Renaissance

Renaissance is a French black and white animated motion-capture film (that's a lot of adjectives) set in Paris, A.D. 2054. It is a little known film that was just released on DVD. The U.S. version is in English, with Daniel Craig playing the lead, Karas. Karas is a detective in search for a young scientist, Ilona Tasuiev. Tasuiev had been doing research for a mega-corporation, Avalon, who is in the business of making people healthier, stronger, happier, etc. Renaissance plays like a noir film. We follow ever move Karas makes as he slowly uncovers the truth about what Tasuiev was working on, and why it is so important. It is easy to tell that the film is highly influenced by one of the greatest sci-fi films of all-time, Blade Runner.
The theme of immortality begins to take center stage as the film progresses. Would we as humans want immortality? Avalon wants to make people "better" on the surface. So why not have people stay "pretty" forever? Yet an interesting point is made by one of the scientists who was working on the cure for death: "Without death, life is meaningless." Without an end, we would not value the life we have now. We would take everything for granted. There would be no need to savor this minute because we would have an infinite amout of minutes in the future. Another thought, what about having to give an account of our lives (judgment - it's not all bad)? If we never die then we are never held accountable for our actions. And, of course, there would be "no need" for heaven.
The plot is exciting and interesting, but what makes the film stand out is its stunning visual style. As I stated before, the film is black and white (no shades of gray at all). The world created by the style is engulfing. Sometimes I found myself forgetting what was going on just to watch the beautiful animation. It truly is a sight to behold, if you enjoy that sort of thing, completely different than any animation I have ever seen. Renaissance satiates that hunger for imagination and originality in an industry of copycats.