Raoul Servais, the infamous Belgian animator has proved in many cases he's a master in his job. Nevertheless i must say, Taxandria, one of the bigger Belgian projects from that time does not have the "magic" that's so frequently talked (or whispered) about in the story itself. As an experiment it would've been a great try, since this movie consists of admittedly good technical efforts by trying to melt real cinéma with the drawn and painted world of Raoul Servais. Yet, the film is too long to enjoy and the whole cannot be seen as an experiment. it was too expensive in the first place to be "just an experiment". I don't understand they directed themselves to a younger public, so you get the feeling the story suffers from space to breath. The story is about a young rich boy who's at sea with his private teacher when he discovers the world of Taxandria where it is forbidden to make drawings and images. the journey of the boy to make wrong things back right is meant to be a "magic" voyage into the world of Taxandria with its strange personalities. Like i said, the magic is never there. The story is a good attempt to pull the attention of the younger kids to get involved with art and animation since there are many hints to famous (Belgian) artists such as the wonderful Delvaux. Unfortunately this failed and above all the movie feels already dated. If you want to feel magic and see weird personalities in a world where kids rule the set, go watch "LA CITE DES ENFANTS PERDUS".
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xrellerx17 June 2001
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myriamlenys25 January 2018"Taxandria" is a work made by Ostend-born director Raoul Servais, who used an highly unusual animation technique. I can't say it's a total success : it took a very long time to make and various switches in artistic approach and viewpoint resulted in a certain loss of impact. However, it contains images of great beauty and fascination, just as it contains moments of uncanny surprise or nightmarish absurdity. Lovers of Belgian surrealism can amuse themselves by noting the references to the work of painters such as Magritte and Delvaux.
As far as I know, "Taxandria" was not a great success at the box office. The reasons why it didn't do so well are probably many and various. Still, I suppose that at least some of its satirical barbs about the dangers of oppressive over-conformity and bureaucratic tyranny were too astute and accurate to be comfortable. The movie's unpleasant dystopia is not wholly and totally removed from real-life Belgium, as indicated by its name, which refers to a Roman name for a geographical area now part of Belgium.
"Taxandria" is also eerily prescient. One of the themes is mandatory loss of identity, which is enforced by cutting the individual off from both past and future. Compare to our current Western society, where people who should know better openly question or dismiss the relevance of disciplines and sciences such as history (boring), philosophy (boringer) or classic languages (boringest). Or simply watch current news programmes, with their quick and superficial items and their "horror vacui" sensory overload...
Do check out Servais' other animation and graphic work. For instance, there's "Nachtvlinders" (Night moths), a genius short about the work of painter Delvaux, which breathes a truly unsettling and slippery atmosphere. -
All i can say that this movie was so weird that even today i remember the paralel-dimension scenes, the weird animation scenes and the fact the movie feels like you are walking into another paralel dimension, because is too well photographe and directed.the influence this movie have in the kind of movies i like is enough that, let just say, since this movie i love when a grounded in reality movie with real people and real places, then in the middle becomes a sci-fi and the people start reacting and doing things that look grounded, but in another time or space.
The first time was cinemax, afternoon, and was because looked so classic and then started the sci-fi and i love when a movie does that.
Dont show me a new world, show me real people into another world at the middle of the movie and will be great, like deja vu, tenet, back to the future, looper, etc if i was a director, i would like this kind of movie to direct at some point.