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ccidentally released the same year as Planet of the Apes, that pioneering work suggests some of the consequences of the hypertrophy of technology, both concerning the most evolved human beings, practically apathetic scientists, and the super-intelligent onboard computer, HAL, which ends up developing pathological feelings. In addition to the thriller plot, Kubrick's film illustrates astonishing evolutionary leaps, induced by the presence of that essentially ungraspable "thing," hinting at a new understanding of space-time through images of unusual pregnance, which the music (from a Strauss waltz to Ligeti's Atmosphères, passing through the celebrated symphonic version of Nietzschean Zarathustra) finally fixes in the viewer's memory, and which we recently re-encountered in Denis Villeneuve's Arrival.
Fantasy cinema includes horror and science fiction cinema, categories that are not watertight, as in the representation of the impossible - what is feared or longed for - the dark side of progress is often revealed.
The topical juxtaposition between extreme rationality and the dictatorship of the irrational is as fanciful and ancient as the romantic fictions on which many of the first science and horror films are based, such as J. Searle Dawley's Frankenstein (1910) or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore in 1920. And the fact is that fantasy cinema, far from being a minor genre, is the fundamental - practically foundational - genre of cinematography. Georges Méliès had already shown this years earlier with his A Trip to the Moon in 1902. As an illusionist and man of the theater, nothing was more fascinating than the possibility of realizing fantasy, of really showing what was considered impossible or unreal. That is why many of his films depict appearances and disappearances, as well as various metamorphoses, very successful at the time. From 1908 is the series of transformations titled Fantasmagorie by Emil Cohl, which anticipates the genre of animation through drawing. Following this laborious path, in 1914 the first Jurassic creature is "resurrected" (the endearing Gertie the Dinosaur) while in 1918 The Ghost of Slumber Mountain - better known as The Lost World - already reproduces, from mechanical monstrosities, the fearsome possibility of an encounter with extinct species.
Fantastic cinema in fact comprises horror cinema and science fiction cinema, categories that are not watertight, because in the representation of the impossible -what is feared or longed for- the dark side of progress is often revealed, which makes that strange reality possible, in fact, through dystopian visions. A well-known example is Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927), in which the wonders of scientific advances, in the form of an automated life, become possible thanks to the work of a few, beneath the surface of the city. This system will be terribly disrupted by the first artificial creature, a replicant of the adorable and peaceful Maria; the robot that, with her same appearance, will bring death and destruction. Hence, futuristic design coexists with gothic scenarios, and ultra-efficient means of transport with medieval images and themes -such as the Dies irae, a song that announces the end of times- in paradoxical feedback.
In this edition of the Catalonia International Fantastic Film Festival, not only does one of the most obsessively careful filmmakers in the recreation of possible worlds enabled by cinematic fiction, like Stanley Kubrick, take center stage, but awards are also given to outstanding creators of this hybrid and total genre. The grand honorary award will be given to director Peter Weir, author of varied films, among which the baroque The Truman Show stands out, in which the Segismundo of the moment (Jim Carrey) finds himself tragicallyomicly trapped - without him knowing it, a priori - in a world that is nothing more than a huge set. His adventures and misadventures constitute a reality show for viewers, fascinated by the unconsciousness and authenticity of the actor (who doesn't know he is one). The identification of the film's viewer with those television viewers is inevitable, as well as eventually with the protagonist's life - restricted in freedoms - alternating between the condition of misunderstood protagonist and of a chorus that sings, celebrates, or mourns the hero's fate, from a highly empathetic distance. In this way, the essence of cinematic fantasy is reproduced, the vision that unfolds and is realized from an only apparently passive position, as Hitchcock taught in Rear Window.
The representation of fantasy provokes an excess of reality or surrealism that coexists perfectly with everyday reality, however insensitive the viewer may be.Another honorary award winner, in the actor category, is Ed Harris, which curiously characterized the figure of the director in Weir's fiction. Series lovers will remember him for his role as a timeless outlaw, trapped -in this case voluntarily- in the recreation ofWestworld. This successful HBO series stages a lawless theme park, populated by human-looking automatons that let themselves be done everything withoutbarelyawareness of its artificial condition, which points to powerful links with an essential title for science fiction, such asBlade Runner. Part of the series' greatness, in this same sense, lies in the exploitation of the ambiguous line that separates and brings together human and artificial beings: the former capable of manifestly irrational behaviors (violence/desire), the latter increasingly self-aware, with a memory that develops through feelings associated with their past life, and even their dreaded end, in the vein of that final monologue ("like tears in the rain...") solemnly delivered by the replicant in Ridley Scott's film. It occurs in front of an astonished Harrison Ford, who has been saved by the killer only to hear his story -to be a spectator- and safeguard his testimony beyond time, an activity that is (was) considered exclusively "human".
Along with Ed Harris, Nicolas Cage is the other actor who will receive that award, protagonist of films such as Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas or -since we're talking about mysterious (and joyful) bifurcations- of Spike Jonze's essential Adaptation. In this outlandish sequel to Being John Malkovich, prolific in metafiction effects, Cage plays both Charlie Kaufman -screenwriter of that film- and his twin brother, Donald (an aspiring screenwriter in fiction, but completely nonexistent in real life... despite having been nominated for the Oscars, Golden Globe, and British Academy Awards, for being credited alongside Charlie as responsible for the screenplay!). The representation of fantasy provokes that excess of reality or surrealism that coexists perfectly with everyday reality, however insensitive the viewer may be to their daily life.
Many films can be seen in the festival's Official Section, and which abound in the existence of possible worlds, similar or related to the supposedly real. In addition to the big names in the circuit -Lars von Trier, with the premiere of his The House That Jack Built, for example- attention is paid to alternative North American production and to creators from our closest context, configuring in short a program of great appeal. We cannot conclude without remembering one of the most anticipated presences: the concert performance of John Carpenter, author of memorable horror films, as well as composer of their soundtracks.