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A TOWN CALLED PANIC DIRECTED BY STEPHANE AUBIER & VINCENT PATAR

“CRITICS’ PICK! Fast-paced and exciting. Funny and original. An absurdist, chaotic version of the pastoral European countryside –
la France profonde meets Buster Keaton. Simultaneously giddy and satirical…
reminiscent of SOUTH PARK and WALLACE AND GROMIT movies, but less pointed, more poetic.“
– Mike Hale, The New York Times
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“A demented scenario… on and on ad absurdum… and hilarium.
The film has a transcendent silliness. The rest of us will want whatever Aubier and Patar were smoking.”
– David Edelstein, New York magazine

“Despite a cast of 1,500 plastic toy figures, A TOWN CALLED PANIC was probably made for less than it cost to produce
10 seconds of AVATAR and is, in some ways, an even weirder, more ingrown, raucous fantasy.
(A) hyperactive Belgian puppet animation. Embodies a sensibility that might be termed ‘extreme quirk.’”
– J. Hoberman, Village Voice

“Some films are made for children. PANIC looks as if it were made by children – funny, eccentric, magically gifted children.
Gleefully surreal silliness. Wildly inventive and oddly adult. In its own way, quite perfect.”
– Stephen Whitty, The Star-Ledger (NJ)

“Sheer joie-de-vivre. 75 rollicking minutes. Exceptionally funny in a random and absurdist way.
Comedic anarchy. A goofy, witty joy, an exercise in childlike whimsy that will zap adults as well as children.”
– Marshall Fine, The Huffington Post

 “Engagingly loony! Surreal troubles arise with a typo in Cowboy and Indian’s Internet order for bricks, and proliferates
with a rabbit-hole trip to fantastical far-flung locales populated by vaguely Mélièsian aliens and mumbly superhuman scientists.
Draws on Aardman and Chuck Jones alike. Energizing for kids and ridiculous for adults.”
– Nicolas Rapold, Film Comment

“Anarchic wackiness…. (a) goofy, hilarious stop-motion fable. While clearly inspired by fondly remembered childhood playthings,
the movie is more for grownups than kids, although precocious youngsters may delight in humor reminiscent of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and “Wallace and Gromit”… George Clooney is an absolute joy in FANTASTIC MR. FOX, but his kind of charisma is
completely unnecessary in A TOWN CALLED PANIC where the real stars are the power of imagination and a keen, playful wit.”
– Pam Grady, Box Office Magazine

“Proves that you don't need fancy CGI techniques, 3D, or stunt voice casting to make a sparkly little gem.”
– Leslie Felperin, Variety

Horse, Cowboy and Indian have a strange and wonderful ménage à trois. Animating generic plastic toys, these Belgian directors fashion an absurdist world that has plenty of room for friendship and love, birthday presents, online shopping, music lessons, and home improvements. Their francophone universe — recognizable to anyone who has ever been intimidated by a Parisian waiter — is filled with equal parts hilarity and anxiety. Horse is the most “mature” of the three and Cowboy and Indian are intent on winning his favor. Meanwhile, Horse — barely aware of their efforts — concentrates on wooing Madame Longray, the village’s sexy equine music teacher. This is animation for both adults and kids, in fact for anyone who has ever enjoyed the company of a plastic figurine on a rainy day. A TOWN CALLED PANIC is the only stop-motion animated feature to have been shown in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival.
Note: Occasional bad language in the subtitles, but otherwise entirely appropriate for children.

BELGIUM • 2009 • 75 MINS. • IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • Zeitgeist Films

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