A French, Belgian and Canadian co-production that was nominated for a French César award, April and the Extraordinary World starts out with a great deal of promise.
The year is 1941 and all the world’s leading scientists are seemingly disappearing off the face of the earth and no-one can explain how or why and the few that remain are forced to go underground to continue their experimentation. Among them is a family of scientists on the brink of discovering a powerful invincibility serum. Hot on their heels are the authorities, when the parents are seemingly killed, leaving their young daughter April behind. Ten years later, April (as voiced by Marion Cotillard) is living alone with her precious talking cat, Darwin (Philippe Katerine), continuing her family’s research. But soon she finds herself at the centre of a bizarre conspiracy, which results in a rollicking adventure. You are dealing with a mystery where wise people are very thin on the ground and as a result all the great inventions of the 20th century haven’t happened. Power is the great commodity. Everything runs on steam because there is no electricity. Politicians are leading the world into an environmental disaster.
Directed by Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci from a screenplay by Franck Ekinci and Benjamin Legrand, based on an original idea by the latter, the old world graphics by Jacques Tardi are an undoubted highlight. Bold and imaginative they virtually leap from the screen and clearly excite the imagination. It starts with the titles at the opening of the film – simply grand and enticing.
As it turns out though the introduction is the best component of April and the Extraordinary World, which becomes more preposterous as it progresses and disintegrates as a result. To me it turned from fascinating and insightful into a megalomaniacal creature fest, with a conventional love story to boot. Clearly, skullduggery is afoot but the beauty initially is we don’t really know what form it will take. When we find out, it is a disappointment – at least it was to me.
One thing that doesn’t disappoint is the mechanical prototypes that the animators used in the movie, such as a Paris-Berlin cable car link, with a double Eiffel Tower serving as a terminus in the French capital. Those ideas are what make April worth watching in spite of its shortcomings. It scores a 6 to 6½ out of 10.
Director: Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Philippe Katerine
Release Date: 31 March 2016
Rating: PG
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television