April and the extraordinary world

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Movie
German title April and the extraordinary world
Original title Avril et le monde truqué
Country of production France , Belgium , Canada
original language French
Publishing year 2015
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci
script Franck Ekinci and Benjamin Legrand
production Michel Dutheil , Franck Ekinci and Marc Jousset
music Valentin Hadjadj
cut Nazim Meslem
occupation

April and the Extraordinary World (Original title: Avril et le monde truqué ) is a French-Belgian-Canadian animated science fiction film from 2015 . Held in steampunk , the film shows an alternate reality in Paris in the 1940s. It is based on drawings by Jacques Tardi .

action

On the eve of the Franco-Prussian War , Napoleon III. Well-known French scientists, including Gustave Franklin, are researching a serum to make his soldiers invulnerable. When he realizes that, apart from a few talking animals, Franklin has not had any notable success, the two of them quarrel. The laboratory explodes, the Kaiser and Gustave are killed. Only two talking lizards flee from their cages. To avert war, Napoleon IV negotiates a settlement.

In the course of the next sixty years, practically all well-known scientists such as Enrico Fermi or Heinrich Hertz disappear without a trace. The technological development of mankind stagnates at the level at the end of the 19th century. Neither electricity nor nuclear energy are discovered and mankind meets its energy needs first by burning coal and later with wood - until the last tree on the old continent is felled. To solve the energy crisis, France is planning a campaign against Canada to gain access to its extensive forests. The remaining scientists are hunted down by Inspector Pizoni, captured and forced to upgrade France's weapon systems.

In this gloomy environment, Gustave's son Prosper, his grandson Paul, the granddaughter Annette and his great-granddaughter April continued to work secretly on a serum that is supposed to make people immortal. But even her research has so far only produced one speaking animal - the cat Darwin, who does not leave April. When the family believes they have made a breakthrough, Pizoni's men storm the laboratory. Prosper can escape. Paul, Annette and April as well as Darwin flee with a cable car, which is however enveloped by a dark cloud in which Paul and Annette seem to die. April and Darwin escape their pursuers.

In 1941, April continued working on the serum to cure Darwin, who was now dying. She seems to be successful because the cat is recovering. Still, both are still on the run from Pizoni, who is obsessed with finding them. In his desperation he puts the little crook Julius on her. But Julius takes a liking to April, helps her escape from Pizoni again and leads her to Prosper. He, in turn, is betrayed by Julius and taken to Fort la Latte . Numerous other scientists are working there on a machine that is unknown to them and is located on the ocean floor. When Prosper's house is attacked, April and Julius turn his house into a mobile bunker and thus also get to Fort la Latte.

There they free Prosper and flee on a plane. They find evidence that the two lizards that fled over 70 years ago have now built a new ecosystem under the surface of Paris, in which April's parents also live together with the other scientists. A rocket is to be launched from there to populate the world with new life. April's serum is said to be the key to this new world. Shortly before the rocket launches, however, one of the lizards reveals that he would rather be immortal himself. He wants to wipe out humanity and take control himself. He kills the second lizard before he himself is shot by Julius - the little crook had previously exchanged the serum and handed it over to Darwin, who is in the launching rocket. The scientists will be freed from April and everyone will return to the surface. There they see how the rocket explodes in space.

The now free scientists set the technological progress of mankind going again; April perfects the serum and the vegetation spreads over the earth, the moon as well as Venus and Mars. In 2001 man set foot on the moon for the first time. The television shows how astronauts meet Darwin, who spends his old age there. Julius, now aged, brings the good news to his wife, April.

reception

On the kino-zeit portal, Peter Osteried points out that the film could go under “in the midst of all the animation blockbusters”. However, he also praises “how wonderfully timeless the art of hand-painted animation film is”. On the online portal filmstarts , the film received a score of 4.3 out of 5 for two press reviews (as of December 31, 2018). The moviepilot critics rate the film on a scale from 0 to 10 with a value of 8.1 with 9 ratings, the community members with 7.3 with 103 ratings (as of December 31, 2018).

Awards

  • 2015: Winner of the Festival d'Animation Annecy
  • 2017: Nominated for the Annie Award
  • 2017: Nominated for the Tōkyō Anime Awards
  • 2016: Nominated for the César Award
  • 2016: Nominated for the International Online Cinema Awards
  • 2016: Nominated for the San Diego Film Critics Society
  • 2016: Nominated for the St. Louis Film Critics Association

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ April and the extraordinary world - criticism by Peter Osterried . Website kino-zeit.de, accessed on December 31, 2018.