. He sort of... saves him from where he was trapped under the surface (literally - he has a daydream in the beginning where the ocean rises to cover his head so he can’t stick his head above the water). And it’s this whole thing, with Alberto reaching towards Luca to pull him from his confines and save him from his dissatisfaction with the ocean, that drives my entire point, why I’m making this post. Alberto makes the first move and reaches forward to save Luca from his dilemmas.
Moving on to the second scene, which is where we start making connections. In this scene, Alberto is trapped in a net by Ercole, and Luca bikes forward to grab him and swipe him away before Ercole can hurt him.
And... well...
He reaches forward, grabs Alberto, and saves him. I think you might be catching my drift here. We see yet again one of these boys reaching out for the other to save them from a bad situation. (And I know, I might be overdramatizing the first scene - Luca wasn’t in that bad of a tight spot - but the stakes weren’t as high in the beginning of the movie at all. It kind of reflects the tone of the movie and the way that it all escalated to this point.)
But I’m kind of forming some sort of mirror here.
In the first scene, Alberto is reaching forward towards Luca. He pulls him out of the water and saves him from the life he was unsatisfied with.
In the second scene, Luca is reaching forward towards Alberto. He pulls him from the ground, the dangerous situation that he was in, to safety. (Well, as safe as they could’ve been at that moment.)
And... I want to consider the ways they sort of “saved” each other in the movie. Not in the physical way, not like Luca pulling Alberto from a near-death situation, no - in an emotional way.
I’ve already talked about the first. In the beginning, Alberto pulls Luca from the ocean - representing the way he sort of pulls Luca from the clustered life he lives, allowing him to explore the world and see all kinds of new things, just as he wanted. He freed Luca from the ocean when they first met, and consequently, freed him from being unable to see the surface, something that had been plaguing him for a while (”We’re a little worried about him, right?”). His liquid prison.
Luca’s is a lot more abstract. As we go through the movie, we learn that Alberto has been alone all his life, abandoned by his father, and clings onto the people important to him, and shoves away those who he thinks can take them away. But Luca helps him learn that he can accept people into his life, that he can trust others, and that he doesn’t need to rely on one single person or thing to get through it all. He saved Alberto from a life of loneliness and helped him grow into a better person - and while that’s not directly related to the moment he saved him during the race, it can be symbolized and represented by that moment.
Alberto reaching for Luca, and in the end, Luca reaching for Alberto. Two boys who saved each other emotionally, represented by them saving each other physically.
But wait. There’s one last thing.
The third scene is the well-known and tear-inducing train scene. I just wanna point out...
As they are pulled apart by the train, Luca and Alberto are both reaching for each other at the same time.
The difference here is that in this moment, they have both already been saved. Luca, whose dream was to see the world and learn all about it, is reaching for Alberto as he’s being pulled towards a human school. Alberto, who was miserably living the loneliest life, reaches for Luca despite the fact that he now has a found family and is no longer desperate to cling to people. (”You got me off the island, Luca. I’m okay.”) They don’t have needs because they have already been fulfilled. They don’t need saving.
They’re reaching for each other because they want to. They don’t need to - the other has already saved him. But they care for each other, and (ooh, can’t wait to get the callout post) love each other, and of course they’re going to hold onto one of the most important people of their lives.
They don’t need each other. But they want to hold onto each other.
It’s been Alberto reaching for Luca, and then Luca reaching for Alberto - until the final scene, when they don’t really need to - They hold each other until they can’t anymore, and they both reach for each other. Until Luca is pulled away, and it’s arrivederci. Until next summer.
TL;DR: Alberto reaches for Luca and saves him in the beginning. Luca reaches for Alberto and saves him in the end. This represents the way they emotionally help each other throughout the movie. They both reach for each other despite not needing saving in the end - simply because they want to.
Thank you so much if you read through this whole thing and are still here! I know that I sounded a little repetitive, but I really wanted to drive my point across and hoped that I wasn’t sounding too unclear. I wanted to make this easy to understand, but it’s easier said than done, haha. It’s one of those thoughts that make sense in your head and not to anyone else, I think, but I tried my best to do it justice.
Anyway, if you couldn’t tell, I love this movie a lot - and I hope this meta in which I drew way too many connections adds a little something more to the story. Anyway, grazie for getting this far, and I hope to see you around!
To build further upon my hot/cold take, I think the reason I'm so happy that they could let each other go in the end, is because, for a time, all that they had was each other. And now they have each other and more.
During that montage where the boys are building Vespa after Vespa, they really are everything to each other. Luca depends solely on Alberto to feed his hunger for knowledge, while Alberto depends solely on Luca for companionship and validation. For a time, all that they had was each other. Then, the Marcovaldos take them in. And Luca finds a teacher in Giulia and her books, and Alberto finds a company and validation and a father figure in Massimo, and they start to need each other less. And it's not painless. Alberto sees Luca's growing relationship with Giulia and the perceived loss of relationship with Alberto and reacts poorly. He tries to cling tighter and tighter, which ultimately results in their lowest point.
But it doesn't break them, it makes them stronger. They achieve their shared dream of owning a Vespa. And Alberto gives it up. Alberto gives Luca up. Because he doesn't need him anymore. They keep in touch, and they still mean a lot to each other. But they have more than each other now.
Okay okay but I just finished Luca and I'm just???? in??? complete awe????? It was so friggin beautiful and my god, I'll be talking about this from a queer's pov because my heart broke so many times and I related to so many things in this film. Starting by Luca's parents trying to send him down because "they love him" and of course him being scared and running away. His grandma being the only supportive person in his life about him discovering who he is and exploring the world. Then it's Alberto finally having someone and clinging to that relationship so hard because it's the only thing he thinks he's got left. Him trying to impress Luca, showing off but also being so scared to lose him, god I want to cry just writing about it. Then, it's Alberto being jelaous of Julia, of course he has abandonment issues, and it was so real. Him blaming this situation on no other but himself I just-. When he and Luca were fighting I thought he was going to out Luca but instead he just showed his true self but of course Luca was terrified of showing himself so he panicked and then that scene happened and my heart absolutely broke. Luca and Alberto finally getting a family, Luca going to school and Alberto with a father that loves him for who he is and protects him. Their final hug but of course it's not a final hug because they're friends, and they love each other so much, and they will see each other again and I'm so emotional about this because I truly feel how extremely queer coded this whole film is and what it represents, a strong friendship and an innocent kid's crush. Being called "monster" for being different but finally finding people that love you, care about you, and accept you for who you are. When Luca stepped on the rain and helped Alberto up, both of them riding their bike, I mean. I was crying big fat tears. Them wanting to run away just the two of them and probably actually doing it when older, but not escaping from anyone and rather just doing it because they want to, in the credits you could see how that dream is still present. And of course the two lesbian grandmas straight up looking at each other before coming out too, because of the brave kids and them being supporting now able to show who they really are. I'm not making any sense I just love this film so so much, it's definitely an absolute favorite. I love it love it love it so frigging much. Such a great film specially during pride month I'm in love oh god.
