Every once in a while, I’ll come across a film that is a. under-appreciated, b. largely unknown, c. ahead of its time, d. widely open to interpretation, e. timeless.
Break it down!
The under-appreciated said film may be too conceptually abstract for the general public to grasp its concepts. So it goes widely unknown but because of the production quality, layered with its gripping story arc, it’s rediscovered through out-of-print DVD’s, limited TV showings, and holier-than-thou hipsters. This usually occurs years later and, in all likelihood, should have never happened but because it was ahead of its time, it takes people awhile to appreciate the vision and execution of the film. Film critics and stoners alike will likely dissect the fuck out of the given film (because they’re both probably stoners) and look for the “hidden meaning” or other interpretations other than what is initially on the surface. Because of it’s above-average quality and production, which keeps us interested, and the potential for an infinite amount of interpretations, it develops a timeless feel to it and thus rendering it a bonafide Cult Classic.
That’s where this film comes in.
Fantastic Planet, released in France as La planète sauvage, was a Rene Laloux directed film that took 5 years to complete. Laloux was the only member of the production team that was not Czechoslovakian. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it but legend has it the Czech team tried to have Laloux removed early on and replace him with their own Czech director (Czech yo self, Loux!). I guess that really didn’t work and this movie actually got made. One of the production crew, Roland Topor, was the production designer for the film, and responsible for the films surreal and unearthly design.
No one’s accusing Topor of using LSD
What’s Going On Here?
Okay, so believe it or not, this film actually DOES have a solid story arc. I know it kind of looks like Dr. Seuss smoked crack before he dove into a bowl of Lucky Charms, but you’d be surprised how well put together this film is.
We’re introduced to a woman running with a baby clutched in her arms. She’s picked up and dropped by a giant blue hand. Panning back we see three adolescent Traags (giant blue aliens) playing with the Om (human). When they see Master Sinh and his daughter Tiwa approaching, they scatter like teenagers caught with a Playboy. Sinh, who is somewhat of an elder among the Traag community, lets Tiwa keep the baby Om as a pet.
This is when Terr, the name given to the baby Om by Tiwa, begins narrating the story. Terr is kept as a domesticated pet, complete with a remote controlled collar and dressed up in ridiculous fashions by his owners. This reminds me of when my grandmother use to paint her dogs nails. Terr observes the Traags frequently in a meditative state where their consciousness seemingly floats away from them in a bubble. He also notes of the Traags learning methods. Using electronic headbands, Traags are able to learn any subject they choose. He eventually runs away with one of these learning devices and goes to live with the wild Oms in the park.
The costume my dog is wearing for Halloween 2015
Terr eventually educates a band of wild Oms in the park with the learning headband he stole from Tiwa. With it, the Oms learn to read Traag writing. When the Traag’s decide to de-ominize the park (similar to an exterminator bombing your apartment to kill all the lady bugs), the Oms quickly see the writing on the wall and flee, warning several other neighboring groups. Through continuous use of the learning device, the Oms build rockets and ascend to Ygam aka the Fantastic Planet. This is where the Traag’s consciousness come to mate…yeah, it’s weird. They do a sort of meditation where their soul, for lack of a better world, floats in the form of a bubble to the Fantastic Planet. These bubbles then rest on the neck of headless statues and they begin to do some sort of pre-mating dance with others. If that didn’t make any sense to you, see below.
Did you use to have this music box?
Once armed with knowledge and a desire to equalize their oppressors, the Oms organize an attack on these dancing, mating statues, completely ruining the Traags mid-day meditation (major Traag, dude). The Traags, recognizing the potential and advancement of the Om species, calls a truce where the Oms and Traags can live in peace together. It all seems very foreign and bizarre, but there are actually quite a lot of interesting parallels that we can relate to in our own world.
The days when rock, paper, scissors simply wouldn’t suffice
Things I’ve Noticed (or have stolen from other people)
This movie is considered to be the first film to address speciesism. When you kill a bug in your house, most likely you don’t try to drink the pain away later. But why is that? Is a bug’s life worth less than say a dog, or a cat? Simply saying the bug is smaller doesn’t really justify anything, besides; a goldfish is pretty small too. Well, perhaps it’s because the bug wasn’t invited into your home to begin with. In that case, if a stray cat found its way into your place, chances are you’d probably just bonk its head with a newspaper, directing it strategically towards the door. This film forces you to think about these things, and if the right to live is based on size or intelligence, in the absence of justice for the sake of convenience.
The daily meditation ritual the Traags perform kind of reminds me of virtual reality and, in today’s standard, seems like a modern equivalent to the internet. They all just seem to download their consciousness to this “fantastic planet” where they can hook up with other Traag sphere-heads (kind of like online dating). It’s an interesting parallel that predated the internet by about 20 years.
Speaking of which, Terr escapes the domesticated lifestyle he has with his Traag owners and brings one of their learning devices with him. This device helps educate the wild Oms to be able to read Traag writing and avoid their own extermination. Slowly, with the aid of the device, the small tribes of Oms are able to launch a counteroffensive, equalizing the Traags power. Does this remind you of anything that’s relevant today? Something that is so crucial to the progression and sustainability of a culture that if it disappeared or fell into enemy hands would render its users defenseless? A hint, you’re on it right now…the internet! You see, this film was so ahead of its time that it predicted the fall of Western civilization by our over utilization of technology. Imagine if a sect were to use the power of the internet against such a massive juggernaut such as, oh I don’t know, the United States? It would truly be David versus Goliath but now David has the same firmware that Goliath’s using. Could this happen? If this film is a prophecy, it has yet to be seen…but is interesting nonetheless.
Mr. Bubbles meth addicted cousin
Highlights
It’s visually stunning and the soundtrack is a cross between Pink Floyd and a porno soundtrack.
The animals are out of this world…literally, we don’t have owl/anteater/tree bark hybrids on Earth.
Multilayered concepts and ideas that pertain to even today’s societal standards.
Lowlights
Stoners and hipsters will claim it as their own.
The voice acting is good but sometimes feels a bit out of place.
The end is somewhat abrupt and anti-climactic.
Learning device of the Traags
The Verdict
Overall I think the message of this film is about peace and co-existence. At the end, there wasn’t a huge battle to see who would win Middle Earth or Mel Gibson antagonizing the English, but a mutual truce to prevent further harm to either species, the Traag’s or the Om’s. It’s a message I don’t think we see a lot in today’s film making and that it turn gives it a refreshing twist.
This is a highly original film, one that should be viewed at least once in one’s lifetime (I think I’m on 28). I give it 4.7 out of 5 Traag learning devices, only because .3 of them were stolen by Terr.
-SC
The Evil Read 