La Planete Sauvage
planet03
Originally uploaded by lemmy_cautionSoho's Curzon hosts midnight movies once in a blue moon. Like last night, for example, with Fantastic Planet (1973). Kevin and I nearly didn't arrive in time (11.40pm) thanks to drinks and a game of Scrabble with our landlords that went on for too long. The nights have been balmy and there's nothing better than sitting outside a pub (such as the Royal Inn on the Park - too bad they are soooo ridiculously expensive) after the week has come to an end. Fruity beer is my thing.
I saw Fantastic Planet for the first time 9 years ago. Kevin and I were visiting Canada's east coast, staying with some of his friends in Halifax.[1] We were all a bit drunk, and after a fat joint was passed around, our host Chris decided to put this film on. I didn't pick up at the time how much it influenced the french band Air; just the horror, the cruelty of those bug-eyed giants towards the humans, tripping me out as I lay on the carpet. Very much like Planet of the Apes, but far creepier and sci-fi-ish; far more beautiful and eerie than any other animation I've seen since. It was good to finally watch it sober and slip inside its world, unemcumbered by paranoid thoughts. There was a short film beforehand, I Met the Walrus, based on a tape interview between a student and John Lennon. It's great and you can watch it here. And here's the trailer for Fantastic Planet.
[1] They lived in an apartment right below Rick Mercer, one of the main stars of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, one of Canada's most popular TV shows at the time. One morning, Rick and his partner were in the garden, just in their bathrobes. We said hello and our hostess had a brief chat with them. I was all starstruck..