Besson

It took long to go and see the film director Luc Besson (photo).

Two hours drive from Paris to the west took me to the grass fields of Normandy where the cows and sheep roam about. Luc Besson’s “Digital Factory" stood right in the middle of the plain. The space was quite far from the image of a factory. On the well tendered grass the buildings big and small, with a theater or a restaurant, were located just right. A small river flew through the buildings that created a pastoral air. It was a space completely free of the noises of the city where one can rejoice unlimitedly over nature. It made me think that this was the place for his upcoming film Arthur and the Minimoys. Arthur and the Minimoys is a film produced targeted to be played simultaneously worldwide in the Christmas season. It is a 3D animation film featured by photo-reality.

Director Luc Besson welcomed the audience to the premiere with his ample figure and humorous comments. He explained that his “work is almost complete except for some parts in the visual and sound.”

Arthur and the Minimoys, like Harry Porter and the Lord of the Rings, is a fantasy. A boy named Arthur who lives alone with his grandmother in an isolated house finds a letter of spells left by his grandfather and goes on an expenditure in the world of Minimoys to find the treasure. Minimoys are 2mm-tall living creatures sojourning in the garden of Arthur`s house.

This work is, as an animated film should be, full of imagination. Speedy shots unique to Luc Besson followed one after another. The film played on this day is the first part of the trilogy series, which will be produced, based on the novel with the same title written by Luc Besson himself. I felt curious why he decided to write Arthur and the Minimoys after gaining fame through Leon, the Fifth Element and Grand Blue. To this simple question he gave a very philosophic answer.

“The world is too confused now. People tend to be excessively cynical. They’re too far away from the nature, too. Human beings die when they are alienated from nature. This is a part of the nature that lives in harmony with it. I conveyed in my work my desire to rediscover the nature.”

In his film also appears the Bogomatasalairas, an African aboriginal tribe as tall as 2 meters. “The worlds in the view of 2 meters tall Bogomatasalairas and the 2mm Minimoys tall do not match,” he says. “When the two creatures join their hands they’ll be able to view the whole world.” He explained that he also dealt with such themes as racism and the struggle between classes. Right before the premier he asked the audience to return to the times when they were 10 year-olds and watch the movie. What would he have been like when he was a 10-year-old boy?

“There was no TV, internet or video games when I was ten. Since toys were not abundant either, I created my own toys to play with. I could extend my imagination beyond limit. I revived my imagination in those times to shoot Arthur and the Minimoys.”

Luc Besson still uses a pen rather than a computer when he writes. He does not use the e-mail either.

He plans to make this film his last work as a director, though not as a producer. He made a comparison to a runner to explain why.

“The biggest goal of a runner is to break his or her own record. Running stops the moment the runner realizes that no more new record will be made.”

gold@donga.com