I have this strange attraction to weird cinema.
René Laloux's Fantastic Planet (1973) is a different kind of experience. It feels like cut-out from H.P. Lovecraft's stories. It treats absurdity as the new norm. Perhaps, strangely, the gravity of art in René Laloux's film may be too demanding for ordinary cinephiles, but its use of anthropomorphic imagery to represent different creatures makes it a familiar film. One can compare it to several post-apocalyptic films where worlds are invaded by aliens of higher intelligence. The Oms (the humans) were treated as slaves and pets by Draags (the aliens) which set them to become rebels --- a racial issue.
Laloux's world is filled with magical and uncanny elements. Draags are giants and are attune to meditation by achieving a spiritual connection with the cosmos. Oms are much smaller, about the size of the thumb of Draags but are irritable and biting. The Draag communities are, of course, real world counterparts of the evolved communities which has level of intelligence (let us say scientific intelligence) far superior than less developed communities.
In a Draag's world, there is no snow but there are crystal storms which can turn any living non-Draag creature into crystals unless the creature knows how to whistle.
Ohm's mass extermination via a heavy, toxic gas is largely due to Draag's immediate response to the Ohm's extremely large and increasing population. Ohm's ratio to the population versus a Draag is that of the ants' population to the humans. The gas can kill Ohms instantly like how insect spray can kill thousands of ants.
Ohms are used as hunting 'dogs' chained by their master Draags to look for other Ohms.
Laloux's creatures are filled with uncanny spirit. This one looks like an elephant with nine protruding nostrils.
This elephant creatures eat a "fly"-looking creature with certain mimicry to Frill-necked lizards in Australia but fatter.
Gigantic creatures, relative to the Ohms, have at least four legs and an elongated body. But this one, it has more than five eyes on top. Its morphology is quite unique.
Other than gigantic creatures, Ohms too have creature the size of their body. This creature on top are used for Ohm to Ohm battle.
As with this one above, they are used to create Ohm's clothes. They are perhaps the most harmless of all fantastic creatures in Fantastic Planet.
Creatures can also fill large voids of land as with this long and winding worm-like creature.
Ohm's most notorious antagonist is a creature with wings that of a bat. It has four legs and long tongue to suck Ohms our of their borrows. Though their viciousness can be equal to that of the Draags, its aim is only predatory and not exploitative. Hence, this creature is innocent.
Laloux's creatures shows us another version of human life, and that is by using uncanny figures to elicit unworldliness. This uncanny mechanism has long been used in experimental and animated films. It shows us strangely familiar figures functioning differently, absurdly.
Ciao!
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