The Congress

80
  • NR
In his novel The Futurological Congress, the great science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem foresaw a worldwide chemical dictatorship run by the leading pharmaceutical companies. Written in the late 1960s, the book depicted drug manufacturers' complete...read more
Available to stream, rent, or purchase on:

In his novel The Futurological Congress, the great science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem foresaw a worldwide chemical dictatorship run by the leading pharmaceutical companies. Written in the late 1960s, the book depicted drug manufacturers' complete control of our entire range of emotions, from love and longings, to jealousy and deadly fear. Lem, considered sci-fi's greatest prophet and philosopher (alongside Philip K Dick), could not have realized how prescient he was in predicting the start of the third millennium. Into the psychochemical whirlwind foreseen by Lem, the film adaptation of his novel introduces the current cinematic technologies of 3-D and motion capture, which threaten to eradicate the cinema we grew up on. In the post-Avatar era, every filmmaker must ponder whether flesh and blood actors who have ruled our imaginations since childhood can be replaced by computer generated 3-D images. Can these computerized characters create in us the same excitement and enthusiasm, and does it truly matter? The film, entitled The Congress, takes 3-D computer images one step further, developing them into a chemical formula that every customer may consume through prescription pills, thereby compiling in their minds the movies they have always wanted to see, staging their fantasies, and casting the actors they adore. In this world, these beloved creatures of stage and cinema become futile relics, lacking in content, remembered by no one. Where, then, do these actors go after selling their souls and identities to the studio devil?

Original Release

05/16/2013

US Release

07/24/2014

Links

Cast

(see additional cast & crew)

Directors

Ari Folman

Writers

Stanisław Lem, Ari Folman

Cast

Producers

Editors

Nili Feller

Ouch! Looks like something broke. Try reloading this page. 🗙