A Renaissance of Style

Let me start off by saying that Christian Volckman’s film ‘Renaissance’ is one of the most stunning visual and stylistic films that I have ever seen. The film takes advantage of positive and negative space by using only stark blacks and whites and some saturated black hues to give the film a look similar to comic books like ‘Sin City’. The movements of the characters are done in such a way that the animation doesn’t take you out of the story, and the backdrop of the futuristic cityscapes is breathtaking.

In a world where extended youth and beauty (much like our own) are more important than compassion, Avalon, a huge corporation dedicated to keeping humanity young sends a police detective on a search for one of their scientists that has gone missing. While on the trail of the missing scientist, who happen to be a hot, young woman the story starts to unravel. I got the feeling that the filmmakers were more interested in creating a unique looking film, and put more thought into the technology used to animate ‘Renaissance’ than they did into the story.

I could watch this film again with the sound off and some music on in the background because visually it’s a wondrous experience, but I felt like the story and character development were really weak. If the filmmakers ever use this style again, but this time combine the amazing visuals with a tight and well-structured story they would really have something special on their hands.

So check ‘Renaissance’ out because it is definitely worth seeing, but know that you’re going to get a visual treat without much meat in the story department. This was almost a killer film.