Vanina Michel

The sky is blue above the tiled swimming-pool... In this smooth and impersonal setting, a watcher and a changing-room attendant chase and overbid each other in the hope of eventually finding a way out. With the passing hours, hope is repeatedly broken and rebuilt.

"Un enfant dans la ville" was originally a Michel Fugain album, a record that already told a story. Now it's a musical comedy filmed for television, giving life to its characters and taking up the story of the record, that of today's generation, not quite at ease in their sneakers and trying to untie the laces of truth.

A kaleidoscope of images from history populate this skillfully animated French feature. The story concerns a history professor whose ideas about human history cause him distress. Amid a flurry of newsreel-type images, Joan of Arc's trial is shown. Another theme which emerges is of two ages (in the far past and far future) in which naked humans fight one another with animalistic aggression.

The producers of this French film took approximately 100 people, put them on a soundstage and had them improvise this film based on the premise that they are on a spaceship escaping from the dictators of earth and only have a few days to live. Improvisation is a dangerous art-form; unprepared amateurs invariably come up with gross caricatures when challenged to improvise. The actors' choices in this film include an allegorical pageant of the life of Jesus, a marriage, an orgy, and some genuinely affectionate moments. Nonetheless, as an experimental effort in large-group improvisation, the film is instructive. - Clarke Fountain, Rovi