Jean-Pierre Coffe
Mia and the Migoo (French: Mia et le Migou) is a 2008 French animated film produced by Folimage and directed by Jacques-Rémy Girerd, about a young girl's search for her father in a tropical paradise threatened by the construction of a gigantic hotel resort. The film won the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature at the 22nd European Film Awards. An English-language version with American voice actors had a limited released in the United States on 27 March 2011. Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Modine, Wallace Shawn, and James Woods, are four of the many talented actors who contribute.
Swann (Jeremy Irons), an eligible bachelor in the best circles of fin-de-siècle Paris, has also some more vulgar but rich friends, the Verdurins. Through them he meets Odette (Ornella Muti), a courtesan, with whom he falls hopelessly in love. She seems to enjoy his company, for which he pays, but considers herself free to socialise and sleep where she pleases, particularly with a rival called de Forcheville. Swann’s passion turns to consuming jealousy, which leads him eventually to accept the social stigma of marrying her. One old friend, the overtly gay Charlus (Alain Delon), stays sympathetic.
The producers of this French film took approximately 100 people, put them on a soundstage and had them improvise this film based on the premise that they are on a spaceship escaping from the dictators of earth and only have a few days to live. Improvisation is a dangerous art-form; unprepared amateurs invariably come up with gross caricatures when challenged to improvise. The actors' choices in this film include an allegorical pageant of the life of Jesus, a marriage, an orgy, and some genuinely affectionate moments. Nonetheless, as an experimental effort in large-group improvisation, the film is instructive. - Clarke Fountain, Rovi
