There seems to be an increase of animated films being shown at MIFF, and I am so happy! This was the only one I got to see, since none of the other times suited me, and they were selling out fast. Speaking of selling out, the session I went to of Patema Inverted was sold out. Which is awesome! Although it did mean I had to sit next to a whole bunch of people who didn't know how to turn their phone off.
Anyway, this is a fairly confusing film to try and summarise in a few sentences, but I will do my best. Patema is a teenager living in an underground world of caverns who, against the wishes of the Elder, goes out exploring in what is known as the danger zone. One day, she comes across a being who is standing on the ceiling and she gets knocked into a pit that takes her to the surface world. Here she meets a boy called Age, and discovers that while gravity works as normal for Age and his people, for her gravity is reversed and without being held down she could fly off into the sky. The leader of Age's world wants to get rid of every 'invert', as he sees them as sinners. So, the race is on to return Patema to her own people, while also preventing her from flying away.
Like I said, a bit confusing. But it is a good film that works through a difficult concept. The film doesn't go out of its way to explain everything that is happening, which can be both good and bad. I know there were times when I was scratching my head, wondering what the hell was going on. But by the end you have a pretty clear idea of what happened.
And can I just saw, the animation in this is breathtaking! I know everyone goes on about how How To Train Your Dragon and its sequel are able to animate flying so brilliantly, but while watching them I never got that gut feeling of being lifted into the air that I did during this film. And the method for flying is really interesting and different, and ties in well with the rest of the film. Patema and Age discover that by holding onto each other, they each become lighter since they are using each others gravity to move. I think.
The way the setting is designed is also really cool. There are some steampunk elements here and there, which makes me very happy. I guess the biggest problem I had with the film was the voice acting. I saw the original dub, and generally everyone was pretty good. But there were a few moments near the beginning where I swear the voice actor for Patema was trying to destroy my eardrums with her shrillness. She got better as the film went on, but it was very annoying to begin with.
So, this was a pretty excellent film, with brilliant animation and a complex but intriguing concept that the film explored really well. The film also talked about how religion can blind people from understanding others plights, which is a good message to give in this day and age. Apart from some problems I had with the voice acting, this is probably the best animated film I've seen all year. There are some scary moments, so really little kids might not like it. But for older kids, and people who like good sci-fi, check this out.
I'm writing this blog on the last day of the festival, so the chances of anyone seeing the last of these films is very slim. But I did set myself a challenge to write on every film that I watch, and I don't plan on ending it now. I have three more films to write about, and they should come out in the coming week. Hopefully. I might have an essay that requires me to concentrate on it rather than writing these silly little blog posts. But we'll see. Until next time, readers.
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