Over the years, Pixar has been responsible for coining a number of great phrasesm whether that be Up’s “Adventure is out there,” Toy Story’s “To infinity and beyond” or Finding Nemo’s “Just keep swimming.” Well, we’ve found the latest quotable Pixar quote in Luca, and it’s “Silenzio, Bruno!” It’s a really fun line to repeat after seeing the movie and holds a deep meaning to the director and star Jack Dylan Grazer, who said the line in the movie.
“Silenzio, Bruno!” is said by Jack Dylan Grazer’s Alberto to Jacob Tremblay’s Luca when the pair of friends are about to try out their homemade Vespa off a cliff. Luca is nervous about the outcome, but Alberto assures him to not listen to the "Bruno in his head" so they can just go for it. It’s a funny line that many of us will definitely take with us the next time we’re worried or anxious. CinemaBlend spoke to Luca director Enrico Casarosa about the origins of the memorable line, and he said this:
[The line] really came from Jesse Andrews, who is our amazing writer who wrote Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, an amazing movie, we collaborated with him. The mission he was on, is how do you find a way for Alberto to really, meaningfully help this insecure kid, Luca. Because we wanted it to be Alberto-like and Alberto is full of silliness and confidence. So we thought he would have some strange way to see it. So we were really after something that was wise, but sounded strange. When our writer pitched ‘Silenzio, Bruno!’ we kind of fell in love with it, with apologies to the Brunos of the world.
Sorry, Brunos, but the phrase is a really powerful one that definitely stuck with me long after watching it. As the director said, they really wanted to come up with a line that would encapsulate the character of Alberto along with his message and influence on Luca. So when writer Jesse Andrews cooked up the line, it fit perfectly. Jack Dylan Grazer, who says the line in the movie, shared his own connection to it:
‘Silenzio, Bruno!’ is now my mantra, but it always kind of has been. When I was little, I was always a really impulsive thinker – or no thinking involved, just doing and I think that’s what ‘Silenzio, Bruno!’ means, it’s the illumination of doubt, the illumination of cautionary signs, like there’s nothing bad that can possibly come from this. I’m going to jump off this cliff into the sea and this can either go wonderfully or terribly, we’re going to go with the wonderful route. Most of the time, if you silence your inner Bruno, it’s going to be wonderful. You’re going to have a wonderful time. But also it’s a blessing and a curse, because maybe sometimes you should be rational. Maybe you should think before you do things.
17-year-old Jack Dylan Grazer, who has also starred in IT and the Shazam movies, said he’s a lot like Alberto overall. He’s always been a bit of a daredevil and the meaning of the big line in the movie is much like how he lives his own life too. It’s kind of a different way to ask someone to ignore the fear that comes with doing things in life and to seize the moment in a way.
Director Enrico Casarosa made Luca as a love letter to his own childhood in the Italian Riviera, where he was the Luca to his own Alberto. The movie is based on his own best friend as a kid who pushed him out of his comfort zone. The real Alberto is apparently an Air Force Pilot today. His best friend was actually instrumental in nailing the ending of Luca and in seeing the production through. In his words:
We kept on joking that it was so true, because you’re a new director, you’re making a new movie, the pandemic has happened, you don’t know if we’re going to finish the movie. We had plenty of loud Brunos in our head while making it and we kept on saying we needed the Albertos of the world to tell us, we can do this. And that’s what is wonderful about Alberto, is [asks you to] believe and he sees Luca somewhat recklessly, but with this full positivity. That’s what I love about it. Just a ‘don’t listen to those things, just go for it, we can do it.’ So that always felt true and we lived it while making the movie.
It’s a powerful phrase for the filmmakers and cast, and now it belongs to the fans of the movie. Luca is available on Disney+ along with a wave of exciting new releases this month.
