Mars and April

It was luck that led me to discover this movie, a few years ago, as if it came to me in a strange way. I approached it without expecting anything, only driven by my curiosity for Quebec science-fiction cinema. What a confusing and beautiful experience it is to dive into the universe of Mars et Avril.

This first feature film from director Martin Villeneuve is a dreamy and poetic experience, juggling with so many philosophical and artistic references without ever falling into the free quote. It is easy to feel the deep love the director has for science fiction cinema and Franco-Belgian comics and there is something very touching about it, as he managed to work with the legendary François Schuiten (The Dark Cities).

It is certain that this film will not appeal to everyone, because it is a contemplative experience, which does not give the viewer all the keys to understanding, but if you let yourself be carried away by its strange and dreamy atmosphere, the experience will be wonderful.

What is really amazing about Mars et Avril is the fact that Martin Villeneuve and his teams managed to create such a visually impressive production with only 2.3 millions USD's budget. This great tour-de-force led him to the TED scene to talk about the creative process.

I highly recommend watching this first great Quebec science fiction film. Mars et Avril is rich, intriguing, fascinating and refreshingly poetic !

A love story of purity, expressions of perception inverted from reality, Misunderstood emotions, immature minds mixing with old souls. Substitution, simulacra and discovery. Personification, possibility, Potential.

The child, caught up in materialism, The father with eyes towards the "impossible"; the lovers, avatars for everything and nothing at the same time caught in a triangle of the mistaken witness, an iteration of soul out of time and place, yet required to bridge the connection now.

A pursuit of an experience, beyond the mundane, the ordinary. Simple mechanics, yet unexpected results; but what is possible, if you just believe. Or, failing that, just sit and allow what is, to unfold. However, be-careful what you wish for, You may not understand how to cope with the results. A being such, a moment when, a thought unspoken, create the unexpected, within the realms of the expected impossibility.

If you believe, you may be blessed with the witness to see, or else the comfort of knowing you contributed to the next iteration.

In a pique of contrasting thought; As much as DUNE is about a Saviour role, this is about the individual. With no group expectation. What is possible for a single soul, with few constraints and a lost purpose? A bitter sweet ending for a love unknown, recently discovered and forever lost except to impossible memory... and that's not even right way to express the messy triangle....

*Triangle; doesn't play as the typical dynamic until the *scoff* just before the subconscious feedback.

*I found the discourse between father and son, a little forced at points. To do justice to their relationship, they needed more screen time.

The 'disbelief' factor .... lost me at about 1hr10 minutes.... i get lost with the technical (visual storytelling) 'subconscious' interpretations of 'unconscious' interpretations by others.

Though the following instrument scene at least is anchored well, and gave me a point to anchor myself to again.

Thank you for doing this story. Though it introduces choices I'm still not familiar with, nor ready to contemplate; and thus, leaves me as confused as when i began... the expression of that moment, is enough to sooth my soul a little. A reminder of what was, what is, what will be. The story of connection, of recognition beyond the basic story line. The power of potential. ::hugs:: now i have to go find a box of klenex or a roll of toilet paper, or my shirt if it comes to that. I'm not crying, You're crying! 😛

It might not have had the same budget (as Dune, and other Big Budget films), with sets and scenery at moments reminiscent of an Art House project, but its arguably just as important in the histories of SciFi gospels. (I need to find my copy and watch it again, in fact; now that i have found the story again. See where it fits, so i may better discuss its contents.)

But there is a key within, for those who find, that unlocks the most wonderful and frightening doorway of the mind/soul. We need these keys to be continually produced, for there are many who would have them destroyed, for the freedom such keys give to a person. This freedom is scary to any form of uniformity and homogeneity. Yet it allows all things to be possible, if you so desire and your desire is true.

---- Slow burn intro, especially if one is not familiar with the different schools of philosophical thought and unable to pickup the subtly blunt almost too on the nose interpretations of the characters roots. But pacing, is a personal thing; so never take a reviewers opinion about such things, unless you're familiar with and agree with their previous or existing expressions. I myself, enjoy a slow burn. As cold as I may be, one thing i learned from nearly freezing to death, a slow burn is better than a flash burn, if you want to get through every bit of fuel to heat energy ratio. If you're used to tossing aside unspent moments, disregarded and unappreciated. Like spare change from a transaction; you may not enjoy this story. But, if you're familiar with the amount of effort it takes to deliver quality, take this one for a spin. At the very least, its some time spent watching a fun scifi story.

Perhaps my biggest problem with this movie were my high expectations due to a few reviews I read which highly appraised it. In my opinion the story, the core of which exhibits some potential, is its main flaw. Shallow, non-developing characters, missing plausibility, incoherent dialogs and confusing plots are disguised behind artsy (admittedly quite nice) sceneries, wonderful music and post-futuristic-combined-with-retro aesthetics. Which per se is not a problem, but it cannot substitute for the missing parts of the whole product. I understand that a low-budget sci-fi movie is a great challenge, but then again not every challenge must be taken. I have seen a fair amount of other low-budget sci-fi productions (e.g., from eastern Asia) with amazing performances, non-existing props, but excellent stories (notably with a philosophical extension). At least there the movie makers did not constantly flood the scenes with blue color, lit-up close-ups à la "It is time for my close up mr DeMill" and floor smoke like discos back in the 80's...

All in all, it is a waste of time unless you happen to be a huge fan of the Flash-Gordon or "a trip to the moon"-by-Georges-Melies type of movies and if you don't care about script coherence. The generous four stars are just for the atmosphere and the music.

I saw this movie a few days ago and the strange and lyric atmosphere of it still haunts me! The music composed by Benoit Charest (Les Triplettes de Belleville) plays a very important part in it; the filmmaker asked him to compose brilliant music and well yes, he really is a genius!

Jacques Languirand has created a magnificent character, and the rest of the cast is as excellent. They are filmed in such an intimate way, we dive into their souls. The story is very intelligent, moving and unusual! I was deeply touched by it.

Of course this is not what we call a "commercial" movie and will not appeal to the vast majority. Don't expect big action and fights and tons of visual effects. Although it is visually superb, with some effects simply magnificent! The decors were created with such beauty by an established and very skilled comic strip artist. All the little details in costumes, hair add to this incredible vision of a futuristic Montreal.

This is all just indescribable! it is for those who like creativity, originality, strangeness and sci-fi, who liked such movies as "Moon", "Immortel (ad vitam)" and "The Man Who Fell to Earth", as well as "Blade Runner" probably, you might like this one very much!

Embarrassingly bad, especially for a Quebecois film with Robert Lepage. Flat, uninteresting characters, weak story, weak and simple dialogue masquerading as profound, no plot to speak of...looks a lot of attention was paid to the bartenders' outfits, though....

I realize making a sci-fi on a limited budget is an immense challenge, but this seems like someone's vanity project; maybe they should have tried a short film to start.

And for a film with the main focus on music and musicians, it's a totally unremarkable, forgettable score.

Sometimes films remain obscure and off-the-radar for a good reason!! Pass, unless you're looking for s "hoot-fest"....