The beautiful, animated sci-fi The Time Masters (Les Maîtres du temps, 1982) is directed by René Laloux and designed by Moebius (Jean Giraud), one of the most celebrated creators of science fiction comics. The film receives its US debut in a 4K restoration that begins at New York’s IFC Center on 26 July 2024. Science fiction and animation fans will find that its 80-minute running time is packed with seductive visuals and laced with a few intellectual conundrums.
The Time Masters opens with a vessel resembling a silver six-legged spider crossing a desert on the planet Perdide, a name that basically means “lost”. Using an egg-like transmitter, the driver (voiced by Sady Rebbot) sends a distress call to a space pilot friend, Jaffar (Jean Valmost). The driver and his young son, Piel (Frédéric Legros), are the only survivors of an attack by the planet’s brain-eating giant hornets. When the vehicle crashes, the dying driver passes the egg to Piel and orders him to await instructions in a weird forest that resembles a giant coral or jellyfish.
Jaffar is transporting the effete and languid Prince Matton (Yves-Marie) and Princess Belle (Monique Thierry) from their home world with a stash of jewels from the treasury. The selfish Matton tries to disrupt the journey to save Piel because it’s interfering with his plans, but Belle establishes a rapport with Piel over the egg, which they call “Mic” for microphone.
Jaffar picks up a colorful old codger named Silbad (Michel Elias), who has information about Perdide. He lives on a gloriously beautiful water planet. Along the way, they stop on another planet where a race of identical faceless angels are revealed as puppets of some entity that preaches “unity” and “the beatitude of indifference” by eliminating individuality and making everyone the same. In any interplanetary sci-fi, there usually needs to be a revolution somewhere, but this segment is only one brief distraction.
Also along for the ride are a pair of “gnomes”, little floaty oval creatures who read minds and offer commentary on the strange behavior of humans, whose thoughts give them a headache.
Moebius’ distinctive style is applied to a quest that offers numerous wonders of the galaxy, which have more to do with organic landscapes than technology or gadgets. The formidable Jaffar has a nice needle-like ship with a see-through dome over the bridge, but most of the visual attractions in The Time Masters belong to the bizarre flora and fauna on various planets. Even the deadly hornets on Perdide belong to the planet’s ecosystem rather than representing an evil empire. One subtly conveyed philosophy is that the natural worlds have enough dangers of their own not to require more problems brought by humans.
Before we get to the twist ending involving the mysterious Time Masters, the favored elements are anarchy, individualism, nature, and love. Social organizations that encourage everyone to dress and look alike are part of the problem, and so is the evil selfishness of Prince Matton. However, his villainy and hatred are incorporated or recuperated into a heroic function on the planet of puppet conformity, so even his individuality serves a purpose. Jaffar identifies more with a motley gang of pirates than the galactic Reformers, who presumably enforce law and order.
Laloux, most famous for the 1973 animation Fantastic Planet (La Planète sauvage), collaborated with designer Moebius on the story of The Time Masters. Jean-Patrick Manchette, most famous for his 1970s crime novels, wrote the dialogue. The source is a 1958 novel by Stefan Wul, who also wrote the source novel for Fantastic Planet. Both films share concerns about outlandish ecologies, as rendered in beautiful pastel designs.
Laloux’s concern for the integrity of natural wonders and their physical beauty is like a forecast of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, such as My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro, 1988). Wul’s concerns as a novelist seem to overlap with American writers like Jack Vance, Ursula K. Le Guin, and more contemporary writers concerned with strange environments and ecologies, such as Jeff VanderMeer.
After The Time Masters opens at IFC Center, it will be shown in many theatres throughout the US and Canada during August and September. See the screening schedule here.