Fantastic Planet.

Review #1006: Fantastic Planet.

Cast: 
Jean Valmont (Terr), Eric Baugin (young Terr), Jennifer Drake (Tiwa), Jean Topart (Master Sinh), and Gérard Hernandez (Master Taj) Directed by René Laloux.

Review: 
Sorry for the wait for the past few reviews. It has been a while since I touched upon a film that falls under the world cinema label, particularly since this is the first review of a film from the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993), with this being a co-production with France, which I haven't covered since the Three Colors trilogy (#601, #602, #603) back in 2014. In any case, enjoy the review.

The film (known in France as La Planète sauvage and Divoká planeta in Czech) is certainly an interesting piece of cinema, seeing as it was a co-production between companies from France and Czechoslovakia that was in production for roughly six years, with it being based off the novel Oms en série by Stefan Wul. It was the winner of the Grand Prix special jury prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. In terms of animation and science fiction, this is certainly a film that stands out among others in its genre, being a unique and strange experience that certainly has more to say than it may first let on. It won't exactly fall as one of my favorite films in either genre, but it will definitely fall as one of those films that certainly deserve a curious look. It's a surreal piece of work, but it is a curious fantastical piece that certainly sticks out with its animation, which was hand-drawn while having stop motion cutouts that gives the movie an alien feel, with a rigid but focused sense of space and medium that contrasts with something that you might see in a Disney film. There is just something alive about how this alien world comes off that just makes the film shine, whether one is watching the film intently or not. There isn't much to the voice acting, though Valmont is certainly acceptable as the narrator, with the other voices fitting the alien nature fine enough. There isn't too much to the character themselves, but the story that it tells (and however one interprets it) make it worthwhile to sit through. At 71 minutes, the film isn't too hard of a sit-through, though it will certainly play better for others depending on what they are looking for in an animated film or in science fiction. It isn't exactly anything too great for me, but I can definitely find why someone else would really enjoy the film's vision, or in contrast find the film to be muddled in itself. I myself found it to be pretty good, mainly because of it having a fairly good grasp of what it aims for and having the visuals to back it up, for the most part.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.