BIFF Movie # 6 - The Congress

This is quite a difficult movie to review, especially so far after the fact.  But "The Congress" was so good it's not hard to throw my mind back to it.  The Congress is a real mind-bender of a film, definitely one for those with more adventurous tastes in movies and you need to be prepared that half the movie has been done in animation rather than live action.

The Congress starts off as a very sharp satire of the Hollywood movie industry.  It stars Robin Wright (who most will know as the beautiful Buttercup in "The Princess Bride" but she has had an on and off hit and miss acting career over time which is quite relevant to this movie) and it's important to know she was also a producer on this film.  Robin here plays Robin Wright, an actress in her mid 40s who still looks beautiful but given her age and poor career choices doesn't have many prospects for film roles from here on.  She is approached by the head of fictional movie studio 'Miramount' to sign a contract for a new concept whereby she is scanned, digitalised and owned by the studio to use in any movies or any way the studio deems appropriate for the rest of time.  The real actress must retire and never act again.  The studio boss (played well by Danny Huston) uses some very sharp personal criticism to goad Robin into signing the contract for a cheap price.  The debate about whether to sign between Robin, her agent Al (played by Harvey Keitel) and her children, a son with a serious medical condition (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and a precocious teen daughter (Sami Gayle) is interesting and raises many valid points about the current Hollywood system and our general fame obsessed culture.  This takes up about the first third of the movie.

The next phase takes place when Robin agrees to the contract and gets scanned - an extremely powerful extended scene between Robin and Harvey Keitel.  Then an indeterminate period of time has passed and an older Robin is driving to a town where she has been invited to appear at "The Congress".  To enter she must take a pill that converts her into animated form in an animated world, and this is where the film a huge leap which you may or may not be able to follow.  Robin is ostensibly being feted but decides to use the platform to criticise Miramount, which sets off a chain reaction of events weird and wonderful.  You definitely find yourself wondering "is this all a dream" before a scene towards the end starts to clarify what is really happening, so stick with it.

While this film doesn't necessarily make a whole lot of sense plot wise, it is a visual treat and a very smart commentary on our current pop culture obsessions versus what is really important in life.  Totally original and a lot of fun if you are willing to take a bit of a risk.