I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago but couldn’t muster up interesting enough words. It comes out in America on September 22nd.
Renaissance is a noirish CG motion capture French film. It tells a compelling story with sometimes stiff acting from some of its voice actors, but Daniel Craig and Ian Holm do good jobs with their characters. It heaps some twists on the audience that make it a more satisfying film than if its trajectory had been too straight, but it’s most intriguing aspect is the aesthetic: with the exception of transparencies like glass, the entire film is in black and white. Literally black and white – no grey.
The items in each scene are forced to define each other and it is a striking film. Your brain has to be in the right place to comprehend it, but it’s essentially an animated version of Sin City. The movement makes it easier to follow than Frank Miller’s work on the page, too.
If you can get out to a cinema, I emphatically recommend seeing Renaissance, even if you hate the French.
I read about this film a while back and was attracted by both the art style and the premise. I’d forgotten about the date until now. Unfortunately, it’s in limited release meaning I probably won’t be able to see it until it hits DVD because my area (Sacramento) sucks in getting limited releases.
Starts next Friday in Philly. I’m looking forward to it, though I don’t know that I’ll see it until the following week… The French factor is certainly a hurdle, but this often leads to pleasant surprises (of the “City of Lost Children” sort).
Unless it’s propaganda like Fearless, I don’t think that a nation’s government necessarily has to be related to a nation’s cinema. Just look at Hollywood: [satire]it’s a hotbed of filthy liberals![/satire]
Heh, I was half-joking with the French thing and I quite agree with you. However, while I have an enormous amount of respect for French cinema, it’s more on an intellectual level than a “I’m having fun at the movies” level. As such, I don’t find myself firing up La Grande Illusion all that often, even though I think it’s one of the most important films of all time:P