Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: WHITE PLASTIC SKY [Berlinale 2023 - Berlin, Germany]

The approach of "White Plastic Sky" (Encounters) uses the idea of human but not quite human to interesting effect. Mixing 3D animation with the pixel-rich process that Richard Linklater used on "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly", the film creates a sense of dread but also an essence of inevitability. The integral part has to do with regret versus the idealization of memory and meaning. In the future, all the soil on the planet has died so the only way to create the essence of life is to take it away from the living who are still living it. It is an interesting parable about sacrificing for the greater good, while the reality is that it is buried in the selfishness of others. While no one in this world is truly above the law, it does beg the question that we all want more life, despite the fact that our time is finite.

Animation duo Tibor Banoczki and Sarolta Szabo create a bleak and yet still beautiful vision, especially in the transformational element of humanity. Many recent science fiction films and shows keep talking about going to the stars but the realists probably realize there needs to be a solution on Earth as bleak as that might be. The only suspension of disbelief is the lack of marauders or others trying to pirate the badlands in this future. While these certain plotholes can be overlooked, the film as it moves to its conclusion travels more to the metaphorical and the essence of life lived that must move on (which actually has a "Heavy Metal" mysticism to it ironically enough). Nora, who sets the aspect of the plot device in motion when she decides to go for "implantation" early understands and accepts her life, conflicts with Stefan, her spouse (and also a psychologist) who doesn't believe that the ideal (or their life together) is ending. This motivates the film's entire course of action, and while there are haphazard elements of action and a sense of security in the movie's resolution, the viewer understands the need, that even in such a world (and some of the visuals are stunning (like a reverse "Tron" in the desert),an oasis needs to form. B

By Tim Wassberg