Following closely from the DVD release of Bilal’s IMMORTAL comes RENAISSANCE, a French sci-fi animation that also touches on the subject of immortality, but those are really the only similarities because RENAISSANCE is presented in a completely different cinematic style.
On seeing it, comparisons are instantly drawn with SIN CITY, although in this case, where IMMORTAL combined live action with CGI like Rodriguez’s movie, RENAISSANCE is much closer to Frank Miller’s original graphic novel, in that it is produced in stark black and white. Although realised as a highly-detailed 3D CGI movie, it has been rendered in monochrome, like a graphic novel drawn by the likes of Charlie Adlard, Brian Stelfreeze or the aforementioned Frank Miller, to give it a strong, classic noir feel.
The story is set in a Paris of 2054, which looks like a cross between the worlds of BLADE RUNNER and THE FIFTH ELEMENT, only more French. Ilona Tassueiv, a young and brilliant researcher for the giant multinational corporation Avalon, is violently kidnapped after her visiting her sister in a rather dodgy nightclub. Avalon’s CEO, Dellenbach, wants her found at any cost and makes a special request for Officer Bartholomew Karas (not to be confused with the anime hero), a hostage retrieval specialist, and the most controversial cop in the force, be in charge of the case.
What follows is a stormy relationship between Ilona’s sister, Bislaine, and Karas, and their uncovering of some rather unethical experiments and practices by Avalon, and the discovery of a secret that Avalon wants to keep to itself.
The mixture of sci-fi and noir thriller, with a French twist works well, both storywise and visually, and would have worked equally well as a live action piece, rather than an animation, and in terms of plot and character development was a long way ahead of recent sci-fi outings such as AEON FLUX and ULTRAVIOLET. The believability in the characters was enhanced by some excellent voice talent from top British actors Daniel Craig (the new Bond), Jonathan Pryce (BRAZIL), Ian Holm (who needs no introduction to genre fans) and Romola Garai (who was in 2000 TV series ATTACHMENTS, as well as a host of recent costume dramas). It seems the film is being aimed at an international market with these names behind it, and judging by the lip-synching it is not a dub of a French version either.
Although the story is quite strong, it is the animation that has the greatest impact. Getting realistic humans with 3D CGI is no easy feat. Virtual stuntmen have been used in a lot of the big special effects movies, particularly those of comic-book super-hero origin, and done to great effect. But creating figures for fast moving action sequences is not as demanding as creating complete characters that have to act in more scrutinised scenes. Square-Enix, have definitely set the mark with their two FINAL FANTASY films and their contribution to THE ANIMATRIX. Their attention to detail, particularly in terms of skin textures and movement, can’t be faulted. For RENAISSANCE, the animators used motion capture (MoCap), which is employed for videogames and increasingly in special effects movies (Gollum, for example). The technique involves filming actors, wearing special tags, from multiple angles and inputting the data into a computer which transfers the information into format that can then be applied to the CGI characters. This gives the animated characters a very natural way of moving and can be likened to using rotoscoping in 2D animation (A SCANNER DARKLY is a recent example of that technique).
With its fantastic sets of Paris of the future, MoCap animation and star-studded character acting, coupled with its original black and white rendering, should make it a great sci-fi cinema experience (in fact, it was awarded Best Feature Film at the 2006 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France). Unfortunately, its unique selling point does become its downfall. While the animation is innovative and stunning, it stuns more in a Star Trek, “Set to stun” way. Watching these high contrast images for 105 minutes can be a bit too much on the senses and the occasional use of a half-tone and some token colour at the end is not enough of a respite. Graphically it can’t be faulted and this monochrome style works well on the printed page, such as in the incomparable BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE, but there you have the option of a world of light and colour around you to serve as relief. With so much of the film happening in the world of shadows, not only does the brain have to reconstruct everything, but on occasions the software struggles to construct facial features satisfactorily, leading to some unnatural looking expressions. But these minor failings are really just nit-picking on my part and may not bother other viewers.
Overall it is well-constructed story that raises a few interesting ideas about corporate power and the possibility of a cure for death, wrapped up in an adventurous an original animation style, but not one that is about to dominate cinema screens.
RENAISSANCE is on limited theatrical release from July 28.
Check out the trailer here. (Quicktime and broadband required)
If this style of black and white film appeals to you also check out the Flash short NO GUTS NO GALAXY.