Today’s film is closer to an experimental art piece than a typical narrative film, which is something we’re pretty familiar with on this blog, so I figure most of us will be prepared for it. However, this film specifically is certainly going to be a tricky sit for those that can’t get into the feel of it. This is a film composed of a lot of repetition in its presentation and vagueness in its story (the story is actually really simple, but unless you can read the French-language prologue, you won’t have much context). Nevertheless, it is still an interesting creation, even if its not the easiest to watch, depending on the person. I’ll give a very brief rundown of the story, which shouldn’t take very long.
The film tells of an ancient city high up in the clouds called Chronopolis. Within that city are a tribe of immortal giants who have mastered time and space, and now fritter their days away doing mindless tasks and playing with shapes. Meanwhile, a group of mountain climbers are climbing up a nearby mountain outside. The giants take note of this, and wind up constructing a living sphere to go out into the world. When one of the climbers loses his footing and has to sever himself from the group, he winds up stuck on a pipe and meets the sphere, which leads him into Chronopolis. What happens after that, I will let you folks see for yourselves. Yes, that really is all that there is to the story. However, that doesn’t mean that that’s all there is to the experience.
To start off, I want to say that the art and animation is very well made. Chronopolis itself has an interesting look that gives off a feeling of the distant past and far future coming together, like an ancient civilization that was still far advanced, in some ways more than we are. The giants themselves almost resemble Egyptian statues, yet with unique headdresses that suggest a unique culture. The surroundings, on the other hand, almost have a Heavy Metal magazine influence, especially from artists like Moebius. It’s that sort of European sci-fantasy sort of look, with strange shapes on earthen walls and doors, and odd square devices that conjure up more circles and spheres. In fact, the animation on these two and three-dimensional shapes is reminiscent of animators like Norman McLaren, a highly experimental animator who dabbled in many different styles over his career, and a man who I think I’ve mentioned on here before. I recall seeing some shorts of his that depicted various circles spinning around each other, morphing into different sizes and multiplying themselves in repetitive yet hypnotic movements. A similar sort of idea is done with the circle animations in Chronopolis, though more repetitive and not quite to the same level. I think that’s a key word here: repetition. A lot of Chronopolis’s runtime is composed of repeated animation, from the circles to the giants’ tasks, to the climber falling to the climber dancing with the sphere. After a while, it almost becomes trance-like, and even boring in a way, which you’d think would be a death knell for any movie. However, in this case, I think that might be part of the point. I think what the filmmakers are trying to do is to make you feel similarly to how the giants do. The giants are immortal and have lived long enough to master their skills and existence itself, so now they are left with nothing to do but keep doing the same tasks over and over just for their own sake. It’s a rather dull life to live, and probably feeds into why the giants call out to the climber in the end (and why they want him to do a certain something for them, which I won’t reveal). So, basically, the film is “boring” because the filmmakers want you to relate to the giants’ current state. This does give the choice of presentation a certain meaning, but it also raises the question: is it okay for a film to be “boring” if “that’s the point?” I think that is where this film will really divide audiences, as some will find this choice to be appropriate and interesting while others will dismiss the film as unnecessary or even pretentious. What probably won’t help either is the fact that the prologue text that sets up the premise is only in French, and at least on the version I saw, there weren’t any subtitles to translate it. Thus, unless you go search for the story online, you’re not going to know what’s going on (well, you’ll probably glean some things, but you won’t get the bigger picture necessarily). However, some people like that sort of thing, art pieces that don’t flat out tell you the story and instead make you use your imagination to figure out what’s going on. However however, just as many folks might just find this to be lazy, as if the filmmakers didn’t bother to actually tell a story and just put it all on the viewer to add meaning to the images. Interestingly, there was an earlier version of the film than the one I saw, which was longer and contained narration. I couldn’t find that version when I looked, so I don’t know if it still exists somewhere, but I am curious to know if the narration enhanced or took away anything from the overall experience. In terms of my thoughts on the film (or the version I watched, anyway), I’m not sure I’d call it a favorite film, but I did appreciate it in some ways. I thought the art and animation were very well done and the concept was a classic, if basic, notion of the mundanity of immortality. This is definitely going to be a film for folks that like art pieces that aren’t easily accessible and offer a different sort of experience. It’s a film that I am glad I saw, but I’m not sure if I’m rushing to see it again too soon. I think I’ve said most everything I can say about this film, so I’ll wrap things up.
This review ended up being pretty short, but then again, this was a rather short movie, at only about fifty or so minutes. Funnily, while I was looking for the story, I found out that this film won the “Best Children’s Film” award at some show. Maybe some European kids are built differently (this was a Polish and French co-production, I hadn’t mentioned that before), but I can’t imagine most kids being too interested in this film. This is the sort of work that’s more so for the art crowd and not too many others outside of that, except for those willing to look. Hopefully, though, I’ve been helping to convince some folks to look who wouldn’t have before with this blog, so if you have the time, and the patience, check out Chronopolis. Our time is fleeting, and we hate to have it wasted, but sometimes that very thing can help us to see the beauty in our mortal existence (or some such philosophy).