There was an American TV series called "The Man in the High Castle", which discussed the world after the victory of fascism in World War II, and "Avril and the Fictional World" made a similar assumption, a world where technology has not progressed.
The story tells that scientists in the world began to disappear collectively, no one invents electricity, invents airplanes, people live in a world where coal is the main energy source, old-fashioned steam locomotives, airships are the main means of transportation, and plants are almost extinct. The only remaining scientists were requisitioned by the government to develop weapons, while the parents of the heroine Avril were being traced and put the potion of immortality into the glass ball. The glass ball is the key for mankind to get out of the barren and depressing history.
The story progresses with love, betrayal, reunion, sacrifice, absurd perseverance pursuits and great, even unrealistic ideals, and the final story ends with a green planet after a rocket lifts off, technology restarts, electricity is invented, invention The plane, successfully landed on the moon, (although the medicine of immortality did not succeed in humans). Stray cats can also return to their hometowns. The scenes of the steam era reproduced in the movie, coupled with the heroine's rather punk character, constitute the image of Doctor Strange in this steam era.
In fact, behind the crazy assumptions and stories on the surface, what I feel is nostalgia. The utopia of free scientific research that scientists yearn for, the eternal green universe pursued by lizards, or the greenness and cleanliness that people crave in the coal society, the cat wandering in the universe finally hopes to return to the earth, or in the carbon dust. A clear crystal ball in the years, everyone is looking for a home that can be fulfilled. Although on the surface people are looking for relatives and success, but in the end, they are still missing their homesickness in the years.
Unlike Hollywood's love of 3D or clay, European animation always has a different style, such as "Crazy Dating Beautiful City", which is my favorite, or "Song of the Sea", which was very popular some time ago. In "Avelle and the Fictional World", there are not even many strokes on the screen, large blocks of color and composition, and the agile expressions exert a full two-dimensional charm, which is in line with the Japanese style represented by Hayao Miyazaki. Anime is close.
The most beautiful thing in the movie is the crystal ball, the assumption that there is no boundary under the premise of "what if". In the era of Hollywood where special effects are flying, it is also very precious to talk about the worldview framed by several strokes.
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