Dante 01 (2008)

Deep space, at the edge of the galaxy. The future. A new prisoner arrives on top security prison ship and psychiatric research unit Dante 01. Sole survivor of an encounter with an alien ... See full summary »

Director:

Marc Caro

Writers:

Marc Caro (screenplay), Pierre Bordage (screenplay)

Stars:

Lambert Wilson, Linh Dan Pham, Dominique Pinon

Cast

Cast overview:
Lambert Wilson	...	Saint-Georges
Linh Dan Pham	...	Elisa (as Linh-Dan Pham)
Simona Maicanescu	...	Perséphone
Dominique Pinon	...	César
Bruno Lochet	...	Bouddha
François Levantal	...	Lazare
Gérald Laroche	...	Charon
François Hadji-Lazaro	...	Moloch
Lotfi Yahya Jedidi	...	Raspoutine (as Lotfi Yahya-Jedidi)
Yann Collette	...	Attila
Dominique Bettenfeld	...	BR
Antonin Maurel	...	CR

Storyline

Deep space, at the edge of the galaxy. The future. A new prisoner arrives on top security prison ship and psychiatric research unit Dante 01. Sole survivor of an encounter with an alien force beyond imagining, Saint Georges is a man possessed by inner demons, caught up in the battle to control the monstrous power within him. It's a power that will infect the other highly dangerous occupants of Dante 01, gaolors and prisoners alike, unleashing a violent rebellion that turns this terrifying, labyrinthine world upside down. In the otherworldly hell of the ship's depths, through danger and redemption, each must journey to his very limits... each must confront his own Dragon.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | trapped in space | terraforming | reference to saint george and the dragon | reference to rasputin | 

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Taglines:

Space is a Prison All of Its Own

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some disturbing images, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Wild Bunch [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

2 January 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Apostoli exontosis

Box Office

Budget:

€8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eskwad,Wild Bunch,Sofica Cinemage

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa d'exploitation en France: N° 114497.

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Connections

Referenced in Viande d'origine française (2009)

User Reviews

Brilliantly conceived, directed and edited, but ultimately disappoints

Got the chance to see this at the Sci-Fi London last night in a packed cinema. As a big fan of City of Lost Children and Delicatessen I was suitably excited. The film establishes itself from the off with a very confident and distinct visual style and sense of (the deep, dark void of) space.

A man arrives at a colony circling the fiery planet Dante, his name and history unknown. The ship is a base for psychiatric research on a handful of criminals, held as guinea-pigs and cut off from outside contact. The new man is seen as a messiah by some of the convicts, a trouble-maker by others, as the psychiatrists carry out routine and risky genetic experiments with their DNA.

The film maintains a heightened feeling of tension and claustrophobia that is almost migraine inducing but transfixing. The editing is first rate and the film is well acted (Dominque Pinon, a Caro and Jeunet regular, appears). Unfortunately, the plot keeps promising to go somewhere but ends up disappearing down a black hole of messianic symbolism, and the dialogue is fairly bland and perfunctory. The violence is also almost sickening at times, though this may not bother some.

This is a very confidently directed film that is clearly the unique vision of one very creative visualist, I only hope Caro could have applied his touch to better material and not surrender to pretensions of the religious and philosophical. I'm not suggesting that no film should try to tackle these things, but this film doesn't deliver enough of anything else. Many will call the film deep but ask them what it's about before you believe them.

Worth seeing, though. Definitely deserves better marketing, but I wouldn't want to be the one to do it.