Planetarium 2016

     The setting of this film begins in Paris of the 1930’s before WWII.  Laura and Kate Barlow are sisters and they have a psychic act that is touring pre-war Europe.  They astound the audiences and curious spectators join them onstage.  They conduct a hypnotic séance with someone departed.  The sisters amaze Andre Korben and he believes they have real psychic abilities.  He is a wealthy film producer and he hires them for an ambitious film project.  Korben is interested in pushing the French film industry forward.  He hopes to capture even the faintest suggestion of a real paranormal manifestation.  War begins to creep in and Korben’s reputation is resting on this project.

     I’m not sure about a lot of things concerning this film?  One big problem includes why was it made?  It seems all over the place with many topics, characters and issues.  The reality of real or fake isn’t even answered?  Plus, what does the title have to do with the film?  The word planetarium means a building with images of stars, planet, and constellations projected on the inner surface of a dome?  (Beautifully filmed but  2*, I didn’t like this movie)

105 min, Drama directed by Rebecca Zlotowski with Natalie Portman, Lily-Rose Depp, Emmanuel Salinger, Amira Casar, Pierre Salvadori, Louis Garrel, David Bennent, Damien Chapelle, Jerzy Rougulski, Camille Lellouche, Christophe Odent.

Note:  Imdb 4.7 out of 10, 14% critic 11% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Metacritic 44 out of 100 with 13 critics, Amazon 2.3* out of 5* with 5 reviews, The Guardian 4* of 5* review by Jordan Hoffman.

Special Note:  Filmed in Hauts-de-Seine and Paris France.  Lily-Rose Depp is the daughter of Johnny Depp and French singer Vanessa Paradis.  Natalie Portman is 34 and Lily-Rose is 16, that is an 18 year difference in sisters?  Portman said she would never do nudity again after Hotel Chevalier of 2007 but there is some in this film.