Les Maîtres du temps – The Masters of Time|
released 1982
www.ink2quill.com

“Les Maitres du Temps” is a scifi animation film produced by Jacques Dercourt, Michel Gillet, Roland Gritti and Miklos Salusinszky and was directed by Rene Laloux who also cowrote the adaptation with the great Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud. The dialogue was done by Jean-Patrick Manchette. It stars the voices of Jean Valmont, Michel Elias, Frederic Legros, Yves-Marie Maurin, Monique Thierry, Sady Rebbot, Patrick Baujin, Pierre Tourneur, Alain Cuny, Yves Brainville, Michel Barbey, Jim Bauman, Michel Paulin, Francois Chaumette, Henry Djanik, Nick Storey, Gabriel Cattand and Georges Atlas. It is based on the scifi novel “L’Orphelin de Perdide /The Orphan of Perdide” by Stefan Wul. This film has a wide audience appeal for people and families.

Les Maîtres du temps – The Masters of Time IMDb webpage

“Les Maîtres du temps – The Masters of Time” is the story of a boy named Piel, whose voice was done by Frederic Legros, who becomes stranded on a planet named Perdide. The story begins when the ship the boy is riding in crashes and he loses his parents. His father hands him a communication device named Mike before he dies which helps the boy speak with those people that rescue him and help him survive as he stays in an alien forest called ‘Les Dolongs’ for safety from large alien hornets. The story is basically the boys survival and the people who rescue him as they make their way to Perdide. The ending of the story takes an unexpected turn when we find out the identity of the old man Silbad, whose voice was done by Michel Elias.

The first thing I liked about the film was the animation. The strangeness of Perdide and its creatures was well done. The plants, vegetation and life forms were the kind of strangeness I would expect on a far off planet far from anything we would expect to have here in our solar system. Piel’s communication device helps him navigate the dangerous world of Perdide by helping him find fruit to eat. This also is one of the few films in the scifi genre that uses the story element of time manipulation and time dilation in a way that enhances the story and is very believable, and a little sad at the end. Most scifi stories cannot do this.

This is worth the watch. It’s enjoyable and it’s Laloux and Moebius.

John Ink2Quill

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