laeleftheriou MARS & AVRIL is the arrestingly-gorgeous and hypnotic ROMEO & JULIET of BLADE RUNNER. To say it blew my mind is an absolute understatement. I am passionate about dissecting visuals and iconography and tracking how designs and structure give form to complex sub-texts on multiple levels. However, MARS & AVRIL has fried my mind. The process of understanding the signification and mechanisms behind how the signs and symbols function within this visionary director, Martin Villeneuve's designed narrative, is as explosive as the endlessly-poetic universe he powerfully and viscerally gives a voice to. This is NO film. It's a revolutionary cinematic experience that does not only entertain, but is shape-shifting and life-altering in the way it awakens epiphanies within one's own mind…let alone the intriguing and fascinating explorations into: myth-making, the design and engineering of consciousness, dream vs reality…and the examination of "feedback" as a homage to the actual film-going experience and process…and which story (primary or secondary) unfolds where (on which screen)…and ultimately that the real one is the version that is left, burnt in the retina of our minds…and which we carry within us…long after we have left the theatre and which replays itself over and over again in our minds…even weeks after. MARS & AVRIL is an intriguing, compelling exploration in how decision-making and constraints are the universe's guide to where we need to be and make decisions that ultimately procure ingenuity and move us forward. It is so true, isn't it… that difficulties take us to where we need to be…to ARRIVE at our quantum potential to best breathe life into the core and heart of a given situation…circumstances…story. The way in which Villeneuve developed his vignettes, pictures and concepts in editorial format, and subsequently fleshed them out into a feature "tapestry", is riveting. This film advocates that problems are Allies and not deterrents…and that when you can "arrive" at perceiving reality in this way, well then Life can dance with you. Well, MARS & AVRIL has not danced with me; it catapulted me into an Odyssey of Signification where signs and symbols engineer awakenings, epiphanies…and ultimately string together a consciousness that has a life of its own and that delivers a manifest reality. What Martin Villeneuve achieves with MARS & AVRIL on $2.3 million and over a seven year period within the past few years, is incomparable and unprecedented! This film is a profound, moving experience; a reminder that it is possible to create a space to dream within crazy poetry. If you want to be entertained and riveted in a way that alters your perception of things in life and leaves you with a quantum understanding of how to best navigate through this humbling experience, then MARS & AVRIL is a MUST-SEE. It's the very beautiful, spellbinding, thought-provoking and evocative love story that Rachel and Deckard in BLADE RUNNER 2049 yearn to be heard.

dutom44 I saw this sci-fi film at the Mill Valley Festival when it came out, watched it again recently on Amazon and thought it was refreshing, poetic, inspiring, intelligent and highly imaginative. A living comic book that doesn't take itself too seriously, or a modern Georges Méliès' film, a futuristic, steam-punk audiovisual feast! It's an amazing accomplishment and you can see that the filmmaker put a whole lot of love in every frame. Everything about it is different from the regular type of films that are out there and it has some rather unusual ideas about the soul and person that completes us. At its core, it's a love story, a poetic tale, a dream on celluloid. To me, this film is of the same genre as those of two favourite filmmakers of mine: Terry Gilliam and Luc Besson.I can't say enough what an incredible feat in filmmaking I think "Mars & Avril" is. It's stunningly beautiful and haunting, and like nothing I've ever seen. I grew up reading Carl Sagan so I'm an easy target for themes of spiritualism and space. His point was always that humanism and astrophysics aren't mutually exclusive, and this film says this in a very unique way. I'm really amazed at how completely the filmmaker realized this future culture, down to the architecture, fashion and music. The way he conceived the idea of music in the future, informed by and informing physics and science as we know it; the evolution of musical instruments and sounds; the cosmic, almost religious implications of music that have taken hold in this future society; it was all so beautifully imagined. The way he took science fiction and used it not to create wild action sequences and wars, but an emotional love story, really changed the way I now think about the genre.Heavily relying on green screens, "Mars & Avril" is set in a futuristic Montreal, a place that greatly resembles "Blade Runner"'s Los Angeles or "The Fifth Element"'s NYC, a dreamy future city reminiscent of comics anthology 'Metal Hurlant', yet with something new. On a purely aural and visual level, I wouldn't hesitate to call this film visionary. Some of the images made me feel transported to the furthest depths of an alien realm. It's a mirror, a tilted cheval glass, a digital reflection of a damaged dimension, surreal and moving. For English-speaking audiences, I found watching the film with subtitles actually enhanced the French and Belgian-inspired "bande dessinée" aspect of it, so it didn't bug me at all. Worth watching more than once to catch all the subtleties of the plot and visual details.What's most incredible is that the director, Martin Villeneuve (yes, Denis Villeneuve's younger brother), managed to achieve such a quality with a budget of only 2 million... and it was his first feature! It took him seven years. "How I made an impossible film" is a TED Talk by Martin, also worth watching. His talk details the walls he hit with budget and other creative constraints. But he survived, and so did "Mars & Avril", thankfully. I can't wait to see his next films! In my opinion, this one deserves a wider distribution (including a Blu-Ray, please!) and to score above 8 on IMDb. This little gem of a film will be rediscovered once the director has made his first Hollywood hit.For the record, it's worth mentioning that Martin did "violence-free, philosophical sci-fi" with "Mars & Avril" four years before his older brother Denis did with "Arrival", and for 25 times less money, stretching each dollar to unbelievable heights. And for all those wowed by Denis' "Blade Runner 2049", I highly recommend his younger brother's equally mind-blowing sci-fi epic "Mars & Avril".

Sepideh Prs I extremely enjoyed this movie. I personally do not like slow rhythm movies but I confess I didn't even forward a second. The actors were great the concepts and symbolism all over the movie scenes challenged my mind to think more deeper. The story connected love,music and infinity together. The only lame part was that elevator. it could be sth else. It was more cooler that that girl only existed in Jacob's dream and he could bring her back to reality. It is one of the few movies that show consciousness as a whole new world yet not fully discovered by human. I strongly recommend this movie. I am not an expert to criticize the movie but in general it was a really nice effort and i don't get why its ranking is not over7.that view from the top of the stairs that looked like an infinite spiral was amazing. The ending can be interpreted in many ways. I want to accept that Avril stays alive in real world but there is also the possibility that the real reality was that one Jacob traveled to at the end so he dies and leaves the virtual reality.

eliwilli2 I think this film is exquisite and intelligent. Perhaps not made for the ordinary moviegoer and maybe a little bit too long, but certainly brilliant in its context and perfect visually. One must pay attention to detail to appreciate the depth of this artwork. Costumes, make up and hair did a magnificent job creating a "futuristic" look. What does the future hold? How will we dress, what will we drink, what will we do? The music and sound effects are magnificent, the visual effects are extraordinary. Futuristic Montreal is quite beautiful. Art department created a warmth that is perfectly in sync with the slow drawn out feeling of this new universe. If our future it is anything like this film where beauty and thought, where love and passion seem to be the principal motivators, I am looking forward to it. To appreciate the film, one must also listen carefully to the discourse about music, the universe and time and about love and beauty. I believe this film should be watched more than once.