Starring: Robin Wright, Jon Hamm, Danny Huston
For all that can be said about Ari Folman, above all, his is a unique mind. Having made a name for himself with the animated war documentary Waltz With Bashir, Folman's latest film is The Congress. It's most definitely a work of fiction, but it flirts with truth as a satire on fame, celebrity and the Hollywood system, even if some of the jabs are a little too obvious (The fictional movie studio in the plot is called Miramount. Subtle.). Robin Wright stars as a fictionalised version of herself who opts to scan her body so that a digital replication of her can go on to appear in movies indefinitely. However, twenty years into the future she travels to The Congress where, under the influence of a drug that makes the entire world seem animated, the film studio that made the digital copy is on the verge of revolution.
And yes, it is a strange film.
However, it has merit. Robin Wright is a good acting choice because of the character she plays as an actress who almost was a superstar but never quite made it (of course there are customary nods to her work in The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump) and she does a good job and so does Harvey Keitel as her agent, who gives a particularly good monologue that demonstrates how sad it is that he's not as much on the limelight these days (unless Wes Anderson's directing).
The animated sequences are the film's main strength though, as we tumble through a surreal world that stylistically falls between the Fleischer brothers and Richard Williams. The animated section alone would make for a great movie but somewhere around the Flash Gordon/Strangelove-esque sequence (I did mention it was strange) there's a feeling of having your fill and despite its amazing visual flair, it ultimately sags a little and feels significantly in excess of its two hours.
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