Festival season aside, we’re in the late-August/early-September doldrums, with disappointingly little to see in theaters for the next few weeks. Or maybe just in mainstream theaters, anyway: if you look a little closer, you can find some arthouse gems. One such film is Ari Folman‘s "The Congress," which opened a week or so back and will hit more screens as the month goes on.
The Israeli director’s follow-up to his much-acclaimed "Waltz With Bashir," the film is a trippy hybrid of live-action and animation that sees an astonishing performance from Robin Wright playing a version of herself, an aging movie star who sells the rights to her image to studio Miramount in order to care for her son. It’s bold, heady, colorful, unlike anything you’ve ever seen, and you can have a proper look at the film with an exclusive featurette that Drafthouse have given us.
Featuring a montage of footage from the film over an interview with Wright discussing the future of acting (one of the many subjects of the film), it’s a pretty good indicator of what you can expect. The film also stars Harvey Keitel, Danny Huston, Jon Hamm and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and you can take a look at the clip below, along with the full synopsis.
More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, an aging actress (Robin Wright, playing a version of herself) decides to take her final job: preserving her digital likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal brokered by her loyal, longtime agent (Harvey Keitel) and the head of Miramount Studios (Danny Huston), her alias will be controlled by the studio, and will star in any film they want with no restrictions. In return, she receives healthy compensation so she can care for her ailing son and her digitized character will stay forever young. Twenty years later, under the creative vision of the studio’s head animator (Jon Hamm), Wright’s digital double rises to immortal stardom. With her contract expiring, she is invited to take part in “The Congress” convention as she makes her comeback straight into the world of future fantasy cinema.
This movie is a gem in a sea of conformism and crap. I was very moved by Wrightâs performance and there are 3 or 4 scenes that would be Oscar worthy for her if this film had industry channels for award season. I donât need to tell you that not the best films and the best performances made it to the awards seasonâs interest, but only the ones that the industry itself decided based on the stars they want to bring to the spotlight. Itâs a shame that Robin Wright always refused to play the game, otherwise sheâd already have more than one Oscar in her house.