Viking

What would you do if you encountered problems while serving as a member of the first mission to Mars? You could probably contact experts for advice on technical issues easily enough, but what about personal or interpersonal issues? That might not be as easy, especially if a psychiatrist wasn't part of the crew. So what is one to do? In this inventively fictional what-if offering, space agency officials assemble and isolate an earth-based team of counterparts whose personalities, interests and character are virtually identical to those of their Red Planet doppelgangers. The purpose? To see how these terrestrial surrogates respond to the kinds of challenges that could potentially affect their Martian peers as a means for developing civil solutions and helpful coping mechanisms when these situations arise. Good intentions aside, however, things don't quite work out as anticipated, both for the astronauts and their earthbound doubles. And that premise provides the basis for this brilliant French Canadian sci-fi comedy-drama whose wry humor (some of it quite dark) is simultaneously hilarious, insightful and metaphorical, not to mention astoundingly original, with some of the best writing I've seen in ages. The film's intriguing foundation and telling narrative speak volumes to us on multiple levels (some of which have nothing at all to do with space travel; one could think of this as a fusion of the TV series Moon Base 8 and a Stanley Milgram behavioral experiment). All of this is backed up by the picture's fine performances, superb score and outstanding art direction/production design, along with than a few cinematic homages to such otherworldly classics as "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). It's no wonder that this release captured an impressive 10 Canadian Screen Award nominations, including a win for its stunningly gorgeous cinematography. It's so heartening to see a film these days that's highly intelligent, raucously funny, supremely thoughtful and eminently entertaining. Writer-director Stéphane Lafleur's fifth feature outing may not have received much fanfare thus far, but this truly is a picture well worth seeing (thankfully it's available for streaming on multiple platforms). This one is sure to put you into orbit.

Director is unfolding the plot before us with specific pacing, which is hard to describe. At specific moments story is dragging, and on another feels... just correct. There definitely was an idea behind this project (as after the movie I had an amazing opportunity to listen to small Q&A session with actress Larissa Corriveau, which graced that evening's screening). Something around decade of thought put into this piece of art. For such a commitment to project I can respect mr. Stéphane. Also, I'd like to congratulate the actors and actressess which all of them did an amazing job. The thing is - as I definitely keep with regard that this movie is clearly a work of passion, it just didnt resonated with me. Pacing problems, too vague screenplay at times, some kind of inconsistency between humour, absurdity and drama have not synced with me and haven't managed to reach my sensivity. I found movie so uneven at times, that even my suspension of disbelief was scratching its head. Anyway, my friend who was with me at the screening, very liked the movie, found it moving and important and we discussed it for hours after; so I guess everyone has to check it for him/herself. Watched at Warsaw Film Festival 2022.

The echoes of "Solaris" (the 1972 original Tarkovsky, not the remake) are hardly coincidental. The crew's moodiness, the claustrophobic interiors, and the "low-budget" effects here match those of the Russian masterpiece. That same year saw the cult classic "Silent Running" by the ingenious Trumbull, the guy who created the effects for "2001: A Space Odyssey". The notion of parallel worlds is a regular obsession in sci-fi and no less here, something Duncan Jones's "Moon" (2009) delved into with startling insights. For people who dislike unanswered questions and loopholes, this movie is not for you. It's part parable, part puzzle, part piss-take. Seriously unserious and vice-versa.

It's not often that we see a sci-fi film that doesn't have a big budget and not produced by a major studio. Films within this genre naturally require a lot of money for the CGI and general production design. However, there is occasionally the odd independent release that has decided to go this route. This particular new release has got a strange concept that I'm not sure where it was going to go in terms of tone. Now that I have seen it, it was like I was watching an arthouse version of Red Dwarf with an almost Big Brother environment whilst giving nods to 2001: A Space Odyssey. The purposeful low budget sets and costumes gave us an effective grounded look to the story. This gave us time to concentrate on the characters and it's themes of achieving your ultimate dream both for you personally and as a species. Steve Laplante was a very capable lead and I liked the journey his character went. He had a very likable screen presence and I think it was helped by his supports. Larissa Corriveau in particular produced a lot of the films energy and Hamza Haq gave us some good comedic moments as did Denis Houle I was surprised at how entertained I was. There's genuine laughs to be had amongst the surrealness of the situation. You can see that the people behind making it loved the material and are fans of sci-fi. If I was being picky, I think some of themes could have been better utilised. This would resulted in a more satisfying ending as there were some loose ends not quite tied up. But even with those issues from a personal perspective, this is still a very entertaining watch. The concept worked, the characters are easy to invest with, the deadpan humour is great, the minimal production design enhances the grounded story well and there's a quirky charm to it that is very infectious.

First, the gorilla in the room: this movie was never distributed properly. I had to vpn to canada to buy and watch it on vimeo. But it's brilliant, and well worth the effort. It's rather ironic that this movie was ignored because it echoes exactly the sense of purposelessness evoked in the movie. Why film if you're not going to show it? Why dream of a movie if you're not going to preview it? Why follow your dreams? At which cost? Anyone who ever dreamt of 'living it all behind' will love this. This is a movie that makes you think about the frailty of the human imagination, and the fragility of dreams in the face of an uncaring world. The budget is rock bottom, but the produciton value match the 'cynicism' of the film. The viking lander is litterally a bin with 'viking' written on it. It's a powerful metaphor for the sillyness of it all, and the aspiration of a man who could dream big and was let down by a company that uses people for their own purposes. I can't quite frame it, and I'll be sure to think about this movie many times in the future when i'm faced between opting for 1 or 2 surgars in my coffee. Wonderful. If you loved i-origins, or primer, or similar low-budget scif-fi, you'll enjoy this a lot.

France

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Trailer—Viking