User Reviews

Years ago Enki Bilal wrote and drew a graphical novel La Foire aux immortels, which then became a first part of his Nikopol trilogy. In this tale the ancient Egyptian gods return to earth so that Horus (Thomas M. Pollard) can spend his last days in the world he created. But he has an ulterior motive: he wants to impregnate a blue haired, blue tears weeping woman Jill, who herself isn't aware of what she really is. Jill (Linda Hardy) is a woman, who can reproduce with higher beings.

Nikopol (Thomas Kretschmann) is a prisoner convicted into cryofreeze, who escapes because of an accident jettisons his capsule from a prison ship. He looses his leg, but Horus finds Nicopol to be a perfect host from himself, as most of the humans have been genetically altered beyond humanity, so Horus builds him an iron leg in order to be able to uses his body for his own needs.

Visually speaking Immortel is interesting looking movie. Most of the characters are CGI and they've been made to look like the original drawings of Bilal. But as the movie is quite old in the age of CGI these computer generated people stand out like a shore thumb when on the screen despite there's no real humans in the same scene. The difference is even more present when there's real actors. But what works relatively well are the futuristic New York landscapes with flying cars and holographic commercials.

As a movie Immortel is far more easy to comprehend than the graphical novel it's based on and that isn't a bad thing. Bilal has clearly wanted to make something similar but different from his own work, but sadly enough the end result is a bit of a hit and miss.

The main protagonists are : a) a falcon-faced Egyptian deity condemned by his peers and strolling the Earth in order to find a solution b) a grown-up woman with paper-white skin and blue hair, who seems to have been born/made somewhere during the last months and c) a political dissident frozen and confined in a geostationary prison who accidentally regains his freedom, but at the cost of a leg. These characters evolve against the background of a seriously dystopic New York where humans (real, genetically modified and/or patched up), extraterrestrials and mutants meet and mingle, under the baleful eye of a floating pyramid.

As you can guess, "Immortel" belongs to the science fiction/fantasy genre, being based on a famous trilogy drawn by graphic artist Enki Bilal. (I'm sorry to say I've never read these novels, I only know that they exist and that they are famed for their beauty and originality.) Now this is movie of great, towering qualities and great, seriously annoying defects.

To begin with the good, the movie contains images of superb power and beauty, just as it evokes a weird, discombobulating, alien atmosphere. The French word is "onirique"... This is a movie like a dream, a nightmare, a fever vision. The aesthetics are original and far, far removed from anything mainstream and Hollywood.

Sadly the quality of the animation, especially the CGI animation, is very uneven : parts of it are so beautiful they make you cry out with admiration, parts of it look as though they were made by your thirteen-year-old nephew, possibly during his lunch break at school. The world inhabited by the characters remains a riddle and a puzzle ; much is left unexplored, such as the political and societal dynamics. As a result a lot of the satirical barbs or political points miss their respective targets entirely. Finally there is the dialogue, which is as flat and boring and unappealing as a five-day-old pancake. I don't know which circumstances caused the problem (translation issues ? dubbing ? a thoughtless duplication of the dialogue written in the graphic novels ?) but the problem is here and it is huge.

In conclusion I'd say : do watch the movie, especially if you like European science fiction, but be sure to bring along your good will and your patience...

This movie seems to start in the middle, introduces peripheral players as if they were significant and presents main characters without any substance and paper-thin and/or impenetrable back-stories. Almost nobody has a credible or discernible motivation for their actions in this film. The plot rambles and ultimately goes nowhere, the dialogue is clunky and trite and the director has little concept of how to get the best from his actors. It almost feels like there's a first half of this movie but it never got made.

We're told that a mysterious pyramid has appeared over New York City and that Central Park has inexplicably become an arctic wasteland. Yet none of this seems to have caused much of a stir amongst the general population and is only of minimal concern to the government.

We're presented with the "evil corporation" in Eugenics but that's really just a convenient conceit to populate the universe with a couple power-tripping minions. The whole "Eugenics-is-bad" double-entendre is heavy-handed and never really pans out here. We're supposed to care about the central characters but we never learn enough about them to know why. So much about this world is underdeveloped or completely undeveloped that it comes off as a 1-hour, 40-minute fatalistic rationalization for rape.

On the "ground-breaking" digitally animated world created here, all I can say is that at about the same time as this film was made several other directors did the same thing with more seamless and believable results.

After spending the time to watch this film the most burning question left in my mind was, "so what?"

I was predisposed to like this one when I saw Bilal's name on it, but I found I had to work really hard to keep my impatience and irritation at bay while I was watching. It's not a "comfortable" film by any means.

Enkai Bilal is an amazing artist (I'm still haunted by two of his graphic novels decades after first reading them), but his storytelling sensibilities probably aren't a good match for a mainstream American audiences. There's a glumness, a theme of empires ending and decadent and collapsing civilizations running through his work, and a lot of people, even fans of science fiction, fantasy, and foreign art films, might find the way he portrays the human condition hard to accept. He also likes to just throw in weird touches and flourishes here and there in his work without ever explaining their background or back story, so in spots you have to deal with too much distracting detail and no clue as to what is important.

In other words,"Immortel" doesn't do a very good job of explaining itself to the viewer, especially someone who isn't familiar with Bilal's work. Customs, cultures, technology, god avatars, poetry, sex, espionage, intrigue and religion...all seem to occupy the same mental space in this movie, and you can't really tell where the power lies and who are the good guys or the bad guys for a vast chunk of it. The only way for most viewers to enjoy it is to sit back and let it wash over him - and to suspend judgment over some of the less convincing CGI responsible for some of the mutant and alien faces. They looked like something Bilal would do, but they needed extra texture and shading to convince the eye in a live movie.

The two romantic leads seem to relate to each other in a really weird way, and I'm not sure if that's because their characters are "human" only by the most flexible interpretations of the term....or if it's because what works in the airless, self contained medium of a comics page doesn't work as well in a movie as Bilal might have hoped. And it's also possible that Bilal isn't capable of (or interested in) portraying of "normal" human relationships outside of a fantasy context This was a common weakness of most of the contributors to "Metal Hurlant/'Heavy Metal" back in the 80's where creators like Belal, Moebius and others made their American debut. (Well, with Moebius it may have been a strength, given the detached, almost jocular feel of "Airtight Garage").

But they are interesting looking people who seem haunted and stressed by histories and problems we can only begin to guess, and I found myself rooting for them and their relationship after a while.

Worth watching in spite of its lapses and clunkier moments. Plus several stars for having the guts to be unabashedly weird and kinky and unsettling, but minus almost as many for the aforementioned clunkers and an indifferent English dub. I'm still glad I got to see it.

There is one very important fact about this movie: Don't watch it with the standard Hollywood concepts in your mind! If you do, you will only be disappointed and maybe give a bad vote to this movie which it doesn't deserve and which it should not get.

On the other side: If you really watch this movie with an open Mind and maybe with some interest in independent stuff or art, then the chance is high that you may like this movie - or should I say this little piece of art? The movie is full of mysteries and you could start to ask questions from the very beginning. Who is that girl? Why is she arrested? Why are there obviously two (or more) different sorts of people? Where did this pyramid come from? Why is it here now? Why has this trial have to place on Earth? Why have the gods to judge over Horus? What did he do? ... and the list goes on and on: Was it an accident that Nikopol was freed? Why did the guys from Eugenics appear and kill the police? What is the reason for the forbidden zone? And who or better what is John? In fact: Not all of the questions will be answered by the movie. A lot of them will still be open at the end of the movie and it will be your imagination to find an appropriate answer to them. This is one of the features that makes this movie so special: You only get a glimpse into a world which is obviously much more complex than our world now. There are social problems, technical chances and most important: metaphysical differences. Gods exists - and much more things that the human Mind cannot take easily.

Although this circumstances really could be annoying on the first glimpse, they actually do not. This is because of the consistent story of the movie, which is only a little part of a much bigger story happening only in your head. It's mainly a story about the last days of a God, and about his wish not to leave into punishment without saving his inheritance. His godly intuition leads him to a girl which is actually one of the very few capable to procreate with the Gods. And there is only one thing he wants to do with her: Procreate! But therefore he needs a human medium, which is hard to find in a world, where anyone seems to be biologically or cybernetically modified. Only when a prisoner gets free who was frozen for decades the God finds in him the compatible medium he searched for... You see: The main storyline is quite plain. Added to it are a lot of interesting characters and some side-stories, which can lead you on false tracks to the story but also give you some more information on the world. There is this political affair with Eugenics and the Senator who is involved in it. There are these beasts, which should have been extincted but are still alive - few but very dangerous, and there is this cop, who is straight on his path for justice, and for revenge...

All this happens in front of something one could call a "cyperpunk" atmosphere of a future New York: Nearly everything seems rotten and decayed, but in the middle of it, there are spots of high technology, if you are wealthy enough to participate in them...

And at the end, you will mainly have learned one lesson: That where powers like Gods are acting, no human action is worth anything. The humans in this movie are spectators, not actors. Humans are puppets, game inventory for a gamble of higher powers - and nothing more...

I here the critics saying that the CGIs could have been better, and I agree: For the high level of the plot and the great atmosphere of the movie (which is also perfectly supported by the music), it is a pity that on some little parts of the movie the effects seem a bit old or bad. But as a glimpse into the future of film art, this movie is an outstanding milestone. Sometimes the borders between real actors and CGI-crafted creatures are blurring... but only sometimes. The effects were the main reason to rate the movie not with a 10.

If you want a philosophical, dark-sci-fi movie you are right to choose this one. If you want space-crafts and explosions and less-brain stories try something else instead.

At 5.9, the current overall rating for this film seems far better than it should simply from its many, many technical problems. Yet, inexplicably, many have given it reviews and scores of 10--which is NOT really possible given the unfinished and hastily slapped together look of much of the film. Sure, I could understand someone liking it--but a 10 for a film that is essentially incomplete?! No way! Before I even attempt to discuss the plot (no small feat, by the way), let's talk about the unfinished look. I assume that the film makers had serious financial problems and filmed part of the film using live actors AND state of the art CGI. Yes, many of these scenes are beautifully rendered by brilliant computer artists. And yet, although there are these lovely scenes, many, many other scenes are completed using what appears to be 1st generation computer graphics--like bad cut scenes from a Play Station 1 game. In these hastily slapped together scenes, the lips and facial expressions are so flat and unreal that it just looks cheap and awful. Watching the film inexplicably switch back and forth from great scenes to ultra-crappy scenes graphically was confusing and irritating. As I said above, it sure looked like they were running out of money and just decided to slap together rotten and exceptional computer generated images.

As for the plot....well, it stinks. That's because although many of the ideas and images are exciting, way too much in the film is unexplained--even though I adore sci-fi I just couldn't help but dislike it because it was so confusing. The film is set in a dystopian future (a concept I like in sci-fi) but why the future is so bleak and why people look like bizarre Mr. Potatohead (of a fashion) is beyond me. What I mean by Potatohead is that almost every one in the film has a face made up of bits and pieces of new parts--noses, chunks of flesh, etc. that are not original.

Here are some more plot ideas in the film that are never really explained:

There are "humans and non-humans" and yet they all appear humanoid--what did they mean?! And what's with all the medical experimentation and imprisonment of many of these beings?

What's with Nikopol?! What exactly is his revolutionary movement all about and if he's so freaking dangerous to the powers that be, why is he even alive? Plus, is the government evil or not--it's really not clear if it is and who you should root for in the film.

Why does Horus have to die? Why do Sekmet and Anubis get to live? Why inject the Egyptian gods into the film? And, if you do, why do it the way they did?! First, STARGATE already took on the Egyptian god angle so this part of the film seems "borrowed". Second, when the giant floating pyramid appears above New York, no one seems THAT upset by this even though they deny that space travel exists and the ship is responsible for a lot of chaos.

Who, exactly is the blue lady?! Where does she come from and who is her cloaked friend?! Is she a Smurf?

Why does the leader of whatever organization is chasing Nikopol have such a lumpy and bumpy head?! It looks like he was animated by a drunk man.

Who or what exactly are these creatures that look like a combination of hammerhead sharks and devils? They're called Dayaks but the back story is missing. There's some mention of them being wiped out in "the riots" many years before but that's all.

There are many, many other confusing elements of the film, but the main plot itself is also a doozy. Here goes my attempt to understand what I saw....The film begins with Smurfette (Jill) on a cargo ship heading for execution or medical experiments or I don't know what. She goes nuts and is restrained after she hurts a lot of people. However, inexplicably, a doctor insists this apparently dangerous blue lady be released to her custody and Smurfette behaves quite nicely for her. At the same time, the Egyptian gods Anubis (with a jackal head) and Sekmet (with a cat head) tell Horus (with a falcon's head) that he'll be dead in one week. So, he leaves the confines of their floating ship (naked) and wrecks havoc and destruction--blowing up helicopters and making people 'splode. Eventually he takes over the body of a revolutionary who is in suspended animation and makes him find Smurfette--at which time Horus makes this couple have sex repeatedly (making this a film you should NOT let your kids see--it's just too violent and sexual). Then, a lumpy-headed and Asian lady appear (complete with CGI done by a 3rd grader) and announce that "Nikopol has escaped" and they unleash some slightly annoying characters to kill Nikopol--though none of them seem to have a prayer to harm him, Horus or Smurfette. Then, Horus eventually dies after Smurfette is impregnated by him, Nikopol goes back to jail for one year and the bad guys snuff it--though you still aren't sure why these are the bad guys.

Sounds confusing?! You betcha! Had the film been a series or mini-series and actually not left a million and one dangling plot elements, it might have been worth seeing. As is, it's confusing, cheap and just not worth your time even if you are like me and love sci-fi. I only gave it a 2 because a few of the well made scenes were cool and the ideas (though poorly executed) were occasionally interesting despite the film makers' attempts to make the film unwatchable). Don't believe the ratings, as this is a bad and ultimately unsatisfying film.