Right off the bat the visual sequencing of madcap knock-on effects creates a dynamic rhythm that enables kids to appreciate the comical cycle, which takes us, in record time, from a tribesman shooting a dart in an Amazonian rainforest to a fish saved in the nick of a time by a tiger in the middle of the Milky Way.
This orchestration is as fast and precise as the dart fired at the prey, but it also allows little pauses that make viewers suddenly contemplate the infinite space surrounding hapless characters who are blinded by their own single-minded pursuits. It plays on the feeling of being in a zero-gravity atmosphere that renders even the most simple movements challenging and absurd.
The characters’ gestures (a raised eyebrow, a drawn claw, a shifting eye) effectively convey the essence of the sentiments being expressed.
There is ample further evidence of the attention to detail in every part of the film, not just the story and the technical production – details such as the black marks left on the floor by the tiger’s feet, the bubbles from the fish that momentarily merge with the reflection of the Earth, and the fleeting reflection of the approaching tiger in the astronaut’s helmet. Such touches do more than hint at the potential of the young creators who made this film.
So Voyagers goes beyond the style exercises to be expected from a graduation film and displays an impressive variety and subtlety in the use of visual materials, textures and forms (as can be seen from the way water transforms into an ice cube, or the scratches on the glass, or the tiger’s suppleness). The use of sounds is also remarkable (such as the “cling” of the dart, the sound of the bodies being sucked into the vacuum, or the combination of the door springing opening and the tiger growling) even amid a dynamic and sometimes quite conventional score.
The story of the film makes us wonder about an individual’s place in the grand scheme of history. What is the significance of one little creature in a vast universe? A creature, moreover, that remains gripped by an obsession: to kill animals and control plants. A primitive man and a standardbearer for space technology find their approaches to life called into question, along with their ability to handle risk (a tiger in a spacecraft) and accidents (a fish floating away) in a sterile and stage-managed universe in which computers anticipate everything, everywhere. Such concerns are sure to interest all fans of 3D…
