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Marcel (De Funes) and Francis (Biraud) are busy people. Marcel owns a café and spend all his nights running from meetings to meetings with members from the high society... at least, that's what he say to his barman! Francis leaves his home, loving wife and adorable daughter, frequently to attend meetings and demonstration with customers. His boss trusts him so much that his agenda is always full... at least, that's what he say to his wife! In fact, Marcel and Francis' incomes come from their night job: thieves! Here at least, they are professional. Troubles arise when, during one robbery, they encounter a young, high-pitched voice, candid girl who takes the decision to become their associate in crime... for the fun! From this point, the movie becomes a series of twists and turns, where characters meet and meet again, where associations are dissociated to be reformed later. This movie is not a Hollywood blockbuster but it is fun to watch. De Funes was not at the peak of his fame at that time and his playing was consequently not too exacerbated (as he did in his later movies). The play of Maurice Biraud is of great quality and several famous guest stars (Maurice Pieplu or Jean Lefevre) contribute to make this movie an entertaining act. A good standard for French cinema lovers, a little pearl for the De Funes lovers (who have only seen his blockbuster movies).

OK, OK, this got old! The decorum is typically psychedelic-oriented, plastic, neo-modernism. The themes are 'slightly' out-of-date (although if one gives them a good deal of thinking, they are still pretty much of actuality), the dialogs are less than extraordinary BUT this is one of the movie I'd brought with me on a desert island and would look again and again with the same pleasure. I saw it as a kid, then as a teenager, then as an adult and could still keep my eyes fixed on the screen from beginning to the end. Maybe, I'm biased since I'm a SciFi lover and I always had a crush for this period and style (THX1138, 1984, Brazil, Soylent green, etc.) but if you like a bit anticipation stories and want to spend an hour and half relaxing in front of a good ol'movie, then this one's for you.

In the world of the animation business there is a recent trends towards super- realism where computer graphics are being increasingly used. Although I appreciate animations like Finding Nemo or the Incredibles for they represent a renewal of the genre (in the same way the Disney movie did in the 50's), the artistic style of La Planete Sauvage is unmistakable and accords perfectly with the dark atmosphere of the movie. This animation is based on the book Oms (a deformation of the french word homme, man) from the French SciFi writer Stephan Wul who should also be credited for being the writer of The Time Masters (another SciFi animation worth your time). Wul's real name is still a mystery. The rare things we know about his life are that he wrote his 10 (or so) only books when he was studying dentistry at the University. He apparently graduated and became too busy to continue his writing activity. What a pity. I've read most of Wul's book and they are all unique and beautiful. The animation sticks true to Wul's vision. The art by the Czech master Topor is dark and oppressing, despite the bright color of the 60-70's-influenced graphism, adding to the uncomfort of seeing human beings treated as pets or pests by giant extraterrestrials. However, the roles are interchangeable and humans do behave too often in the way the extraterrestrials do in the movie with other living creatures on Earth. Hard to find but worth the search.