Dante 01 (review)

It is impossible to write about Marc Caro without making reference to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director with whom he made a number of shorts and the successful feature films Delicatessen(France 1991) and La cité des enfants perdus( City of Lost Children; France/Germany/Spain 1995). Jeunet went on to direct Alien: Resurrection(US 1997), the immensely successful Le destin fabuleux d'Amélie Poulain( Amélie; France/Germany 2001) and Un long dimanche de fiançailles( A Very Long Engagement;France/US 2004). Caro, meanwhile, has had to wait over a decade for the chance to direct his first solo feature, a space prison colony film called Dante 01.

There is no indication that Jeunet and Caro parted with bitterness, since they have said that they only collaborated on projects for which they both cared (Michaud and d'Yvoire 69), and Caro still considers himself to be a friend of Jeunet (Beiramar). However, Jeunet's success in comparison to Caro is marked, and one could be forgiven for thinking that the latter might feel some resentment, not least because Dante 01,a film that takes place entirely within the confines of a remote space station which is divided into two distinct parts (one for the prisoners, one for the wardens) and thought to be threatened by an alien presence, is reminiscent of the Alienfilm made beforeJeunet's effort, the underappreciated Alien ³(Fincher US 1992). In other words, one might infer that Caro is declaring his preference for Fincher's pared-down and troubled production (complete with bald-headed protagonists who look like something out of Chris Cunningham's video for the Aphex Twin's 'Daddy Knows Best') over the more upscale, equally troubled and slightly garbled Jeunet film.

However, although Dante 01does bear a strong resemblance to Alien ³, this is probably because it is more in keeping with Caro's style. (Of Caro and Jeunet's joint films, Dante 01most closely resembles Le bunker de la dernière rafale( Bunker of the Last Gunshots; France 1981), a short film about skinhead soldiers locked in a bunker in the future and subjected to scientific experiments (see Ezra, Jean-Pierre Jeunet,17–20)). Considering their solo work, one might surmise of the Jeunet–Caro films that, as Guillaume Loison suggests, it was Caro who favoured the darkness and scientific/technological elements all along, while Jeunet was keener to tell stories. Alien: Resurrectionseems to have been an uncomfortable film for Jeunet (see Ezra, 'Resurrecting'), who has not worked in Hollywood since, apparently from choice (he turned down the opportunity to direct a Harry Potterfilm (Ezra, Jean-Pierre Jeunet,2)). Sf without Caro was not Jeunet's strong suit, and his subsequent films are lighter in tone than Delicatessenand La cité des enfants perdus.It is widely recognised that Caro was in charge of visuals and artistic design in their collaborative films, not least because of his background in comic books such as Métal hurlant,while Jeunet worked with the actors (e.g. Ezra, Jean-Pierre Jeunet,3). Furthermore, while all of Jeunet's films take place in relatively confined locations (Ezra, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 17), the claustrophobic feel of Delicatessenand La cité des enfants perdus– intensified by the decision to have so much of the screen in darkness so much of the time – is surely a trait more attributable to Caro, as the crepuscular Dante 01,contrasted to the relative whimsy of Amélieand Un long dimanche,demonstrates.

In other words, it would seem natural for Caro's first solo feature to be a cloistered sf film defined by its darkness, shadows and a predilection for technology and special effects, even if the pared-down look is due in part to budgetary constraints: Dante 01certainly cost less than the rumoured €60 million, with Caro saying he got less than half that amount (Beiramar) and Allocinélisting a budget of €8 million (various other projects were abandoned as too costly (see...