Despite a lack of funds, professor Roche and his assistant Simon Hart are working on their newest invention when they are quite suddenly abducted. Their kidnapper is none other than the elegant and enigmatic Count d’Artigas, who offers the professor the use of his laboratory and sheer unlimited wealth to continue his work. In the meantime, Simon Hart remains imprisoned, and soon discovers that the Count’s intentions are hardly as innocent as they seem…
Karel Zeman brings to life the technological fantasies of the 19. century – the grand age of faith in progress – with great love, droll humor and unbounded inventiveness. And that without denying the artificiality of the movie’s images – every last detail is kept in the style of the woodblock prints that accompanied the first editions of Jules Verne’s Voyages Extraordinaires. Also the plot and the larger-than-life performances are a homage to the father of Science fiction, whose fascination with modern machinery underpins every frame. Thanks to the unique and seamless blending of live-action and handmade animation we can take double delight in the progress of technology.
Michael Schmutzer
