APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD
April In Paris
released OUT NOW! 2015 | PG | dVd Directors Christian desmares, Franck ekinci Cast Marion Cotillard, Philippe Katerine, Jean rochefort
It seems Brian Talbot’s Grandville doesn’t have a monopoly on steampunk versions of Paris filled with talking animals. But in this effervescently imaginative French animation – based on a graphic novel – the steampunk trappings are not merely aesthetic. The wrong turn history takes, which leaves the world bereft of subsequent scientific breakthroughs, is an important plot point.
In 1941, the sooty French capital is a sprawling steampunk metropolis, with France on the verge of war with Canada. The orphaned great granddaughter of the scientist who inadvertently helped cause this world continues his work into an invincibility serum, with the help of her talking cat…
While the character designs and animation are slightly crude, the backdrops and the intricately detailed world created here are breathtaking. Better still, there’s a rattlingly good adventure at its core. Don’t be put off by the subtitles, as this isn’t just for world cinema connoisseurs – it’s a good old-fashioned ripping yarn.
Extras None.
Jean Rochefort (Pops) played the lead role in Terry Gilliam’s abandoned The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.