René Laloux - Gandahar (1988) :: top Movie Channel

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helge79 wrote:

The final surreal sci-fi masterpiece by René Laloux ripped from the great new DVD released by ARTE. Also with new fansubs added (please feel welcome to send me corrections). Original French sound. (Please beware of the butchered American version. This is the one you should watch...)

This is certainly one of the most inspired feature-length animated films I've ever come across. As always, Laloux adds a lot of poetic touch and political connotation to the original sci-fi plot. And the visuals are mindblowing (courtesy of Philippe Caza), as well as the music (courtesy of Gabriel Yared)... Also, the entire production took place in North Korea, because... well, Rene Laloux was quite an extraordinary person... Enjoy!

Plot:
On the peaceful world of Gandahar, the Council of Women under Queen Ambisextra perceive a new and unknown threat to the world. The warrior Sylvain is sent forth to determine the nature of this threat. He encounters a race of invincible metal men who are making their way across the world, petrifying every person they encounter and then sending the bodies through a portal to return reprocessed into more metal men. Sylvain traces the source of the metal men to Metamorphis, a giant pink brain floating in the midst of the Circumventing Ocean. But Metamorphis appears baffled as to how it could be the source of the metal men, even though all evidence indicates that it is. As the metal men make their way across the land, destroying the last defences of his people, Sylvain realizes his only choice is to accept Metamorphis's offer to be placed in a stasis capsule and awakened in 1000 years time so that he will be able to destroy Metemorphis's weakened future self, which is the real source of the metal men.