French filmmaker René Laloux's legendary 1973 animated feature centers on the oppressed (and very human-like) Oms, living in a world ruled by blue-skinned giants called Draags, who treat the diminutive Oms as pets at best and vermin at worst. More fantasy than sci-fi, this strange, metaphorical tale plays out in a world as psychedelic as Yellow Submarine but far more predatory, as Laloux creates a culture in which intellect is disconnected from morality and sensual decadence rules. The animation and storytelling are actually oddly static, but the weird, lush landscapes, bright pop-art colors, and bizarre imagery (designed by famed French illustrator Roland Topor) combine to create an alien world of wonder and terror. And it's hard not to see the fight against oppression here reflected in America's civil rights struggle, as well as the French occupation in Algeria, the apartheid system in South Africa, and (when injustice takes a turn to wholesale annihilation of the “inferior” race) the Holocaust itself. Based on the 1957 novel Oms en Série by Stefan Wul, Fantastic Planet won a Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. Newly restored, this handsome Criterion edition features extras including two early animated shorts by Laloux, a 2009 documentary on Laloux, a 1974 French TV episode on Torpor, a 1973 interview with Torpor, and an essay by film critic Michael Brooke. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Fantastic Planet
Criterion, 72 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95 Volume 31, Issue 5
Fantastic Planet
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