Corto Maltese: La cour secrète des Arcanes

Granted, I don't speak French, so I won't be able to comment on the plot, but I got a fair idea of what it's about. The visuals range from fairly impressive to mundane - some of the film is obviously rendered (hand drawn over the rendering) but overall, "it looks good." It has its own style, very reminiscent of the comic book, which is pretty cool. The French voice acting is well done, as is the cinematography - the movie is very moody, but never dull. The various scenes have a lot of atmosphere, especially sequences with infrequent or no dialogue - just very well done and spooky sound effects. I'll have to see it again with English subs to decide how worthwhile it is, but for the visuals alone, I'd suggest seeing it.

This is overall a nice proof that there is enough room in the movie/animation world for something different, concerning almost all factors of animated movie-making: direction, animation, dramaturgy, plot, message, visual narration and least but not last, the thing movies are best at, connecting different means of expression, like music, visual art, literature... etc. This feature animation based on (almost literally) Hugo Pratt's graphic novel Corto Maltese in Siberia encompasses all above-mentioned features beautifully, and I think meets some comic readers' secret expectations about how a cartoon on this subject should look like. Recommended is of course that you look up some historical facts and names appearing in the movie, of course the best you can do is to read the graphic novel. This may be the least effective side of the film, namely the plot and character positioning may be pretty confusing if you're not familiar with at least some of the facts manipulated in the film. The first thing that convinced me in the movie was beautiful transition from Pratt's black&white comics to this full color extravaganza. Even though colors are a totally different medium, here they speak in favor of Pratt's narration, whose main quality is a kind of storyboard organization of the plot. I've always wondered how his comics would look in full color. In contrast to the later editions of his comics in color, here the formula works excellently, whereas in the comics, merely colorized black&white drawings, the charm gets lost. The second thing I couldn't miss, but has no connection whatsoever with Pratts novels, was the music. This is the main addition to the general mysteriously melancholic air of his comics, that the film makers can be credited for. All in all a beautiful achievement, cinematically and literary, mainly for affectionados, but a little bit too short for the ones used to Pratts comics.

I think this is the king of all animation films. Pratt's "economic" drawing and his particular use of time are fully followed here. The action scenes are outstanding. The choice of the voices was accurate –even if one could think that Corto's voice should have a mix of different accents instead of speaking perfect french. It is, indeed, difficult to get into Corto's world at the first try; but I think the film –slowly starting, as in the original comic, with some kind of remembrance or reverie, an outside-of-time dialog with Bouche Dorée– does a great work in that way. Anyway, if at the end Corto's personality remains a mystery it must be said that it is the same for those who have read the whole series: Corto is an enigma, and the films succeeds in respecting that –instead of turning him into a simple adventure hero. Thus, the question "what is he really looking for?" remains unanswered. From my point of view, the difficulty of the film is not to get into Corto's universe for the those which are not familiar with it, but that it requires a minimum of historical knowledge. Indeed, some notions about the Russian revolution and the political situation of China at the beginnings of XX century are really helpful for the fully understanding of the film. In fact, the comic book includes some pages outlining this historical context; also, a map is as useful here as in The Lord of the Rings. In a word, watching this Corto Maltese film is as delightful as reading the comic book –and that is saying enough.

Corto Maltese, the legendary sailor from the pencil of Hugo Pratt, have always been a bit hard for me to get my head around. For one, it's hard to get a hold of, and for two, because it's mainly in italian and french, which aren't my strong suits.

But from what I gathered, this is just like any other Corto Maltese adventure story: historical settings, exotic locations, shady plots, intrigues, clashes of different cultures, old and new allies, 'pals' and enemies, and of course, some beautiful ladies.

It was a breath of fresh air, adventurous but melancholic and beautiful at the same time. Eye-pleasing visuals, even after two decades on, which seamlessly incorporated some 3D elements into the 2D animation, a trend that reached its peak at that time.

Oh and from the art department I happened to recognize some names that I've encountered in my exposure to BDs (french comics) such as Olivier Vatine, Virginie Augustin and Didier Cassegrain. No wonder it turned out as remarkable as it did.

Anyway, its a recommend. I rate it a solid 8/10. It really took me back to a different era, a different time in various ways.

Whoah.

This is a movie that promises a lot from the start: A collision of Russian, continental European and various Asian cultures, political intrigue, James Bond-style antics, religion, martial arts and romance. But in the end, it turns out as a story about... a train robbery. However, it's a wild ride that won't have you looking away from the screen for a second-unless you shy away at occasional violence and nudity...

It has to be one of the most visually interesting animated movies ever, not because of the quality and amount of work put in it, which is somewhat below the best Disney productions, but because of how it's used. From the stunning opening shots to the "fantastic-ized" outdoor enviroments, the varied and effectively (un)lit indoor scenes and the buildings, to the creatively directed character interactions, there's barely a few scenes at all that one could imagine being done with live actors at all!

This movie is true example of animation as an art form, not reducing itself to an imitation of the real life. No matter what you think about the character designs, which are somewhat stiff, all of them have significant, peculiar mannerisms that would be unthinkable to realize with actors. This attitude, both "retro" and reinventive, is exactly what is needed against the trend of "hyper-realistic" animation that has become prominent in recent years.

The other point of this movie is the MUSIC-an absolutely sparkling musical score that sets the perfect mood for each and every scene, except for a overly melodramatic build-up in the epilogue. It's one of the few movie soundtracks that i would try and find and listen to on it's own, because whenever it is heard it really stands out.

I recommend anyone interested in creative visuals as found in Japanese films (though certainly not Japanese animation!) to try and see this movie at least once, for the sake of the infinitely creative visual language. European animation is alive and well, certainly, just hope they find a better story for next one...