Customer Reviews

Immortel / Immortal

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Immortel is a breathtakingly beautiful film, yet beneath the stunning and imaginative visuals is a genuinely captivating story. Driven by powerful performances from a strong genre cast, Immortel has a captivating ambiance and a storyline evocative of The Fifth Element.

The first thing to remember is that this is a Euro/French film. Hence do not expect the Director to hold your hand and explain every twist and turn of the story. The French Directors seem to believe that audiences are more intelligent than the average bear. Therefore they do not always tie off all the loss ends or explain the presence of every character in the film. They expect the audience to work out what is going on. And in this film you will have to WORK to figure it out. That said, the film is beautifully acted and artistically put together. It is really a filming of a graphic novel - something along the vein of Frank Miller's Sin City. If you like surrealist sci-fi - e.g. Twelve Monkeys and Fifth Element -Immoral is definitely worth a look.

As a teenager I was very fond of comics, later my passion declined but I still pick up some classics as Harold Foster's "Prince Valiant", Hugo Pratt's "Corto Maltes" or the Argentinean Hector Oesterheld "El Eternauta" and enjoy them. So I'm not immune to this kind of products.

Some years ago I've seen part of Enki Bilal's "Nikopol trilogy" and was seduced by it's depurate drawing, soft colors and strange characters.

Still I bought this DVD without realizing it was based on that story. Just thinking it was a sci-fi flick.

I was gratefully surprised when recognized Bilal's iconography transported unchanged to the big screen.

The mix of live actors with animated characters gives the movie an enjoyable "special taste". I recon I'm not very exigent as to the quality of CG animation and techno-boost fireworks. I simply enjoy the visuals as they are.

The story is no simple, but usually movies derivate from comic books aren't.

In year 2095 a strange pyramid is stationed over NYC. From there Horus (an Egyptian god) emerges in search of a human body to possess. Unfortunately the unwilling host of this godly presence, if incompatible, is doom to death.

After some failures Horus is finally able to his "receptor". At that moment the second divine quest starts. Possessed Nikopol is forced to find and seduce mysterious Jill Bioskop.

From here on cops, monsters, tycoons, politicians, aliens, cyborgs and the rest romp frantically chasing each other in earnest!

Charlotte Rampling as Dr. Turner is accurate and as gorgeous as she was at "Zardoz" (1974). Linda Hardy (Miss France 1992) is giving her firsts steps as actress as blue blooded, blue haired Jill while young veteran Thomas Kretschmann ("The Downfall", "The Pianist" and "U-571") gives a full stamina characterization of rebellious Nikopol.

Bilal's drawings and imagery are a visual pleasure that deserve to be seen

I give this movie big thumb up!

Reviewed by Max Yofre.