FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL
A group of people wake up on a giant starship and wonder why they are there, what their purpose id, where they are going, and why. This group is composed of widely different people including an astronomer, a physiologist, a biologist, a reporter, etc. The film follows their activities and interactions as they question everything and as they wonder the meaning of everything. Not a lot happens besides conversations that do not go anywhere really. Even the apparition of a women on television screens who is not part of the crew on the ship or the multiplication of one character are not explored or taken anywhere, they only bring more questions and very few answers. This is a film about the meaning of live in a way, but it brings no information, just questions through a rather lackluster story.
Writer/director Philippe Fernandez built a story around conversations that are deep and meant to be profound and philosophical but only to get the viewer lost and slowly checking out of the film. It may be more entertaining to someone with a background in one of the sciences represented by the characters but to a mere film fan with no such knowledge, it can become tedious and rather boring. The characters are lost and so was this viewer’s attention.
The story here may not keep the attention but it does not mean Cosmodrama is not a well-crafted film. The sets and costumes look directly taken from 1960s to 1970s sci-fi television shows and movies. The retro-futuristic look is comforting like an old blanket or grandma’s cooking to any fan of this genre. It looks and feels familiar but it can only help so much. The decors and costumes are colorful and fun, possibly making what happens in and around them even more drab and lifeless.
In this setting and with this story, a cast of fairly talented actors recite a ton of dialog. They look like they are indeed wanting to know what they are doing there, but it may be more because of the story’s lack of interest than because they are left on a starship in the middle of space with no idea as to why they are even there. The cast is good at what is given to them, but none really shines or shows off stellar chops. They also do not ham it up, so there is no sense of cheese in this whole thing to make it more palatable.
Cosmodrama is a familiar looking, familiar sounding film that is well shot and well-acted, but feels like it’s trying to go deeper than its genre predecessors only to end up with a bland finished product. This is a case of all wrapping, not contents, like a shiny empty box.