MORE CARTOONS ANYONE? TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED : "RENAISSANCE"

Ok, the next film on this week’s list is also a dystopia I’m afraid. Don’t worry, the next one is a touch more cheerful and you don’t have to watch them all at once if you are not that way inclined… Ok, this is a dystopia but it’s not actually as “farfetched” as “A Scanner Darkly”, not as “sci-fi”, but it’s futuristic and dark… It’s got a similar “m.o.” as A Scanner Darkly but not quite the same (Yeah, I know, no two works of art are the same, don’t get lippy on me!). The lines and the choice of style in that film are more realistic… I don’t quite know how to put it, it must have some computer “juice” in it as well, and it seems half real and half drawing in places… Renaissance is a “bona fide” cartoon, and I gather the characters are all based on actual actors; the style is by NO stretch of the imagination the same. Another thing is that it is a “black and white cartoon”. Yep, no colors AT all… (Doesn’t get further from Pixar studios does it really?)A little tough to watch in bits but one gets used to it, honest…
Our hero is Captain Karas. He lives in Paris of the future, but not the too distant future. Many things are different – glass pedestrian sidewalks above the ways for cars, computers are very high tech and so are weapons… But some things are the same… The underworld is still the underworld big corporations still rule… Well, pretty much everything. In this case we are talking about Avalon, experts and monopoly of beauty products everywhere… When one of their brilliant young researchers mysteriously vanishes, Karas is called into action. He realizes very quickly that the situation is a lot more complicated than it seems, and as Avalon is involved it’s bound to be dangerous too… But when Karas starts having a relationship with the lost girl’s sister, then the case gets personal… Not a good idea if one’s life is at stake…
Well, they class this one as a dystopia but actually I have seen worse. We all know how evil big corporations can actually be, we’ve all seen adventure stories with handsome cops, beautiful girls and high-speed chases… There is a little sci-fi thrown in but this will not throw you off the story, a story that is nail-bitingly exciting at that… Yes, people of an older generation might be slightly “jolted” by the fact that it’s a cartoon but don’t let it put you off. The style really adds to the dark and dangerous atmosphere and the film is really brilliant as perfect little whole. Who said French cinema sucked? They come up with some pretty good stuff as well – if they put their minds to it. It doesn’t even have Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu in it! :D