Susan Hated Literature

Dir: Christian Volckman
Writ: Alexandre de La Patellière, Jean-Bernard Pouy, Jean-Bernard Pouy & Patrick Raynal

• Daniel Craig - Barthélémy Karas
• Catherine McCormack - Bislane Tasuiev
• Romola Garai - Ilona Tasuiev
• Ian Holm - Jonas Muller

It is 2054, Paris and a young woman has just been kidnapped. Karas, a police captain specialising in kidnapping is charged to find her, and to find her alive. The company she works for, Avalon, are very insistent that this researcher be found.

But if I’m honest the plot isn’t really all that interesting. Run of the mill sci-fi detective noir, if such a thing exists. You’ll quickly guess that the big “concerned” company isn’t all puppies and squishy kittens. But it doesn’t really matter that the plot is a little boring, because you can just enjoy the visuals.

This is a motion-capture film, then transformed into an animated one, all in black and white. Well, apart from a few colour scenes toward the end, and it looks fantastic. Like a comic book in motion. There have been comparisons with Sin City, but I don’t see it, apart from the comic book/noir aspect. The storyline and characters are all very different.

But there is a slight coldness, or distance in the film. It’s hard to engage with. Whether this is the fault of the plot, or the technical aspects taking away from the performance/art I’m not sure.

Go to enjoy the pretty noir pictures, but don’t expect a masterpiece.

IMDb | wikipedia | Official site (in french) | No-Necked Monsters | Everything Is Nice

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