DANTE 01 (2009)

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"... Taking such an influential piece of literature and creating such pretentious garbage is just inexcusable. "

Take a look at the following films...

1). Immortal

2). Babylon A.D.

3). Chrysalis

Now, while there are many more which could be added to the list-what do these three films all have in common? If you guessed that they're all French films; props to you (of course, some of the production aspects would hint otherwise). If you also guessed that they were all immensely dull and boring, then by all means, collect 200 and march on past. If there's one thing that rings clear about these films, it's that French sci-fi should not be a cinematic priority right now. Don't get me wrong, French films can be great-and God knows they're the cinematic torch-bearers of unrepentant sadism and violence right now-but when it comes to anything futuristic or post-apocalyptic... Well, I think they just need to quit for a little while, until their execution meets their imagination on an equal plane. Each of these films strive for something ambitious, but are all inadvertently halted by a plethora of problems including (but not limited to): broken pacing, ill-focus, technical issues, plot holes, and so on.

And now here's another film to add to the list above... Dante 01... Geez, here we go again...

Dante 01 is a space station floating above a fiery planet. Housed within this lil' facility are a bunch of scientists researching criminals that border on violent or just plain-out insane. While things are pretty standard here, things take a turn for the weird when a dumb (seriously, he doesn't speak) prisoner arrives on the ship and begins having crazy-colorful visions of amoeba like creatures and well, just a bunch of blinking and pulsing crap. Pretty much, the movie stays its course developing into a rip-off of The Green Mile... Only it's in space... Oh, and it sucks. Once it's done building off of a good film, Dante 01 continues at a sluggish pace to an utterly unsatisfying conclusion.

If you couldn't get my message during my introduction, the biggest gripe I have with sci-fi such as this is the sheer amount of boredom that ensues as soon as the disc starts spinning. This is due in large part to the atrocious sense of pacing that plagues the overall experience---as well as the previously mentioned films. The film's story is just as slow and drab as the ship it all takes place in. This "fairy tale" of sorts (as the narrator seems to put it) plods around showing various people talking, the "savior-like" protagonist having gratuitous visions, some scuffling here and there with shivs, more visions of the same things, more talking... Uh, more talking... Some brief conflict towards the end... Seriously, this film is on standby the entire time depending on its visuals over everything else. The characters are forgettable and the film's lead---the Crazy-Vision guy---is one of the stupidest characters to be developed for a film in a long time. And this isn't because he makes rash decisions or let's fly cheesy one-liners (remember, he is mute), it's because all of his screen time is dedicated to throwing up, walking around disoriented, throwing up some more and wallowing in it, rolling around in pain, being even more disoriented, eating gelatinous-like creatures, tossing and turning... It's like watching a photosensitive epileptic in a room full of strobe lights try and find the exit. Other characters... Well, I already said: are forgettable---although some viewers might recognize certain faces from City of Lost Children (hell, the film was made by the co-director of that one), such as Dominique Pinon... Even still, it doesn't matter.

And for those of you curious, yes... Yes the film is trying to use the first portion of Dante's Devine Comedy ("The Inferno") as its central foundation. It even goes as far as labeling different sections of the film, "Circle 1", "2", etc., as well as attributing "significant" names to certain characters such as one fat-ass by the name of "Moloch". That's really as far as any comparisons go though. If anything, this movie shames Dante's exquisite, visually accomplished and terrifying novel. Taking such an influential piece of literature and creating such pretentious garbage is just inexcusable.

I'm not trying to harp on French sci-fi, but I really wish that these filmmakers would try harder to make a film that's not only visually and mentally stimulating---but entertaining as well. It seems to be a recurring theme with their flicks of late to have an overdependence on eye-candy, rather than attributes that make movies of this nature so compelling to watch in the first place. Eden Log is coming up soon... Hopefully that one might shed a better light on this predicament... Until then, guess I'll just go watch The Fifth Element again...