PANIQUE AU VILLAGE (A TOWN CALLED PANIC) [2009]

A TOWN CALLED BRILLIANCE

2009, Belgium/Luxembourg/France
Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
8 // 10

Can the difference between madness and brilliance be measured in bricks? How many people (including me) never had any idea what was behind those stupid milk adverts? How many piano lessons would you take to impress a horse? There's only one way to find out!

Like so many other films from my rental queue, when Panique au village arrived at my doorstep it had me scratching my head trying to remember when did I add it there, and why. I had absolutely no recollection of what had sparked my interest in the first place and why did I decide that the film was worth watching (or what it was about). What's really ironic though, was that it arrived in the same package as Frozen, and we all know only too well, how did that one go. So, two animations, back to back, and two worlds that couldn't be any further apart. Where Frozen excels in visuals, Panique au village almost shocks with austerity and crudeness, but while Frozen falls flat on its face with the lack of the story and originality, Panique... throws at a viewer insane ideas with such abundance, you start to worry about the mental state of people who conceived it.

To put it shortly, it's sheer brilliance.

But it's not for everyone. To be honest, I'm not entirely fair here, taking the advantage of the fact, that I happened to watch those two films in such a proximity, which was, to a point, coincidental. Otherwise, they shouldn't really be compared like that since it would be a little bit like talking about differences between Delicatessen and Sleepless In Seattle. You could, but it'd be mostly pointless. It's a film for a completely different audience and with a totally different mentality behind it. It's not surprising, that the short animated series, of which Panique... is a spin off is distributed by Aardman Animations. There is some degree of Wallace & Gromit or Creature Comforts pedigree visible here, but it's more wacky, more surreal and much, much more experimental. It's also not much of a surprise that the creators of Panique... quote Terry Gilliam's animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus as one of their main artistic inspirations. What sets Aubier and Patar apart though, is their very unique simplistic, crude, ascetic even, style. As they mention in a short interview available on the DVD release, the main idea for the setting and the characters came from browsing through old toys in the flea markets, where little toy figurines of Cowboy, Indian and Horse seemed to have been a common theme at the time. And although they use animation models that resemble those popular, generic toys, many scenes are made in such a primitive way, with the animation effort reduced to such minimum, that actual ready-made, non-flexible toys could have been used just as well.

And yet, it simply doesn't matter. It's a visual language, and as every other language, its strength and raison d'être is dependant on the story it's being used to tell. As it happens, in the case of Panique au village, the style and the story work together to a brilliant and at times absolutely hilarious effect. Cheval driving his car or smooching Madame Longrée, Steven, the farmer, rescuing his beloved tractor or grey-haired mad scientists face-punching a mammoth are laugh-out-loud funny but, I think, the best in terms of comedy value, what Panique... has got to offer is that stark contrast between the serious and over-dramatic voice acting pitched against the ridiculous toy figurines. It's the type of sense of humour that by no means will appeal to everybody and I would strongly recommend proceeding with caution, but as far as original, intelligent and innovative filmmaking goes, Panique au village is an act of pure, undiluted brilliant madness. Chapeau bas, messieurs.