Paris , 2042: a dark Rotoscope world of shadows and right angles. Ilona Tasuiev, a brilliant young scientist, is kidnapped, and her employer, Avalon, a major health and beauty corporation, wants her found. Karas, a jaded police captain, is assigned to find her, fast. He seeks help from her sister, Bislane, and they are soon uncovering identify theft, missing files, and hints that something back in 2006 may explain what's going on. Ilona's mentor, Avalon's vice president, a Japanese researcher, an underworld boss, and Bislane's drug connection all figure in the mix. So does an attraction between Karas and Bislane. What's behind the kidnapping? Who's the victim?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386741/plotsummary
The emotive effect of the film Renaissance can be described as being a semi-realistic dream in which parts of our world have descended into a kind of madness that is terrifyingly fathomable. The Avalon Company which seems to be most closely linked to the idea of a government sells beauty. The story alludes to the danger of trying to create a more beautiful human and that living as cerebral constructs that deny our innate human-ness inevitably makes our existence a mad one.
The character Ilona Tasuiev represents the falsified identity of the Avalon company. While its public face speaks of beauty and attempts to invoke ideas of health, and longevity of life, we discover by the end of the movie it's sinister interests that are articulated best in Ilona's character. The transparency promoted by the compant and the characters associated with the company suggest an interst in public good, while their belief and actions are simply unnatural.
The selection of Paris is interesting because it is iconographically one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Having this dystopia projected on Paris , therefore creates a remarkable myth based purely on that of the existing city. The effect is believability as well as disharmony between the falsified public persona of the Avalon Company and it's ruthless ideology.
Alongside the selection of city and the graphic style of the movie, it is important to look at the genre of cinematic style this film engages, which is in part Film Noir. Film Noir, developed in 1940's and 50's looks at sex, violence and crime with dreamlike and yet brutal eyes that borrow from German Expressionistic black and white films. There is something intangible and different about film noir that is achieved through its ambiguous presentation of lurid lifestyles and acts in almost casual ways. This style accentuates the traditional Parisian charm and helps to build the main character, Karas into the detective hero. Within this style, with a praise of the unintentionally ugly, there is an opposition drawn to the Avalon Company which prizes beauty. A more melancholic, troubled or jaded beauty is evoked in the main characters, with generic beauty becoming something to be wary of.
It is interesting to look at the portrayal of an alternate Parisian identities in Alphaville versus that presented in Renaissance. Both movies have chosen to maintain Paris as it is and to show its different stories of the society through it's mostly existent urban fabric. Renaissance takes liberties in creating a Parisian future but maintains the larger iconography of the city. However the life of the citizen, regardless of its architectural setting is what is important within the city. Similar to both is a fear of a loss of human compassion and a maniacal government.
