Valerian and the City of Red Tape
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Luc Besson’s new blockbuster, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, is based on a fantastic and highly influential French graphic novel series Valerian and Laureline.
But what I like most about Valerian isn’t the creativity and humor of its characters, the originality of its alien worlds, or even its inventive, bold artwork... It's the ideas.
For a transcript of this episode and more engaging content, visit:
www.FEE.org
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Video
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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets theatrical trailers & teasers (2017)
Subway (1985)
Le Grand Bleu (1988)
Léon: The Professional (1994)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Ferris Beuller's Day Off (1986)
The Lorax (2012)
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Blade Runner (1982)
Total Recall (1990)
RoboCop (1987)
Wall Street (1987)
Speed Racer (2008)
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Comics
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Valerian & Laureline titles:
"The City of Shifting Waters"
"The Empire of a Thousand Planets"
"The Land Without Stars"
"Welcome to Alflolol"
"Birds of the Master"
"Ambassador of the Shadows"
"On the False Earth"
"Heroes of the Equinox"
"The Wrath of the Hypsis"
"The LIving Weapons"
"The Circles of Power"
"Hostages of Ultralum"
"Orphan of the Stars"
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Music
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David Arnold (Original Score)
PremiumBeat.com
Chill Study: Brooklyn Drive
Written, Produced, and Edited by Sean W. Malone
I feel like those comics would've been better as an animated cartoon because there'd be more time fully develop these characters and the ideas you spoke of.
edwin henri Seek out the anime, Valerian and Laureline. It is much closer the French graphic novel, and at 25 episodes, it has time to explore the characters and setting.
@@melissaquinn1463 The cartoon is much different than the comics but still better then the film and it has 40 episodes.
They don't even make good cartoons, there was an anime that was based on the comics and it had the same problems the movie had.
Old thread but I’ll throwin my two cents anyways..
All comic adaptation should be animated. It would represent the source material better and we could get away from actors who get all preachy about their role (marc ruffalo/hulk) or refuses to wear the traditional costume of the character they’ve been hired to represent (jeremy rener/hawkeye). Renner really hurt the avengers movies in my opinion.
Having read Valerian, I certainly agree that "The Heroes of the Equinox" (also something of a parody or pastiche of Superhero-comics) defends a general liberalism against dogmatic ideologies represented by eastern european communism, fascism/imperialism (represented by a hero as from a Wagner opera) and some kind of New Age hippie-alternative. However I would not say that it mainly supports liberal/libertarian economic doctrines as a main theme. "The empire of a thousand planets" could be seen as depicting what a marxist would call a bourgeoise revolution (that in that perspective is not the last). Being drawn in the late 60's that is pretty in line with the spirit of the time. "Welcometo Alfolol" is anti-colonialism and slightly New Age-ish (similar to the later Avatar...), and in many of the albums you may see a crtitique of capitalism. The character Laureline is something of a feminist statement (esp. in the context of francobelgian comics of the time!) and yet the album "On the false earth" (that actually has some similarities to Westworld and Bladerunner, althought it is not the same theme) you may see some "on the other side"-arguments regarding feminism (such as *men* being treated as disposable goods in war..). I agree that the Valerian is about ideas, but I would say it stimulates reflection rather than promotes *any* single ideology throughout the series... ...and *that* is maybe the cerebral function of art: to provoke thought.
You make some pretty fair points here, and I wouldn't say that every single storyline is entirely in line with classical liberalism. Though I would say that I have mixed feelings about Welcome to Alfolol. Yes, it definitely has a clear anti-colonial theme that has some parallels to both the French/Europeans in Africa and the treatment of Native Americans in the US, I don't think that should be seen as at all at odds with libertarian philosophy.
For one thing, the family that returns to the planet in that story clearly sees the planet to be their property, and in terms of their lifespans it's made fairly clear that they were only gone for a short while, so to them Earth people basically started squatting on their land while they went on vacation.
For another, the storyline also recognizes how weird and complex it is to have a species be gone for thousands of years suddenly to return and want their homes back, and Valerian & Laureline offer a few different ways of coming to a compromise situation.
But it does have a pretty solid property-rights theme. Much stronger than Avatar has, for that matter. Though yes, it gets a bit New-Agey.
I also don't really see Empire of a Thousand Planets being a bourgeois revolution really, as nobody seems interested in egalitarianism or redistribution so much as they're interested in reinstituting a regime defined by free immigration and trade.
But you're right, many of the stories are about ideas beyond classical liberalism, including themes of 1st/2nd wave feminism (and male disposibility, which is a great point!) and the horrors of war.
I'm pretty ok with all these themes though :)
There tend rather toward the libertarian left : fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9rian_et_Laureline#Critiques_sociales
"Les Oiseaux du Maitre" illustrate pretty well that.
Nope. Because there are typically left libertarian; so productionist authoritarian self sacrifice for so called "state or collectivism" is not what they believe, military society is clairly also not in there conception of world (see destruction of the 20th world and "Galaxity"), and ecolo snobe hippie style primitivist is not an alternativ for why they believe, just a straw man. Valérian believe in self determination, he don't think he is apt to decide for other, that simply as that.
In France ? Oh bah je galère déjà bien assez à traduire ça en anglais go google trad ;)
The movie speak more about "L'ambassadeur des ombres ( image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2018/34/2/1534819490-l-empire-des-ombres-ex.png ) than "then empire of thousand..." when human want to claim hegemony on sentient (?) life in the galaxy ( image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2018/34/2/1534819735-human-imperialism-go-google-trad.png).
Well done! I had no idea about the background of this film. I love these Out of Frame video essays; keep them coming! You should do one of them on the Firefly series.
Great idea!
I would have preferred you wait until the movie came out, then you could have made these observations about the comics AND pointed out why this movie was such a flop.
Looking back, I'm not sure if the movie did or did not create such an allegory. What I really remember was how all-over-the-place the story was. It lacked a linear narrative, and instead felt like a season-long story arc was crushed into a movie's runtime, so you had a bunch of unconnected episodic "quests" which only served to get characters from Point A to Point B within the arc without a cohesive idea of what was happening.
that kubo and the two strings was so nice. gonna check out this books tho. and I think there's a game
Kubo was one of my favorite films from last year.
Honestly, with how you describe this series, it sounds a lot like a French version of Star Trek or Dan Dare. Thanks for the video, I'll probably check it out!
That was brilliant, thank you
Great video. I found it in depth and chucked full of great information. Thanks. Best day & Best wishes to you & yours. :)
Have you seen the movie yet?
and if so what did you think?
I have since seen the movie a couple times. I won't get into it too much, but there was a great set-up in the first few minutes, but it got really bogged down by exposition-heavy dialogue and a story that really didn't touch on many of the themes I talk about in the video here. In my humble opinion, it also got Laureline & Valerian's characters wrong in some pretty important ways, which was surprising given how big a fan Luc Besson always said he was. In the end I did buy the movie and have watched it since I saw it in theaters, but the source material is much better.
-Sean
Foundation for Economic Education Thanks for replying.
I felt like there was a decent (not great) movie hidden somewhere inside.
I watched the movie, and thought it very dull. I was puzzled about the perspective in the video until I realised it was all about the comics, not the movie. Looks like the source material is way better. I'll have to read it now.
JP Bochi yeah, I wrote/made this video before the movie was out.
Great video :) i shared it to a fan page of Valerian comic book/movie where i am co-editor. Great personal in depth analysis. Most of the movie story is based on volume 6 "Ambassador of the shadows" and not "Empire of a thousand planets"
Nuno Caetano I definitely caught a little bit of Ambassador of the Shadows stuff, but it seems like it's mixing a lot of elements from different books.
Yeah probably you are right, have to wait 27th July in my country to check for myself :) I said that because it is what Luc Besson himself said number of times, even when the shooting took place and he received visitors on a daily basis in Cité de cinema (his studio) the comic book they offer to them was "Ambassador of the shadows". But yeah each volume itself is 20-30 minutes reading and he had to incorporate stuff from other volumes and invent some more.
Its also stated that he has grew up on the books so overall I think he will do well with this film
Nicely done, mate! This is a Sci-fi world that I am just learning about.
I missed the point about 'the City of Red Tape'.
Really GREAT Video !! Thank youuuu
I liked the movie but it missed the mark when it came to ideas in the comic. Your video clearly shows what was missed in the movie.
I am working on some novels to similarly promote some (political) ideas . Sadly, I'm not so good at crafting characters and using show don't tell to incorporate my ideas into characters, subliminally, but I find that “simply”putting my characters in a situation and then having them say in so many words what's on their minds , is a perfectly useful tool to use.
Thanks for the episodes! (all of them, including this one)
Movie was nothing like this, it your video makes me want to read the books.
Isn't the drawing featured in the 0:48 mark, Shan Jiang's?
What you describe of the comics sounds so much more interesting than what came across in the movie. It felt like a more updated FX version of 5th element, without the impact or originality.
Books to look up. Cool.
You should do a video on Brazil, it was an interesting film about over bureaucratic systems
Have you thought about doing a video for the film?
Thanks have read several of the Valerian comics and thoroughly enjoyed them. I liked the film but found the lead male actor not giving justice to Valerian's character. Hope they do a TV series on it.
Your video was fantastic and i wish the director would have touched on those points. For me personally the movie was GORGEOUS BUT the story was week the main characters unpleasant and the whole movie something probably won't watch again. I had no idea it could have been so much more interesting if they had stuck to the source material more.
This would make some S tier anime!
He was dissing Lorax, I know what its message was but come on that was my favorite movie as a little kid
I love the time capsule that is the internet.
The movie should have been an Animated series.
For 200 million dollars for live action CGI, and failing at the box office, yes it would of been wiser to make an animated movie series, it would of saved them lots of money in the end.
Time Jam
@@blvp2145
For $200M it could have been the best animated series ever. Maybe a series of mini series covering each book.
@@thexdatabase Exactly. Time Jam was my introduction to the series, and even though it gets campy as funk at times (wild space dogs!), it's still a load of fun to watch.
"The best dramatic stories stick with you, because there's something in them that comes from the heart, and so, goes to the heart. What comes from the head is perceived by the audience, the child, the electorate, as manipulative. And we may succumb to the manipulative for a moment because it makes us feel good to side with the powerful. But finally we understand we're being manipulated. And we resent it."
Oh boy. This is the exact reason why the movie Valerian was such a flop. It was the story of a people of russeauian noble savages who lived in perfect harmony with their environment - until the ordered, civilized, hierarchical society came along and burned everything to the ground.
Now without a home, these people try to undermine the corrupt society in order to restore the perfect world they had once lost - and they succeed, after Valerian had an emotional epiphany and decides to help them.
Does anyone else recognise this kind of story?
Thus, I would argue that "Valerian: The City of a Thousand Planets" demonstrates that it is not enough to put your ideas into allegories. If said ideas do not reflect on the reality we actually live in, they still get rejected.
Actually the comic is not about that. Valerian is a space adventure agent and laureline is a 10th century jungle lady. Valerian rescue her and fell in love then bring her to join him as agent. They travelling time and space adventure together.
I've long considered science fiction to be the fiction of ideas. And I thought the movie did have some interesting ideas in it, even if I didn't like how they changed the dynamic of the two main characters. I don't know why the movie didn't do very well. But I must admit I've only read a few of the books so far, so there are still plenty left for me to read.
Valarian, City of Exactly One Thousand Ticket Sales
Was this comic, perchance, written around the time of the Iranian, ahem, "Revolution"?
First comic released in 1967
Glad you read the original stories at least!
The film, IMO, was Chew N Spew of the concepts. IMO again they should have just animated "Ambassador of the Shadows" verbatim and left it there.
"Heroes of the Equinox" with it's message on RL political ideas would have been cooler, though the story was weirder.
The movie is based on Ambassador of the Shadows
I enjoyed the movie more than most of the shit that came out this year.
i only time ever i slept in a theater...
was because of this movie...
Guybrush Threepwood problem in full effect, the girl of the pair has no flaws [ at least as described here ]
alot of people are saying that one of the Valeria trailer themes for the movie sounds like gangsters paradise.
Please do a video about the state of the Star Trek franchise.
Note to self: buy translated copies of this comic book series.
Id love to see you respond to tolkien and his hate for allegory despite the clear messages and thoughts he presents to the readers.
Tolkien uses applicability, he tries to use that way more than allegory and he does
I like the anime adaptation!
Two years later .. "No it's not."
man, i sure wish that movie was good
We do not speak of the new Lorax movie.
Hoo boy. Did it ever not really go near the source material. I mean it did in terms of content, even capturing some spirit, but the flow was not well edited in terms of it being a FILM.
Sadly, I agree.
That's interesting and in a way I agree, it felt more like a collection of shiny vignettes than a a structured narrative we're used to. I guess I'm in the minority, but I enjoyed that. But then it's present throughout much of Besson's filmmaking, from Subway to Fifth Element.
I read the first three issues of those comics and it was not my cup of tea storytelling wise and I found it really odd how little Laureline drove the story and how in each episode she was captured and manipulated against her will (transformation, shrinking, enslavement).
Clearly the first few comics are not the best. As it's not a very sequential series maybe try later albums. But of course not everything is perfect neither for everybody.
i mean, freedom is the greatest unifier
(Hrm.
some....'rare' kind of suggestive, imaginative scenario: any of the (so far) inspired GA peoples. races. like pre-Collapse GA Humanity for example vs....
....
this version here. and their own right.
....
....if ever this one here meets such like GA Humanity anyways).
before the movie i didn't knew about them
I'm from Europe btw
You should do a video about Hergé's the adventures of tintin.
he's not as well known in the US as he deserves to be but some of his stories are mature in most of his storys drug dealers are the villain something most comic for children don't do
I'll have to check it out. I'm not very familiar with Tintin, though I'm aware of it and know it's been hugely influential. I've also seen the Spielberg movie, but it didn't do much for me.
Sean Malone well it doesn't deal with the effect of drugs just the villains are drug dealers and some of the other ones deal with politics and of course captain haddock is a alcoholic. I would suggest you read cigars of the pharaoh and it's sequel the blue lotus those two take place before he meets Captain haddock and ones with him the calculus affair & red sea shark. Thay meet in the crab with the golden claws.
5:05
Why does individualism continue to be such a radical idea?
Nice video essay.
Heroes of the equinox is my fav and yes it parodied various political ideologies - from the war-like Americans/British to the idealistic alternative but oppressive communist and yes the problems the "Hippie" movement quite strong in its day could have become... And Valerian's tired, confused answer was the best all things considered.
I hate how the movie made Laureleine look and a bit behave like a vicious B-tch.
While yes she was pretty and feminine she was very intelligent and resourceful / contrasting and helping Valerian's technical/physical prowess. This was when most women in sci-fi were just love interests or the stay-at-home space wife, slave girl, etc. She was a positive realization of equality in society and now was the reason men are often electing NOT to get married.
IMO they should have simply adapted "Ambassador of the Shadows" which the movie was 90% taken from anyways.
At least "More people see a bad movie than read any book" - it got said graphic novels reprinted and in English, also digital distribution so people can enjoy the series without paying sometimes hundreds to read and in French, etc.
Mmmm.. wasn't expecting ideas on free trade from a french comic
I liked the movie other than the bad casting choice for the lead actor.
George Lucas really did just steal everything when creating Star Wars fs
What killed the film is that they used teenagers in roles that were clearly scripted for adults, and not young adults either.. in the end it just didn't flow. Epic intro though.
This did not age well regarding the movie.
Holy Books of religions are also an example of Allegory.
I disagree with you that presenting facts isn't persuasive. It can be for me, more so than 'them feels'. I believe I am being manipulated when people trot out feelings and experiences, but not when someone lays out the facts and gives me the chance to work out what is best or not.
Facts that I can corroborate, though. It isn't an instant thing. It takes time to process what has been said and to adjust your position. It is much easier to just get swept along with emotional pleas, but that is real manipulation.
Our feelings are the quickest way to effect political change: "You're scared of terrorism, right? That's why we are introducing the Big Brother Act to protect you from the mean terrorists. Don't worry about your privacy or anything. It's only about the scary terrorists."
Maybe it depends on your personal political views/orientation beforehand...
Does it feel good, or does it do good? Leftwingers seem to focus on the former, and rightwingers tend to focus on the latter, I believe.
You can see it in the news and at protests, also you see it in politicians. When facts are actually used by leftwingers, I find they can be dishonest statistics (rapes on a university campus, or women paid seventy something percent of what a man earns), or distorted/taken out of context. I don't see this anywhere near as much with rightwingers.
Its libertarian, but at least its restrained,
I think the movie could have been closer to the source material with better casting. The two leads were meh.
The anime is better.
Nope... Movie sucks.
sadly the movie was garbage
The movie really has nothing to do with the comic but for the names and the general look. Very confusing and badly put together film.
That movie was so bad.
And of course Hollywood did none of those things and settled for more of a modern crime/sci fi model and throw in some "Capitalism bad" along with it. As always, it made the potential movie worse.
Wasn't anything to do with Hollywood, actually, Valerian was an independent film in many ways. Most expensive indie ever apparently.
The “greater good”, is nothing more than tau propaganda.