Avril et le monde truqué

Avril and the Extraordinary World is a nice French animated film set in an alternative past that diverts from real historical events starting from 1870. The result is a steam-punk world, dependent on coal first, on tree logging then, a world in constant war and where scientists are used as weapons.

The film has a great start and even the initial credits are beautifully presented. The mood is excellent, and the world depicted is wonderfully imaginative. Although this is mostly a fun and adventure story, there are some interesting environmental messages embedded in the story, as well as a light reflection on the role of science and scientists in Society. The character of Darwin, the talking cat, is utterly charming. The backgrounds are stunning as well as some of the machinery depicted. I found the second half of the movie really engaging, entertaining and with a cohesive story, witty and fun, and the ending was also lovely.

Having said that, this was a disappointing film for me, certainly not what I expected beforehand especially taking into account the raving reviews. There are many reasons for that. 1/ The story needed of better characters. I found Inspector Pizoni unnecessary for most of the film, and too much of a stereotype to be of any interest. Most of the main characters, Avril included, are totally unlikable, frigid emotionally and I couldn't care less about them. 2/ The story needed of a better tempo. The first half of the film is painfully slow and unfocused, and I found myself bored as it seemed to be leading nowhere. However, the film leads somewhere, it is just that part of the film was wandering around unnecessarily. 3/ The story needed of a bit of more humour and fun. At times seems to take itself too seriously! 4/ The movement was chunky some times, very good at some others; the lighting and chiaroscuro were almost non-existent, and the characters were not polished visually. The film was a bit flat visually to me.

The film is enjoyable overall, but it didn't do it for me.

There is much to love, but also a bit to dislike about "April and the extraordinary world" (the correct and more interesting title is "April and the twisted world"). Its story explodes with creativity, especially compared to US animation (which tends to severely underestimate the intelligence of children). Its "ligne claire" - animation style is both a break from US-animated CGI, which hasn't been successfully adapted in Europe, and an homage to the patron saint of European comics Hergé (co-director Ekinci did, in fact, do the storyboards of the 1991-92 "Adventures of Tintin" TV series, which is often considered to be the best adaptation).

Leaning on Jacques Tardi for the visuals is a reminder that BD (bandes dessinées) adaptations work best in the classic animated form. One cannot help but compare "April" to Luc Besson's real-action adaptation of "Adèle Blanc-Sec", Tardi's most famous work. That movie was a commercial success, but BD fans were disappointed with the humorization of a serious story-line and the cheap-looking effects.

What's not so great about "April" is that it's so voluntarily old-fashioned that you may have a hard time convincing your kids to watch it. The character expressions and movements are very static, the heroine is not designed to express emotions through gestures. That is very Tardi, very Adèle Blanc-Sec (which translates as "dry white", after all). But what works fine in a BD doesn't necessarily work in a movie. It seems that French animators still cannot bring themselves to realize that the times they are a-changing, and that a l'art pour l'art approach cannot reinvigorate an expiring industry, apart from justifying a €9.2 million budget (against which it has earned 5%).

Given the character's lack of expression, the film relies heavily on the dub, and I must say other actresses could have done more justice to the part of April than Marion Cotillard - Mélanie Laurent, for instance, or Chiara Mastroianni who voiced Marjane Satrapi in her BD autobiography "Persepolis". Cotillard is a fine actress but she has a tendency to exaggerate, which can be entertaining but also quite unnerving - just look up her death scene in "Dark Knight rises" on Youtube if you don't (painfully) remember. Jean Rochefort, on the other hand, is wonderful as "Pops", April's grandfather. He speaks his lines with great candor and veracity, as does Olivier Gourmet as the father.

So what you get to watch here is a very creative, if old-fashioned animation, which could be of more merit to adults than kids, who may find it hard to follow and perhaps somewhat boring. This is not a perfect European animated film for the whole family - that would be last year's Irish "Song of the Sea". It's also not a fandom film for BD connoisseurs, as the dub and continuity jar a bit, and as there is no commitment to a mature audience, like in the works of Sylvain Chomet. But if you're starved for anything animated that is not Japanese or yet another US CGI-film about talking animals, this one is definitely for you.

Avril's Extraordinary world is an alternative time line in which Napoleon V rules France and the scientist that help built the foundations of technology are missing, forcing the world into a steam punk setting, and Avril a young scientist herself has the key to our future.

It's animated quite beautifully. I'm a huge fan of steam punk and I love seeing the design all over the movie. I also like the style of 3D animation blended with computer generated images. It's always a welcome change to see this other than the world we live in right now that is dominated by 3D animation.

It was a great adventure film, filed with character and characters that were smart and funny, and accessible to everyone.

Good watch.

"Steampunk is ... a joyous fantasy of the past, allowing us to revel in a nostalgia for what never was. It is a literary playground for adventure, spectacle, drama, escapism and exploration. But most of all it is fun!" George Mann

April and the Extraordinary World is an animated French adventure for the whole family (I recommend about 8 years and older) reminiscent of the fantastic 'toons of Hayao Miyazaki (think of Howl's Moving Castle). Leading us through an alternate steampunk history of modern France, April (voice of Marion Cotillard) is a little girl whose scientist parents in 1941 were abducted by the "Empire" to advance the cause, in this case by creating an immortality drug.

With her charming talking cat(a product of the scientists' experiments), April spends her youth confronting malevolent forces like a driven policeman (Javert anyone?), a roguish boy, and nature itself. Not one moment of the 1 hr 45 min is wasted; each is crafted under the expert direction of Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci for maximum adventure and humanity (for example, love may be blooming and Grandpa Pops is feistier than ever).

The graphics as well are outstanding in the steampunk visual style with the omnipresent steam and pipes, furtive surveillance rodents, bicycle-powered blimps, and suspended trolleys, among some of the creative expressions. Although great advances such as the use of electricity and oil have not been discovered, the above-mentioned steam objects awe April as she navigates this alternate universe of coal and wood.

Conservationists shouldn't despair, for there are numerous references to the need to use coal, for instance, responsibly—already coughs are in the ambient sound. The suggestion that without the invention and use of atomic energy and fossil fuel, the world could have been stuck in an ecological disaster is an intriguingly benign take on modern energy.

The extraordinary April and the Extraordinary World is nothing if not an invitation for girls to follow their dreams and create as their talents demand. For all children it is a call to be bold and responsible as they enter the real modern world.

"Avril and the extraordinary world" was presented before the official release at the Anim'est international animation festival in Bucharest. I went to see it after a brief look at parts of the official trailer, without knowing anything about the cast, cartoonist, director and the plot in general. I have to say that it was a magnificent movie, reminding me of some classic Disney style hand crafted animation that I used to love when I was a child. It is beautifully drawn and looks without any flaws. The story takes place in an alternative universe, where some modern inventions where never discovered or made available for the advancement of our societies. This makes you question how would the world look like if we have never used electricity or petrol in our daily lives. And the movie answers a lot of these questions. The plot keeps you for most of the movie engaged and in some small parts at the edge of your seat. The comic release character, a talking cat with the name of Darwin was instantly liked by all people present at the screening, adults and children together. His comments of various situations in the movie proved to be very effective, bringing smiles and laughter all around.