Fantastic Planet
Directed by René Laloux
- animation
- science fiction
The story
On the planet Ygam, the Draags, extremely technologically and spiritually advanced blue humanoids, consider the tiny Oms, human beings descendants of Terra's inhabitants, as ignorant animals. Those who live in slavery are treated as simple pets and used to entertain Draag children; those who live hidden in the hostile wilderness of the planet are periodically hunted and ruthlessly slaughtered as if they were vermin.
What it’s like
Hand-painted cel animation with flat, saturated backgrounds: deep blues, sickly greens and rust-orange, and strange organic architecture that looks grown rather than built. Surreal and dreamlike, the film moves at an unhurried pace, with long pans across alien vistas and a jazz-tinged score of plucked strings, theremin-like tones and sudden silences. The vibe is eerie, detached and hypnotic, a kind of psychedelic unease that turns to cold horror. Its arc follows a small, displaced creature's growing awareness of who controls it and why, and the register stays allegorical rather than action-driven. Violence is brief but stark: cruelty and mass killing are shown matter-of-factly, without gore, though the imagery is disturbing, and there is some nudity. It suits a late night alone, or viewers who want a strange, adult, philosophical animated film. It is best for people who enjoy surrealism, science fiction allegory and art-house animation, and who can sit with discomfort.
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