The Congress

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.

The Congress. Enter Bizarreville USA where Robin Wright stars as Robin Wright as an aging actress whose career has taken a nose dive and she's given the opportunity to have her body, mind and soul scanned into a computer so she can pretty much stay forever young and star in movies for eternity, but the real Robin Wright must pretty much just disappear into the background... So here's what I got from this movie: Actors are products not real human beings, which is true from a certain point of view, and they live in this land of make believe where they are worshiped like gods, and live a life of total privilege, and if they reject that life, they are forced to live in filth with the rest of us scumbags. I dug it, thought it was a bold statement, some of the acting was a bit stiff, I'm talking to you Harvey K... but al in all it was pretty sweet! Check it out, if you dare!

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.

It's a great allegory about the avatars of ourselves, on the social networks, on the smartphones and ipads. while, in the real world, people are getting poorer each day, wars are declared, people don't have water to survive. But this is mostly about identity. we sell it really easily, we want to be someone else, and someone can profit from that. Robin wright character is very well built, all her pain, her realization of being "old" for the job, the love for the kids.

The problem is that the dialogues are too expositive sometimes, at certain parts it can get confusing it's truth. but it talks about today, it wants to amaze us visually , and makes us think about all the virtual networking we're having now a days. we are selling ourselves each minute on the internet,

Really good stuff, highly recommended.

The Congress is a one of a kind movie, directed by Ari Folman, the same genius who brought us Waltz with Bashir. I personally really enjoyed it even though I found it a bit messy at times.

The story evolves around Robin Wright, the famous actress we all know and who is playing here, her own self. Obviously, even though, she is playing herself, this movie only borrow facts from her life, it is not autobiographical...at all. Of course, Robin Wright is getting older and is not anymore the young & innocent actress we remember from The Princess Bride. Apart from these small facts, the story doesn't match Robin Wright's life. In this parallel world, she is an aging actress on the way of being forgotten, who is getting less and less movie offers, and who needs to take care of a sick little boy at home. Feeling powerless against the passing time, she decides to sell her body image to a film studio in order to remain young forever and come back to a more successful movie career. Then, starts an amazing journey in a colorful and unique universe that is shown through animation. But, of course, it is not only flowers and butterflies since, Robin Wright has very little control over her young, animated self.

The up side of this animation is that it is limitless since it helps creating a crazy universe with splendid creatures, brilliant scenery... it all seems very magical. On the other hand, I feel like this "other world" is pushed maybe a little bit too far, and it can confuse the spectator.

However, this movie passes quite powerful messages about existentialism, being part of a corporation, being dependent of your body image and most of all, it shows, metaphorically of course, what could be the future of the movie industry.

All in all, even though it has some flaws, I highly recommend The Congress, it leads you to a unique and unforgettable journey, and I think you'll remember this movie for a while.