ANNECY 2023: A Bleak Futuristic French Chef d’Oeuvre | Mars Express Review
Mars Express © Everybody On Deck
A regular dorm, a routine morning. A young female caresses her pet. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. She opens the door, unaware that behind it lies her doom. From its very first minutes, Mars Express grabbed me by the neck with its crude and harsh violence. In the bleak futuristic world created by director Jérémie Périn and writer Laurent Sarfati, hope seems to be a rarity replaced by the cynicism of robots and humans alike. Being a hard sci-fi and a neo noir fan, I was definitely in cinematic heaven even before the intro ended.
Following Aline Ruby (voiced by French talent Léa Drucker), a Chinatown-esque private eye obsessed by the attempted murder of Jun Chow, who was really the target of the assassin that eliminated that poor student earlier in the film, we discover a bleak future where androids are the last specie to be enslaved by humankind. Shunned by society, treated as freaks, they are forced to tend to every human needs and desires, even and – of course – the darker ones.
What I loved about Mars Express is that, not unlike Ghost in the Shell which Périn cites as one of the main influences of this film, we discover this world not only through Aline’s point of view but also through the holo-eyes of Android Carlos Rivera. Aline’s long-time colleague, Rivera died five years prior to the films’ events in a traumatic mercenary campaign, and his conscience is now uploaded in a rusty and outdated cyborg body. The heartbreaking arc of this character, who desperately wants to reunite with his wife and daughter who have now moved on after his death, leads to many powerful moments. Will Rivera be reunited with her family in the end? What will happen to Jun Chow, in the midst of the big conspiracy that the film hints at slowly but surely? And what is the connection between Rivera, Ruby and eccentric billionaire Chris Roy Jacker (Mathieu Amalric), the most influential man on Mars?
Mars Express © Everybody On Deck
As you may or may not have sensed from those first lines, Mars Express is sometimes hard to follow. But it is this density of character, plot and world design that kept me in my seat for these eighty-ish minutes, which felt to me like a slow and deep dive to the edge of an uncharted abyss. A place where mysteries would be revealed, with characters striving to find the ultimate answer, the meaning of their lives. This unique atmosphere is achieved not only by a thick scenario and complex dialogues, but also through the mesmerizing score by french composers Fred Avril and Philippe Monthaye. A duo who previously worked on the Lastman series along with Jérémie Périn. Mixing electronic music and typical sci-fi ambiances, they bring life to this technocratic universe where humankind is both master and slave of its own designs. And as one travels from planetary systems to new frontiers, the beautifully balanced sound layers fill the theater for the fans’ utmost pleasure. There’s something of Interstellar in the grand planetary landscapes that Mars Express offers. But to me, the film is never as beautiful as when we travel in deep space, with the blackness of the void saturating the screen.
On the other hand, it took me some time to relate to the characters. As described earlier, Rivera and Ruby make for a gritty duo, but I wasn’t fully on board until the film really started to delve into their backgrounds, especially Carlos’ which is definitely the most interesting character in the film. And the fact that he’s the android says a lot about the cynical point of view that drives Mars Express from beginning to end. While humans may have the most screening time, it becomes abundantly clear that the characters in Mars Express, be it Aline, Jun or even billionaire Jacker, have completely lost their footing in this reality. Their actions, driven by primal will of survival, fatalism, madness or even sheer despair give Mars Express a radical adult tone and gloomy message. In Périn’s universe, Mars is definitely the new Chinatown.
Mars Express © Everybody On Deck
As you may have guessed, this is definitely not your family-friendly buddy cop comedy. But action-lovers will find some treats in the wondrous fight sequences that may be scarce but certainly do not lack intensity. A big fan of Verhoeven, Périn expressed his love for Robocop for Cartoon Brew when presenting early clips of the movie in March. The connoisseur can easily see the homage Mars Express pays to the film and to Verhoeven’s satirical style. And it’s one of the many influences you’ll find while navigating this ravishing feature.
It took me some time to write this piece. Not only because it’s painstakingly difficult to talk about the film without revealing too much, but also because I wasn’t so sure I had liked it that much. It’s a dense feature, the rhythm is uneven, some characters may lack a bit of depth, and not all shots were to my taste. Yet the more I write about it, the more I long to go back to its gorgeous sceneries and dive even deeper into the heart of its bewitching darkness. And that’s a feeling I shall succumb to probably more than once.