New ‘Metropia’ Footage and Pics Are Depressingly Beautiful

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 12, 2009

The story concept behind Tarik Saleh’s Metropia isn’t exactly the newest thing out there. In the near future (stop me if you’ve heard it), the world is experiencing a crisis in the form of oil shortage, and has taken safeguards by connecting all the cities of the world through underground tunnels. When Roger, a lower-level worker, finds out that he’s not in control of his own life, he tries to escape the system with the help of a beautiful woman.

Basically, it’s 1984 with subways. Plus, Roger might be crazy because he hears voices all the time.

However, the visual concept behind Metropia is a different story. The character and world designs are all reminiscent of what might happen if several characters from Waltz With Bashir were rendered in 3D and dropped into a noir fantasy.

Luckily, thanks to those intrepid folks over at Twitch, you can check out the teaser for the film and a new clip:

Teaser:

Film Clip:

Those giant, sunken-in eyes are really getting to me. This whole look reminds me of a few of the shorts that have played on The Animation Show throughout the years or maybe what Gollum would look like if he was given a suit, full head of hair, and a smoking habit.

And you say you want more? Of course you do:

The flick stars the vocal talents of Vincent Gallo, Juliette Lewis, Alexander Skarsgard and Stellan Skarsgard. It drops in Novemeber in Sweden, but a release date for the U.S. hasn’t been announced yet.

What do you think?

Read more articles by Dr. Cole Abaius