DVD review (region 2)
Directed by René Laloux
Starring the voices of Jean Valmont, Michel Elias, Frédéric Legros (Les Maîtres Du Temps); Pierre-Marie Escourrou, Catherine Chevallier, Georges Wilson (Gandahar)
Release date Out now

Two fantasy adventures from the crazed mind of René Laloux…

Acclaimed French animator René Laloux is best known for the 1973 picture Fantastic Planet, his weird and wonderful depiction of an alien world in which humans are kept as domestic pets. Many of the themes of that picture – the struggle for freedom, knowledge and individuality – can also be detected in Les Maîtres Du Temps and Gandahar, two of Laloux’s equally fascinating 80s efforts.

Les Maîtres Du Temps (The Time Masters), Laloux’s collobration with legendary comic book writer Moebius, is the more accessible of the two. It tells the story of Piel, a young boy who is stranded on a strange, alien world as a team of astronauts attempt to launch a rescue. The film, which was made at a Hungarian animation studio to cut costs, combines allegorical imagery (a planet of identikit angels who unthinkingly worship an alien being), cute creatures (a skittle-faced creature that Piel rides about on, a couple of tiny telepathic aliens) and strange plot twists. While it doesn’t quite have the surreal beauty of Fantastic Planet, Les Maîtres Du Temps more than makes up for this with some wildly charming characters. Like the later Studio Ghibli pictures, it’s a family movie which has the complexity and intelligence to give it a broad appeal – a shame, then, that the film has never quite received the acclaim it deserves.

1988’s Gandahar (which was to be Laloux’s final movie) is a more serious, adult-orientated endeavor. The story is set in the utopian society of the title, where the warrior Sylvain is sent to stop an army of mechanical men who seem to be turning inhabitants into stone. It’s another gloriously surreal experience, rich in dreamy images both beautiful disturbing, though it lacks the engaging characters and humour of Les Maîtres Du Temps.

Considering its theme of the struggle against oppression, it is odd to note that Gandahar is a co-production with a North Korean animation studio. Harvey Weinstein later released a substantially different version of the film in the States, where it was re-edited, re-scripted by Isaac Asimov and re-titled Light Years. Rather cheekily, Weinstein gave himself a ‘co-director’ credit for his troubles. Matt McAllister

VERDICT
Les Maîtres Du Temps: 8/10
Gandahar: 8/10
Two stunning adventures from one of animation’s greatest visionaries.