Karlovy Vary 2023 Review: WHITE PLASTIC SKY Grieves at the End of the World

As the year 2123 unfolds, humanity contends with drastically depleting resources. A unique solution presents itself for the welfare of the species, now living within the domed city of Budapest: upon reaching the age of 50, each citizen willingly donates their body to be transformed into a tree. 

 

This unusual premise forms the backdrop of a personal story when psychologist and counselor Stefan discovers his wife Nora has opted for an early donation. Determined to save her, Stefan embarks on a journey.

 

Hungarian directors Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó utilize this personal rescue mission in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of their animated feature, White Plastic Sky, as a vehicle to address themes of environmental conservation, and socio-political shifts. The writer-director team spins a philosophical speculative tale that expands beyond the marital issues of the central couple.

 

The plot-driven narrative presents a sort of Mad Max pilgrimage across the Hungarian wilderness endured by the protagonists. Rather than combatting peculiar adversaries, the journey is about understanding the collapse of the ecosystem and society.

 

The narrative choices in White Plastic Sky distinguish it from other post-apocalyptic narratives. Nora's early decision for euthanasia, triggered by the unbearable sorrow of losing a child, sets the story in motion. Conversely, Stefan is determined to rejuvenate their life and make the most of their remaining, state-guaranteed 20 years.

 

Straddling the genres of survival action and marital drama, White Plastic Sky intertwines these themes until they challenge the very concept of human existence on Earth. Bánóczki and Szabó's film serves as an allegory for humanity's existential crisis, subverting both philosophical and genre assumptions that the survival of humankind is an absolute imperative.

 

White Plastic Sky employs a storytelling approach more commonly found in video game narratives than in traditional film. The main plot, segmented into episodes, begins with domestic strife in futuristic Budapest. The tension escalates as Nora opts for premature sacrifice, and Stefan embarks on a quest to infiltrate the mysterious Plantation on Lake Balaton, a place integral to the process of human preservation through state-sanctioned mass sacrifice.

 

This episodic narration style enables viewers to incrementally comprehend the fabric of Bánóczki and Szabó's world, including its socio-political and technological contexts. In its final arc, the narrative reverts to a contemplative exploration of the marital issues central to the story, implicitly raising larger questions about humanity. Despite tackling the romantic undertones between the leading couple, the film avoids veering into sentimentality or melodrama.

 

 

Visually, White Plastic Sky is a distinctive blend of live-action and animation, achieved through the rotoscope technique. Similar to Richard Linklater's adaptation of A Scanner Darkly, Bánóczki and Szabó utilize this method to superimpose animations onto actors, adding a touch of realism to their emotive expressions. However, in White Plastic Sky, this technique is meticulously hand-drawn by a team of animators, resulting in a tribute to traditional 2D animation.

 

The landscapes of White Plastic Sky are meticulously constructed in 3D using a plethora of photographed natural objects and textures, lending them a realistic aura. The visuals are characterized by extensive use of motifs such as sand, rain, dust, ashes, and their lighter tones, echoing the aesthetics of photorealistic comics.

 

White Plastic Sky evolves from a tale of familial grief to a meditation on acceptance on a larger scale. This underlying melancholy permeates the entire journey, from the end of the world to the end of the species.

 

Yet, the film concludes on a philosophically cathartic note. Dispensing with self-pity and sentimentality, White Plastic Sky reimagines the last moment of mankind with an unexpected sense of redemption.

 

The film screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Visit the official site for more information about the film.