O Congresso Futurista

THE CONGRESS (2014). Director Ari Folman's THE CONGRESS not only uses lead actress Robin Wright's persona, but, in the film her whole acting being is taken over by Hollywood. Director Folman, who made the stunning WALTZ WITH BASHIR (an Oscar nominee), adapts Stanislaw Lem's (Solaris) novel The Futurological Congress by making it fully contemporary. The central idea is that an actor's image can be 'bought out' by Hollywood by digitally scanning them and then do what they want by incorporating that image in any movie or TV show they wish. The actors themselves then are free to "retire". For well over a decade we've seen CGI versions of dead actors placed into movies, TV and commercials - so this isn't so much sci-fi as near-future - or, even, Today what with the de-aging of DeNiro in THE IRISHMAN and Harrison Ford in the current Indy 5.

The key for most viewers is how they view the largely animated second half of the movie where Wright lives out her artificially created being in an advanced hallucinatory Virtual Reality world. I went with it all the way, but Folman's animation style may not be for everyone (as it was with WALTZ). The movie was much better received in Europe than stateside where it was barely released (the reviews were decent). Robin Wright is terrific and brilliant in a similar way to how John Malkovich was in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH - themselves, but, not quite. The supporting cast including Harvey Keitel, Paul Giamatti, Danny Huston and the voice of Jon Hamm is solid. Max Richter's terrific score abets the visuals.

THE CONGRESS is a film which grows in impact as the years roll on, as evidenced now by the twin SAG and WGA strikes where AI has become a sticking point in the negotiations. Reportedly, the Studios asked for permission to allow background actors to work for one day and be scanned for permanent re-use without additional pay or permission. Nine years ago THE CONGRESS was sci-fi, now....????

It's two movies really the first part where you feel the impending doom set upon Robin Wright as she is caught between either professionally die off soon or make a deal that takes it all.

It so vividly explores the fine line between choice and the illusion of having one. The second part has a strong resemblance to Waking Life in it's psychedelic execution more than Waltz with Bashir. Existentialism, morality, Corporatocracy and the beautiful animation make this the most marvellous yet terrifying Sci-fi I have seen in ages. Watch Harvey Keitels monologue in the first half, it is outstanding. Robin Wright is as always amazing and gets extra kudos for playing herself in an alternate universe where her career has failed. It is all together a masterpiece.

Greetings again from the darkness. As a fan of director Ari Folman's Oscar nominated Waiting for Bashir (2008), I was excited to see this one on the line-up at Dallas International Film Festival. While some will find The Congress a bit messy and difficult to follow, it certainly reinforces Folman's innovative and creative approach to story telling and filmmaking.

The first half of the movie is live action and the second half is animated. The best description I can offer is as a social commentary, not just on Hollywood, but society. While "Her" makes the case for virtual relationships, this movie makes the case for virtual everything else! Robin Wright plays Robin Wright, an aging movie star who is offered a chance to stay young and be popular forever. Just sign this contract, and Miramount Studios owns your complete public image. No more acting, just kick back and enjoy your money ... and watch what we do with your image and career.

The cast is very strong, but the movie has a feeling of having been rushed through production ... at least from the live action side. In addition to Ms. Wright, Danny Huston chews some scenery as a cut throat studio head. His blunt description of Ms. Wright's "bad choices" since The Princess Bride speak to not only many actors, but for many in the audience as well. Harvey Keitel plays the agent, Jon Hamm appears through voice only in the animated sequence, Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In, The Road) plays Wright's son and central plot figure, and Sami Gayle plays his sister.

Some will be reminded of A Scanner Darkly, and others of Cool World. The best this movie has to offer is not in its (creative) presentation, but rather in its ability to provoke thought about the look of future society and the impact of technology ... as well as the whole issue of identity and what makes us who we are. It's a brain-scrambler if you stick with it.

This sounds like exactly the type of thing that I love. It's only because of my expectations that I found it somewhat disappointing. Still, it's worth taking a trip into. Wright has recently proved to be in full force (House of Cards) and this is no exception. She's brilliant, and even does wonderful things in the animation section of the film, along with Jon Hamm, who uses his smooth, sexy voice to bring some true wonders to his limited screen time. Overall, the animation section did sort of lose me a bit, especially because I wanted it to go to even better places, but as it is, this is very much worth seeing. Definitely seek it out, even if it's not in Waltz With Bashir's

The movie itself is a metaphor for some of the new trends that are happening around us. It makes a hinted implicit discussion about things like the Internet culture (avatars, virtual life), Intellectual Properties, rights, freedom, terrorism, capitalism, life extension. The movie is deep and few people can really get to the bottom of it and get the messages. My wife for example, got out from the movie unable to explain it. I, on the other hand, thought that the messages in the movie were powerful. It reminded me for moments "Vanilla Sky" and the "Matrix" though a bit different. The animation seems deliberately hand made and old (as Disney's movies) and I believe this is yet another critique about the cutting-edge Pixar computerized movies, made by hundreds of people and co-producers that shape up each character (which is an owned intellectual property). Producing this movie was a bold and brave move – it may get mixed critique from the intelligent, and might be mocked by the superficial crowd, but I say it is brave and brilliant!