Planetarium (film)

Last updated
Planetarium
Planetarium 2016.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski
Written by
Produced byFrédéric Jouve
Starring
CinematographyGeorge Lechaptois
Edited byJulien Lacheray
Music by Robin Coudert
Production
company
Les Films Velvet
Distributed by Ad Vitam Distribution (France)
Release dates
  • 8 September 2016 (2016-09-08)(Venice)
  • 16 November 2016 (2016-11-16)(France)
Running time
106 minutes [1]
Countries
  • France
  • Belgium
Languages
  • English
  • French
Box office$530,515 [2]

Planetarium (released in the UK as The Summoning) is a French-Belgian drama film directed by Rebecca Zlotowski. The film stars Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, [3] and was released on 16 November 2016, by Ad Vitam Distribution. [4] [5]

Contents

Plot

In the late 1930s, two American sisters, Laura and Kate Barlow, travel to France where they perform séances at cabarets with Laura hosting the session and Kate channeling the spirits. A public performance of theirs is seen by French film producer Andre Korben. Impressed by their act, he books them for a private session and is moved by the spirit that visits him.

Feeling stifled by the lack of innovation in the French film industry, Korben convinces investors and his team to film a séance as it happens. Unfortunately for Korben, the reels look ridiculous. But the director is drawn to Laura, who, despite not being a spiritualist, has a face that photographs well. The film team conceives of a conventional script in which Laura plays a medium who channels the spirit of a widower's wife and the three become locked in a love triangle with the widower unsure if he is falling in love with his former wife or the medium.

Laura and Kate move in with Korben, who is generous and kind to them. However, he continues to hold private séances with Kate, much to Laura's displeasure. (She fears, rightly, that Korben's interest in the spirit world is sexual.) Eventually, Laura is forced to leave for the coast to continue filming. Korben takes Kate to a metaphysical scientist and films their sessions together.

On the coast, Laura realizes that the rise of anti-semitism means the tides are turning against Korben. Rumours that he once performed in porn abound; and someone writes that she is a Jew's whore on her mirror. When Korben and Kate arrive to reunite with Laura, Korben shows his producers and investors the film of him and Kate which shows nothing. The director walks off the film and blames the money Korben has wasted chasing ghosts as an excuse. Meanwhile, Kate falls ill and reveals that she hasn't been faking but really can see ghosts. She believes this is because she is dying. Kate has leukemia, which is a death sentence at the time.

Korben is jailed for his wasted investments and the trial strips him of his French citizenship.

Years later, Kate is dead; and Korben has been sent to a death camp in "the East". Laura runs into Eva, an actress she once knew, who helps her get a part in a film working with her former director. No longer involved with spiritualism or Korben, Laura's film career in Nazi era France is assured.

Cast

Production

In May 2015, Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp had been cast in the film as sisters. [6] Rebecca Zlotowski directed the film from a screenplay by her and Robin Campillo, with Frederic Jouve's producing under his Les Films Velvet banner. [7]

Filming began in Paris late September 2015.

Release

Ad Vitam Distribution distributed the film in France. [6] [8] It was screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. [9]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16%, based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 4.78/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Summoning (Planetarium) looks out on a constellation of potentially brilliant ideas, but proves fatally unable to find its focus". [10] On Metacritic the film has a score of 44 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [11]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a negative review and wrote: "Planetarium is an inert and slipshod movie — messy and aimless, a period tale told with zero period atmosphere (you have to keep reminding yourself that it’s not taking place in 2016), built around a situation with enough possibilities to make you wish that the director, Rebecca Zlotowski, had taken advantage of at least one of them". [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "Planetarium". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Planetarium". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Ritman, Alex (July 28, 2016). "Venice Film Festival Unveils Lineup for 73rd Edition". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Planetarium". Ad Vitam Distribution . Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Planetarium". The Australian. Retrieved July 2016.
  6. 1 2 Keslassy, Elsa (12 May 2015). "Cannes: Natalie Portman to Star in French Ghost Story 'Planetarium' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Maas, Jennifer (May 12, 2015). "Natalie Portman to lead French ghost story Planetarium". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  8. ↑ Zuckerman, Esther (January 6, 2016). "Lily-Rose Depp & Natalie Portman Look Like Perfect Sisters In Their New Movie". Refinery29.com. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Jaafar, Ali (26 July 2016). "Toronto To Open With 'The Magnificent Seven'; 'La La Land', 'Deepwater Horizon' Among Galas & Presentations". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Planetarium". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Planetarium reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  12. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (7 September 2016). "Film Review: 'Planetarium'". Variety . Retrieved 8 November 2022.
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