Fantastic Planet (1973) - full transcript

Slaves and masters dominate the narrative of the faraway world of Ygam. Set around the lifespan of Terr, a minute human shaped Om slave, and pet, of the giant blue alien Draags. Escaping into the wilderness and with a device used for intellectual advancement of the Draags, Terr finds refuge and support from fellow Oms and using the learning tool, he finds that knowledge is power and then sets to use the new found knowledge to revolt against the Draag masters...

RESTORED IN 2016
FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE

WINNER, SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 1973

FANTASTIC PLANET

Based on the Novel by STEFAN WUL

She stopped moving.

Now we can't play
with her anymore.

Careful! it's Master Sinh.

Look, Father.
A female Om and her baby.

You think she's dead'?

I'm afraid so, Tiwa.

Why's the baby making noise?



It depends.
He could be frightened or hungry.

We can't leave him here.
Let me keep him.

Please, Father.
I'll take care of him.

All right, Tiwa.
We can't let this animal die.

Thus I first heard the name
of the Grand Master of the Draags.

In saving my life,
he linked my fate to his.

Mother!

Look at the little Om.
Isn't he cute?

His mother's dead.
I'm going to keep him.

He's very pretty, Tiwa.

Tiwa, you disturbed
your mother's meditation.

If you can't discipline that animal,
I'll have to take it away.

But Father, he ran off.
He needs a collar.

You must learn to use it. Watch.



Set the animal down.

How fun! Let me try.

Not so fast!

The animal's delicate.

You might hurt him.

What are you going to call him?

Tiwa, like me.

That's not an Om's name.

Call it Trusty or Frisky.

Look at him wriggle,
the little terror!

I'll call him Terr.

I was forgotten about.

A baby Om is nothing

compared to the extraordinary
importance of their meditation,

that strange ritual to which my masters
devoted most of their time

and which seemed to be
their chief concern.

Contrary to projections,

the housing unit factory
on our Uva at Goham

has not met
its new production target.

The worker machines
show unusual wear,

and that seems
to have caused the lag.

- Master Taj, can you explain?
- We don't yet know the reason.

In the meantime,

we'll use reserve worker machines
to meet the schedule.

I don't understand.

The machines have worked
perfectly up till now.

Have you had
the same problem on other Uvas'?

Only machines from our space flight
to Planet Antax 4...

had some trouble
completing their program.

Master Sinh, our scientists
attribute this decline in activity

to a rupture in their system
of emotional equilibrium.

Our scientists also noted

that animals
brought from Planet Terra

had a high level
of savibon and intelligence.

I 777 not so sure the y 're correct.

Ifs clear that this animal
has adaptive capabilities.

But is that intelligence?

The little pet you're stroking
between meditations

may well surprise you one day.

Films made on Terra reveal
numerous traces of organized life.

These adaptive capabilities
you mention, Master Kah,

may indicate
an advanced evolutionary state.

Oms have a much shofler
life span than us,

but keep in mind that
they reproduce much more rapidly.

Whether this animal evolves or not,
Master Sinh,

we have yet to establish.

What we have established

is the considerable damage

caused by Oms
on the Uvas of Jexte and Téléze.

The number of domesticated Oms
is easy to verify,

but the number of wild Oms
is probably much greater

than is generally acknowledged.

We de-Om the enclaves
of wild Oms every three cycles,

but I wonder if that's often enough.

Few weapons remain effective
in the long term.

Forceful measures must be taken.

New ways to fight them
are currently being researched,

but I doubt they will suffice.

Tiwa, go play somewhere else.

I'm sorry.

Imagination was so rich today.

This animal is a pest!

Think nothing of it.
Our children all love those animals.

I grew up fast in that slow world,

for a Draag week
was equal to one of my years.

I was just a living plaything

that sometimes dared to rebel.

Tiwa loved me.

“Terr loves Tiwa.”

Repeat.

Terr loves Tiwa. Repeat.

Tiwa received her education
through a headset.

The lessons were transmitted
directly into the brain...

and engraved in the memory forever.

“Our planet Ygam
has just one satellite,

the Wild Planet,

which is uninhabited
and is used for meditation.

Ygam is divided
into several Uvas.

(Two of them, Strom and Yo)',
are natural and symmetrical.

Urtana is the largest Uva

and is completely covered
with blue assanic blocks.

Furthermore, temperatures there
range from 8 to 243 laiks,

making exploitation impossible.

Our Uva, Goham,
has a fepular inland sea

that stabilizes the apenosh
at about 25 laiks.

Fixation blocks
combat pontic ribation,

and emmaliate domes
regulate pressure.

All Uvas undergo a cycle
of three seasons of differing lengths.

The season
of garus crystallization...”

By accident
I too was able to acquire

the Draags' knowledge.

“When the soil peels,

dense vegetation replaces all mosks

with similar mosks. ”

I liked the lessons

and did my best
to make the most of them.

“The cliffs on the fepular sea

are eroded
by rains that often last...”

Tiwa, bring your animal over here.

Jurgal has his here.
We'll have some fun.

I don't want him hurt.
Jurgal's Om is like a ferocious animal.

He nearly tore
Terr's ears off the other day!

He won't hurt your Om.
Come play!

Come see!

Let's have Terr fight.
It will be more fun.

Terr will win. He's really wild.

Go fight.

- He sings well.
- Terr can sing too.

Sing, Terr. Go on.

- He'll strangle him!
- I don't know what he's doing.

What a horrid animal!

“It's easy to see
a tark's fladed musculature

because the animal
is easily skinned.”

You hear the Om?

He's reciting Tiwa's lesson.

She loves Terr so much
that she's never without him.

You think he understands
what he's saying?

I don't think so.

Anyway, I'll forbid Tiwa
to have the Om with her

during her lnfos.

She has to study seriously.

“Let us observe
the chiscinian muscle of a tark's leg.

The chiscinian muscle
is a sinewy, threadlike vilore...”

“The molog is an anviparous animal.

It has over half a billion lucons,

and the entire surface of their walls

is made up of tiny cells

separated by very thin sheets
of organure.

Some scientists today believe
it is not organure

but gambous amalga,
an artificial structure...”

ls Terr with you again
during your lnfos?

I told you not to do that.

Back to the Omerie!

He doesn't disturb me, Father,
and he's so happy.

The lnfos are for you.
Back to your studies now.

The day came for the Draag children
to meditate for the first time.

The initiation ceremony
was an essential step

on their road to knowledge.

Tiwa's interest in me
had been fading for some time.

As she grew into her teens,
she gave up her playthings.

I could no longer
make use of the lessons.

I decided to run away.

Mother, I can't find Terr!

And my headset is gone.

Then use your bracelet.

But if he's far away,
I'll hurt him.

Put your bracelet
on maximum right now!

No, Mother...

You're not very bright,
like all tame Oms.

- But you have a collar too.
- It's a fake, to fool the Draags.

What's that?

A device invented by the Draags.

A what?

A Draag device.

Listen.

“Valio cycle, Info 4.

You will observe
that searching for aklons

in pernetrope in space

Is carried out
in the same way as on land.

Note that the search
is not only for festation groups...”

Don't be afraid.
It's not dangerous.

Where are you taking it'?

- I don't know.
- Follow me.

My new friend
took me to her people,

who lived hidden in the Big Tree
deep in an abandoned park.

This tame Om looked ridiculous

in his first encounter
with wild Oms.

Don't touch that case.
It's a trap!

Since I had brought the headset
of knowledge to the Big Tree,

the wizard opposed me
from the start.

We've brought five cases, Chief.

Is that all?

One of the cases was a trap,
and Frisky is dead.

He knew the case was a trap.

He's a tame Om, Chief.

He escaped with a Draag device

that taught him
how to read Draag writing.

I'm sure he can't read.
Ask what's in the cases.

Does the tame Om know
what's in that case there?

Yes. Colored powder.

. . Temperatures there
range from 8 to 243 laiks,

making exploitation impossible.

Our Uva Goham
has a fepular inland sea

that stabilizes the apenosh
at about 25 laiks.

Fixation blocks
offset pontic rebation,

and emmaliate domes
regulate pressure.

The two other Uvas,
Jexte and Téléze,

are full of craters -”

- Why did you stop the lnfos?
- Draag knowledge is evil.

We Oms don't need it.

We're not tame Oms.

It's a grave offense.

You must fight
as set forth in the law.

Bring the combat animals.

You're the winner.

Stay with the Oms of the Big Tree.
You can be of use to us.

Tomorrow we set off
on an expedition.

It was my first expedition
to steal food from the Draags.

We came back loaded with spoils.

Take heart.
The Big Tree isn't far now.

The Hollow Bush bandits!
Watch out!

Why did they attack us?

They're the Hollow Bush gang.
Beware of them.

They're thieves
from the other side of the park.

“In the third millennium before Kraup,
the Great Zarek created

the first pyramic civilization.

Legend says that from his tomb

he still animates the ball of life,

that his body, though constantly
pierced by projectiles,

does not change,

and that his mind has regularly
traversed the skies of Ygam

ever since the Draags,
under his direction,

fought off
the first Yanko invaders.

Certain experts believe
this is how meditation came about.

Others believe
that Zarek is immortal

and that from the flames of time
he reappears in reality,

whirling in infinite forms,

to fight the part of the Draag spirit
that wishes to die.

In fact...

after the pyramic civilization,

the Draags fought off
Yanko invasions...”

The Oms are learning.

If only we had more headsets.

Terr, you're as learned
as the Draags.

I'm barely learning to write.

Look.

Are you sure?

You're sure
you read it correctly'?

Yes, “de-Om” is written
on all the park walls.

- What does it mean?
- The Draags mean to kill all the Oms.

I witnessed
a de-Omization long ago.

It was horrible.

But we're not in any great danger
now here in our tree.

What are we going to do?

- It was bound to happen.
- Anyway, we have time to prepare.

We'll post sentries.

They're out to slaughter us

as punishment
for stealing their knowledge.

Let us pray to the Wild Planet.

The sentries will warn us
of the Draags' approach.

We'll see tomorrow.

What were you doing
in our territory?

I came to warn you. The Draags
intend to de-Om the park tomorrow.

De-Om the park? You don't say!
How do you know?

A member of our group
read the writing on the walls.

So the Oms in the Big Tree
can read Draag writing now?

Don't listen to him.

It's a trap to lure us out
of the Hollow Bush.

You must believe me!
They're going to de-Om.

Take him away!

Someone go look at the walls.

Listen!

Draags!
- Quiet!

- It smells of Oms here.
- The vermin!

The Masters should decontaminate
the area more often.

A tame Om is fun as a pet,

but wild Oms steal,
and they're dirty,

and they reproduce
at an alarming rate.

There's a nest in the gutter!

It's a whole colony!
Let's kill them.

The chief is dead.

Stop blubbering like children.

We must go
where the Draags can't find us.

I know a place.
I'll take you there.

This road leads
to an abandoned rocket dump.

We'll be safe there.

I denounce the decision to de-Om
only once every three cycles.

Recent events have shown
how ineffective that is!

A Draag murdered!
Unbelievable!

Are we so weak
that Oms can kill us so easily?

Wild Oms are much more numerous
than we imagined.

The body showed
numerous bites and wounds.

According to the Draag
who managed to escape,

there were great numbers of Oms.

The wild Oms are becoming
bolder by the day.

They reproduce
at a terrifying rate!

Master Sinh,
it's disturbing to note

that the Uva of Téléze

was not the only one
that was very difficult to de-Om.

Two other Uvas,

Goham and Urtana...

have presented similar problems.

In the de-Omed park
near where the Draag was killed,

we found two surprisingly
well-organized lairs.

Most disturbing
and inexplicable of all

was that in one of them,

boxes were sorted
according to their contents,

yet they hadn't been opened!

How could the Oms know
what they contained?

Master Sinh, it's high time
we take truly effective measures.

I suggest we de-Om the parks
twice per cycle.

I also request that the breeding
and sale of tame Oms

be strictly regulated.

Too often
they return to the wild

and swell the numbers of Oms
living in the parks

and other isolated areas.

It's time to use
the new de-Oming weaponry

we've heard so much about.

All wild Oms
must be exterminated.

And I ask you:

Should we keep our tame Oms?

You're wrong to consider Oms
as merely vicious animals.

I fear we're committing an error
fraught with consequences.

Three seasons
had passed on Ygam,

the equivalent
of 15 of our years.

The Draag rocket graveyard
had long been abandoned,

and there we built our city.

But the Wild Planet
was where we wanted to go.

Many Oms joined us,
both tame and wild.

The knowledge acquired
via the headset

enabled us to use
sophisticated technology

to reduce Draag
rocket components to our size.

“Trinur is a white metal
that palsifies matoir.

Careful reculidization gives it
an exceptional metallic sheen.”

We've succeeded, Terr.

The first two rockets
are ready for testing.

The others just need more time.
- We must hurry.

Many tame Om informers
have warned us

that there will be
a large-scale de-Omization.

The Draags may know where we are.

We must send up
our two rockets at once

to see if the Wild Planet
will support life.

We can't wait any longer.

It's a pity
I won't be going with you.

But I'm not afraid.
I'm sure you'll succeed.

I know you'll build a new world

where Oms can be happy,
far away from the Draags.

The Wild Planet will be our planet,

a world for our children.

You must go.

You must hurry.

You must...

We had at last discovered
the Draags' secret.

The Draags used
their meditation spheres

to meet beings from other galaxies
on the Wild Planet

and hold strange nuptial rites.

This union gave them
the vital energy they needed

while also guaranteeing
the survival of their species.

We were gripped by fear.

The statues' huge feet
might crush our rockets.

By chance we found
the Draags' only weak point.

The de-Omization
on Ygam was halted.

Never have the Draags
faced such great danger.

Our entire civilization is threatened!

The Oms are taking revenge!

They have amazing
scientific equipment!

- They must be stopped!
- They must be exterminated!

It may be too late.

Neither the Oms nor the Draags

stand to gain
from mutual destruction.

We must try

to make peace!

“Since the Sinh era,
the epoch of the Masters of Ygam,

the Draag civilization has
undergone a remarkable evolution.

Instructed in Draag
philosophy and technology,

the Oms now provide the Draags

with a dynamic and vital
new way of thinking.

Our planet now has two satellites,

one natural and one artificial.

The natural satellite,
the Wild Planet,

is reserved
for Draag meditation.

The artificial satellite
was created by the Oms,

and they called it Terr.

The Oms live in huge cities
on the various Uvas...”