Premise Research: Paris 2054 Renaissance Film Review

 Today I watch Paris 2054 Renaissance, the 2006 tech noir animated film. The film was recommended to me by my tutor in order to investigate how films depict the cyberpunk world in a location which differs to Japan, in this case France. It was also relevant as it deals with the idea of immortality, something I was interested in including within the narrative of my own animation. 

I want to identify how the plot is presented, particularly in the introduction, in order to allow the audience to understand the characters place in the world. I also want to see how the cyberpunk genre is presented visually in the world and how this adds to the overall story.

The immediate thing I noticed upon the beginning of the film was its sticking art style. The film depicts the would in a black and white cell shaded filter. This fits with its noir themes as well as making the world seem familiar but also different from our own. It gives the animation a very digital effect, which I think adds to the idea that technology has consumed everything know in the world, including humans. The dark colours play into the loss of nature within the world and the striking contrast of the white makes it seem as if all natural light is void in this world and replaced with man-made light. This further plays into the idea that man has harnessed technology and is using it to control the world and the people in it. The dark colours also play into the sinister themes of the film, with the story literally being shrouded in the dark. 

The story centres around a cop named Barthelemy Karas who specialises in hostage retrieval and known as the man who will find anyone no matter what it takes, as he searches for a women named Ilona. Ilona works for the tech company Avalon Corp, a company which seeks to bring the population eternal beauty and youth. After discovering the key to immortality through her research, Ilona shortly after goes missing which triggers the events of the film.

The main driving force behind the plot is the idea that Avalon, the mega-tech corp, completely dominates the world and is the reason for societies decline. It pushes the cyberpunk idea through visually showing the effects technology has had on the people. The main character himself must mingle with an array of different characters who have been effected by technology, in either a positive or negative way, and shows how they have continued on in this broken world. 

I really like the blending of genres between noir and cyberpunk as it allows the film to explore the darker themes presented in a cyberpunk world. The narrative tackles the realistic development of technology and how such technology, such as eternal youth, can effect society. Avalon is a company which promises the public eternal youth, however through the world you can see it is in fact Avalon which is sucking the life out of the world. 

I found the overall plot to be slow at times, however I really enjoyed the visuals, which is the stand out part of this film. The visuals really bring out the grittiness of the world and help to take the genre as a whole in a different direction. Overall by watching this film it has allowed me to view the cyberpunk world in a different light and showed me the importance of presenting worlds. I need to think of how I want to convey my world to ensure the audience can get an understanding based off imagery alone.