The Congress (2013 film)

The Congress
French promotional poster
Directed by Ari Folman
Produced by Diana Elbaum
David Grumbach
Eitan Mansuri
Jeremiah Samuels
Screenplay by Ari Folman
Based on The Futurological Congress
by Stanisław Lem
Starring Robin Wright
Music by Max Richter
Cinematography Michal Englert
Edited by Nili Feller
Production
company
Pandora Filmproduktion
Distributed by ARP Sélection (France)
Drafthouse Films (US)
Release date
  • 15 May 2013 (2013-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 3 July 2013 (2013-07-03) (France)
Running time
 123 minutes[1]
Country France
Israel
Belgium
Poland
Luxembourg
Germany
Language English
Budget €8 million
Box office $356,172[2]

The Congress (Hebrew: כנס העתידנים) is a 2013 live-action/animated science fiction drama film written and directed by Ari Folman, based on Stanisław Lem's novel The Futurological Congress. The film premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2013.[3] Independent film distributor Drafthouse Films announced, along with Films We Like In Toronto, their co-acquisition of the North American rights to the film and a US theatrical and VOD/digital release planned for 2014.[4]

Plot

Robin Wright is an aging actress with a reputation for being fickle and unreliable, so much so that nobody is willing to offer her roles. Her son, Aaron, suffers from Usher syndrome that is slowly destroying his sight and hearing. With the help of Dr. Barker (Paul Giamatti), Robin is barely able to stave off the worst effects of her son's decline. Robin agrees to sell the film rights to her digital image to Miramount Studios in exchange for a hefty sum of money and the promise to never act again. After her body is digitally scanned, the studio will be able to make films starring her, using only computer-generated characters.

Twenty years later, as her contract is about to expire, Robin travels to Abrahama City where she will speak at Miramount's "Futurological Congress" and also renew her contract. By then, Robin's digital likeness has become the star of a popular science-fiction film franchise, "Rebel Robot Robin". Abrahama City is an animated zone, where individuals are required to use chemicals to become animated avatars of themselves, entering a mutable illusory state; they can become anything they want to be. While discussing the new contract with Miramount, Robin learns that the studio has developed a new technology that will allow anyone to transform themselves into her.

Robin agrees to the deal but has a crisis of conscience and does not believe she or anyone else should be turned into a product. Asked to speak at the Congress, Robin publicly voices her views, enraging the hosts of the Congress. Shortly afterwards, the Congress is attacked by rebels ideologically opposed to the technology. During the attack, Robin is protected by Dylan Truliner (Jon Hamm) but is soon captured by "Miramount Police". Still in the animated world, Robin is executed. Within the animated world, doctors decide that Robin has become so intoxicated by the hallucinogen that she must be frozen until a time when a treatment for her mental illness is found.

Many years later, Robin is revived in the animated world and reunites with Dylan. He reveals that technology has improved so that anything is possible, that people can take on whatever form they wish and the ego no longer exists. Dylan tells Robin that he had once been Miramount's lead animator for her films. The two fall in love, but Robin is still desperate to return to the real world and be with her son. The only way to do that is using a capsule that Dylan was given by Miramount, his reward for twenty years of service. The capsule is only powerful enough for one person and Dylan has no more. Dylan gives it to Robin, begging her not to look at the real him when she returns to the real world.

Re-entering the un-animated real world, Robin finds it in extreme disrepair and the inhabitants severely dysfunctional. Those who are still able to cope in the real world hover over its ruined cities in large airships. On one of the ships, Robin finds Doctor Barker, who reveals the state of the world in which most people have changed to an existence in an animated, unreal world. Hoping to find Aaron, Robin's hopes are dashed when Barker reveals that Aaron "crossed over" into the animated world only six months earlier, when his condition had left him virtually blind and deaf. Because Aaron likely created a new identity for himself in the animated world, there is no way for anyone to find him. While Robin can return to an animated existence, she cannot return to the one she left behind, including Dylan, because that world was not real but created by her consciousness.

Dr. Barker gives Robin an inhalation ampule that will allow her to return to the animated world. Taking it, Robin experiences memories of her son's life, being born, seeing his mother for the first time, as an infant watching his mother act, as an older child being taken to Dr. Barker, as a young adult watching his mother leave for The Congress, finding his mother in suspended animation, and finally taking the capsule that will take him away from the real world forever. Robin, having the same appearance as Aaron, discovers him in the middle of an animated desert.

Cast

Relation to The Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem

While some elements of the film were added by Ari Folman, others were based on the science fiction novel The Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem. Similarly to Lem's Ijon Tichy, the actress is split between delusional and real mental states. In an early interview about the film, Folman said,[6]

"There is certainly nothing based on Lem in the first part of the movie. The second part is definitely different, but I used Lem's The Futurological Congress more as a source of inspiration, rather than the basis of the screenplay."

Later, at the official website of the film, in an interview, Folman says that the idea to put Lem's work to film came to him during his film school. He describes how he reconsidered Lem's allegory of communist dictatorship into a more current setting, namely, the dictatorship in the entertainment industry, and expresses his belief that he preserved the spirit of the book despite going far away from it.[7]

Production

A French-Israeli-Belgian-Polish-Luxembourgian-German co-production, the animation was created by Bridgit Folman Films Gang, based in Israel, supervising 6 animation studios worldwide ("studio 352" in Luxemburg, "walking the dog" in Belgium, "bitteschoen" in Berlin, "studio Rakete" in Hamburg, "Studio Orange" in Poland and "Snipple" in the Philippines). As in Waltz with Bashir, Folman worked with David Polonsky as the artistic director and Yoni Goodman as the animation director. Principal live action filming was done in the United States and Germany from February to March 2011.[5][8] Folman began working on the film in 2008,[9] securing additional financing in 2011 from French bank Coficine-Natixis.[10] The film was completed and released in 2013.[3]

Reception

The Congress received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 73% approval rating, based on reviews from 98 critics, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus states: "The Congress rises on the strength of Robin Wright's powerful performance, with enough ambitious storytelling and technical thrills to overcome its somewhat messy structure."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a 63/100 rating based on reviews from 31 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews".[12]

In 2013, The Congress was elected as best animated feature film at the 26th European Film Awards.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "THE CONGRESS (15)". StudioCanal. British Board of Film Classification. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=congress.htm
  3. 1 2 Richford, Rhonda (19 April 2013). "Cannes: Ari Folman's 'The Congress' to Open Directors' Fortnight". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Husney, Evan (6 May 2013). "Drafthouse Films Journeys to 'The Congress'". Drafthouse Films. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  5. 1 2 Heron, Ambrose (17 May 2011). "First footage from Ari Folman's The Congress". FILMdetail. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  6. ↑ Ari Folman on the Genius of Stanislaw Lem – interview (March 2011)
  7. ↑ "The Congress, a Film by Ari Folman" (retrieved 27 August 2014)
  8. ↑ "The Congress". 'Robin Wright' – a fan site. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  9. ↑ Fischer, Russ (23 December 2011). "'The Congress,' From 'Waltz With Bashir' Director, Will Be Roughly 60% Live-Action, 40% Animated". /Film. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  10. ↑ Hopewell, John (7 September 2011). "Ari Folman's 'The Congress' rounds up coin". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "The Congress (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Congress Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  13. ↑ "Winners 2013". European Film Awards. European Film Academy. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
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