The Congress(2013 film)

The Congress(French:Le Congrès,Hebrew:כנס העתידנים) is a 2013 English-language live-action/animatedscience-fictiondrama film written and directed byAri Folman,based onStanisław Lem's 1971 Polish science-fiction novelThe Futurological Congress.It starsRobin Wrightas a fictionalized version of herself who agrees to have a film studio use adigital cloneof her in any film they want.The Congressthen flashes forward twenty years later to her travels in the studio's animated utopia world, where anyone can become anavatarof themselves, but are required to usehallucinogenic drugsto enter a mutableillusory state.The Congresspremiered at the2013 Cannes Film Festivalon 15 May 2013.Independent film distributorDrafthouse Filmsannounced, along with Films We Like In Toronto, their co-acquisition of the North American rights to the film and a US theatrical and VOD/digital release planned for 2014.

The Congress
French promotional poster
Directed by	Ari Folman
Screenplay by	Ari Folman
Based on	The Futurological Congress byStanisław Lem
Produced by	Diana Elbaum David Grumbach Eitan Mansuri Jeremiah Samuels
Starring	Robin Wright
Cinematography	Michal Englert
Edited by	Nili Feller
Music by	Max Richter
Production company	Pandora Filmproduktion
Distributed by	ARP Sélection (France) Cinéart (Belgium/Luxembourg) Pandora Film Verleih (Germany) Gutek Film (Poland)
Release dates	15 May 2013(2013-05-15)(Cannes) 3 July 2013(2013-07-03)(France)
Running time	123 minutes
Countries	France Israel Belgium Poland Luxembourg Germany
Language	English
Budget	€8 million
Box office	$356,172

Plot

Robin Wrightis an aging actress whose career suffered because of her erratic behavior and reputation for being fickle and unreliable. Her son, Aaron, suffers fromUsher syndrome,which is slowly destroying his sight and hearing. Aided by Dr. Barker, Robin barely manages to stave off the worst effects of Aaron's decline, although his condition is sliding into its terminal stage.

Robin's longtime agent, Al, takes her to meet Jeff Green, the CEO of Miramount Studios, a film studio that offers to buy her likeness and digitize her into a computer-animated version of herself. Realizing that she may be unable to find future work with the emergence of this new technology, Robin agrees to do it for a hefty sum of money. The contract also requires that she never act again. After her body is digitally scanned, the studio can make films starring her, using onlycomputer-generated characters.

Twenty years later, Robin travels to Abrahama City, where she will speak at the "Futurological Congress", Miramount's entertainment conference. Abrahama City is an animated, surrealutopiathat is created from figments of people'simaginations,where anyone can become an animatedavatarof themselves but must usehallucinogenic drugsto enter a mutableillusory state.In the decades since she was scanned, Robin's virtual persona has become the star of a popular film franchise,Rebel Robot Robin,making her and Tom Cruise the only remaining movie stars. While discussing her new contract with Jeff, Robin learns that Miramount developed a new technology that will allow anyone to devour her or possiblytransform themselvesinto her with the hallucinogen. Robin agrees to the deal, but has a crisis of conscience, believing that no one should be turned into a product.

When asked to speak to the public at the Congress, Robin publicly voices her contrary views, upsetting everyone there before being taken by security guards. The Congress is then interrupted by rebels opposed to the technology industry. They seemingly assassinate the head of the Congress. During the attack, Robin is rescued by Dylan Truliner, who was Miramount's lead animator for her films. They escape, but she is soon captured by "Miramount Police". Robin is seemingly executed by Jeff as a punishment for rebelling against Miramount and the Congress. Robin is shown on a hospital bed while doctors discuss her case. One doctor reveals that Robin's execution was her hallucinating, that her rescuers were from Miramount. The doctors decide that Robin has become so intoxicated by the hallucinogen that she must be frozen until a treatment for her condition can be found.

Twenty years later, Robin is revived while still hallucinating an animated world. She reunites with Dylan, who says that the hallucinogenic technology is now widespread. People can take on whatever form they wish through it and as a result many negative aspects of humanity no longer exist. Dylan and Robin fall in love and take a journey through a colorful imaginary world. However, Robin is still desperate to return to the real world and be with Aaron. The only way to do that is by using a capsule that blocks all hallucinogenic effects. It is, in the animated world, equivalent to a suicide capsule. Dylan negotiated for one as part of his forced retirement package from Miramount, and he gives it to Robin.

Re-entering the real world, Robin finds herself in adystopianenvironment. A tiny elite hovers over ruined cities in largeairships.Most people have left for an existence in the animated world. Aaron did it only six months earlier when his condition left him virtually blind and deaf and he had given up hope of Robin's return. Because Aaron likely created a new identity for himself in the animated world, there is no way for anyone to find him.

Dr. Barker gives Robin an inhalation ampoule that will allow her to return to the animated world, though as her experiences have changed, her hallucinations will as well, and she will never be able to re-enter the same world she had left. Taking the drug, Robin sees Aaron's entire life flash before her eyes. She eventually discovers Aaron in the middle of an animated desert.

Cast

• Robin Wrightas Robin Wright, a fictionalized version of herself
• Paul Giamattias Dr. Barker
• Jon Hammas Dylan Truliner (voice)
• Danny Hustonas Jeff Green
• Harvey Keitelas Al
• Kodi Smit-McPheeas Aaron Wright
• Sami Gayleas Sarah Wright
• Michael Stahl-Davidas Steve
• August Wittgensteinas Travis
• Jörg Vincent Malotki as Man In Zeppelin

Relation toThe Futurological Congressby Stanisław Lem

While some elements of the film were added by Ari Folman, others were based on the science-fiction novelThe Futurological Congressby Stanisław Lem. Similarly, to Lem'sIjon Tichy,the actress is split between delusional and real mental states. In an early interview about the film, Folman said,

"There is certainly nothing based on Lem in the first part of the movie. The second part is definitely different, but I used Lem'sThe Futurological Congressmore as a source of inspiration, rather than the basis of the screenplay. "

Later, at the official website of the film in an interview, Folman says that the idea to put Lem's work to film came to him during his film school. He describes how he reconsidered Lem's allegory ofcommunist dictatorshipinto a more current setting, namely, the dictatorship in theentertainment industry,and expresses his belief that he preserved the spirit of the book despite going far away from it.

Production

The animation was created by Bridgit Folman Films Gang, based in Israel, who worked on the script for 19 years.Folman supervised six animation studios worldwide ( "studio 352" in Luxemburg, "walking the dog" in Belgium, "bitteschoen" in Berlin, "studio Rakete" in Hamburg, "Studio Orange" in Poland, and "Snipple" in the Philippines). As inWaltz with Bashir,Folman worked withDavid Polonskyas the artistic director andYoni Goodmanas the animation director. Principal live-action filming was done in the United States and Germany from February to March 2011.Folman began working on the film in 2008,securing additional financing in 2011 from French bank Coficine-Natixis.The film was completed and released in 2013.

Music

Max Richter,who had previously worked with Folman inWaltz with Bashir,created the soundtrack ofThe Congress.Many of the songs are composed by Richter himself, but the soundtrack also includes the Andante movement fromFranz Schubert'sPiano Trio No. 2,Frédéric Chopin'sNocturne Op.27-1 in C# minor,"Forever Young"fromBob Dylan,andLeonard Cohen's"If It Be Your Will".These last two songs were covered by Robin Wright.

Milan Entertainment,Inc. launched the soundtrack (in digital format) on 2 July 2013.

	Title	Duration
1.	Beginning and Ending	4:54
2.	Andante con moto fromTrio in E-flat major, D.929	4:17
3.	Winterreise	2:09
4.	On the Road to Abrahama 1	4:14
5.	In Her Reflection	1:18
6.	On the Road to Abrahama 2	1:15
7.	All Your Joys, All Your Pain	4:52
8.	In the Cosmic Lobby	2:19
9.	Out of the Dark	5:03
10.	The Rebel Attack	3:14
11.	Still Dreaming, Still Travelling	1:30
12.	Forever Young	4:03
13.	Nocturne Op.27-1 in C♯ minor	1:15
14.	In the Garden of Cosmic Speculation	3:55
15.	Badass Agent Robin	1:03
16.	She Finds the Child	3:39
17.	If It Be Your Will	4:10
18.	Baby Escapo (Bonus Track)	5:22
19.	Charly's Song (Bonus Track)	3:04

Reception

The Congressreceived positive reviews. OnRotten Tomatoes,it has a 73% approval rating, based on reviews from 109 critics, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The website's critical consensus states: "The Congressrises on the strength of Robin Wright's powerful performance, with enough ambitious storytelling and technical thrills to overcome its somewhat messy structure. "OnMetacritic,the film has a 63/100 rating based on reviews from 31 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews".

Keith Uhlich ofThe A.V. ClubnamedThe Congressthe sixth-best film of 2014, tying it with the re-release ofLevel Five.

In 2013,The Congresswon the Best Animated Feature Film Award at the26th European Film Awards.

Scout Tafoya gave the movie 31⁄2stars in a 2014 review at RogerEbert.com, saying: "'The Congress' is a roll call of the orgiastic pleasures and bountiful comforts that art provides, and, a reminder of what waits for us when we leave the theater."

Awards

The movie won the26th European Film Awardsfor the best animated feature film in 2013, as well as the Directors' Fortnight in theCannes Film Festival.That same year, it won theSitges Film Festival's Critics Award, too. In 2013, it was also nominated for Best Animation Film in the Gijon Film Festival.

Legacy

The film found renewed relevance a decade later, during the2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.Several writers noted similarities between the movie and real life events, where SAG-AFTRA organizers claimed that the film studios had put forward an artificial intelligence proposal that would permit them to scan actors' bodies in exchange for a day's compensation and retain the rights to their image in perpetuity. Caryn James writing for the BBC in 2023 found the plot ofThe Congressto be "eerily prescient".

External links

• The CongressatIMDb
• The CongressatBox Office Mojo
• The CongressatRotten Tomatoes
• The CongressatMetacritic
• The Congress,review on Culture.pl