‘The Congress’: Hollywood as the Evil Empire

Robin Wright plays a struggling actress whose last gig is to become an animation.
‘The Congress’: Hollywood as the Evil Empire
Robin Wright, playing herself as a struggling actress in “The Congress,” smiles as her emotions are extracted to be used as animations. (Drafthouse Films)
9/5/2014
Updated:
9/3/2014

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Polish science fiction master Stanislaw Lem deftly satirized Soviet utopianism in “The Futurological Congress.” For his modernized riff, Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman uses Hollywood as the new evil empire. It is a smooth substitution.

In the very near future, the movie business will take exploitation to even greater technological heights, as Robin Wright learns firsthand when she plays herself in Folman’s “The Congress.”

Lem’s novel may have provided the seed of inspiration, but you will not find his well-traveled hero Ijon Tichy. Wright will attend the conference in his stead, but first we will witness the final days of her acting career.

Despite her early success in hits like “The Princess Bride,” Folman’s Wright turned out to be difficult to work with, frequently dropping out of high-profile roles at the last minute. While she always claimed it was for the sake of her ailing son Aaron, her frustrated agent really knows it is fear and a lack of confidence that sabotaged her career.

However, the studio Miramount has a final offer to make. For a lump sum payment, they will digitize Wright and program her into all the hit movies she was never shrewd enough to accept. Evidently, this is the way the business is going, so she reluctantly accepts.

Twenty years later, she is the biggest star in the business, but nobody recognizes the real Wright. Accepting an invitation to speak at Miramount’s Futurological Congress, Wright plans to challenge their questionable ethical priorities from the podium. However, to get there, she must travel into Miramount’s animated city of avatars. Unfortunately, little things like the nature of time and reality will complicate her plan.

Frankly, the first 50 minutes of live action could have easily been condensed. In fact, by the time the film finally switches over into animation, Folman seems so eager to go off on a fantastical romp that he never fully establishes the rules and boundaries of his chemically induced world of cartoon avatars. Still, it all looks spectacularly trippy.

Granted, Folman’s “Congress” is a bit of a narrative mess and it lacks Lem’s subversive bite, but it is fully stocked with fascinating ideas and surprisingly effective performances.

As Al the agent, Harvey Keitel delivers a monologue to end all monologues, while Paul Giamatti (who could have advised Wright on playing a meta-meta version of herself, having done something similar in “Cold Souls”) adeptly brings some stabilizing sensitivity and dignity to the film as Aaron’s kindly doctor, Dr. Baker. Whether as an animated avatar or in the flesh, Danny Huston also makes a dynamite villain as Miramount studio boss Jeff Green.

Most importantly, animation in “The Congress” is wildly cool and colorful, with enough thinly disguised cameos and visual quotes to reward dozens of repeat viewings. In contrast, the Wright family drama gets tiresome the first time through, especially when it comes to poor, pitiful Aaron, whose bland personality seems to be degenerating along with his sight and hearing.

Nevertheless, Folman puts so much crazy ambition up on the screen that it more than compensates for the occasional lapse into Lifetime melodrama. Recommended for fans of cult science fiction and animation, as well as Lem readers who enjoy being scandalized, “The Congress” opens Sept. 5 in New York at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

Joe Bendel writes about independent film and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles, please visit www.jbspins.blogspot.com

 

‘The Congress’
Director: Ari Folman
Starring: Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Paul Giamatti, Danny Huston
Running time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Release date: Sept. 5
Not rated

3.5 stars out of 5

Joe Bendel writes about independent film and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles, visit JBSpins.blogspot.com
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