CGI Animation, 74 min
Welcome to Planet Harmony, the fruit of Bertrand Dezoteux’s vivid imagination, guided by space explorer Jesus Perez with his familiar face and first name. But landing on an unknown planet is no simple matter, especially if that planet is inhabited. That old story. In this world where everything is hybrid – plants, animals, minerals – thanks to digital images, you’ll find very unusual inhabitants with composite bodies reminiscent of both Hieronymus Bosch and a hypothetical post-human future. And where a certain colourful sweetness reigns (reminiscent of the psychedelia of Fantastic Planet), but one that’s also tart and not without its rough edges. This endeavour, a far cry from your average tale, aims for another kind of exploration, an exploration of different possibilities: of image (low-fi as a committed stance against entertainment’s perfectionism), of narrative and its codes. And so we’re offered a sweeping vista of a universe of suspended time, changing and unstable characters, and a narrative reduced to the framework of tales of discovery. In this contemplative minor-key space opera cross-bred with the sound environment of a musical, the fantastic fable we’re offered mixes imaginary worlds as well as images and their textures, sounds and music, sieved through (a) 3D filter(s). It’s a world of constant, unpredictable change, where possibilities can be re-imagined and restructured. • Nicolas Feodoroff, FID Marseille