Upside Down (2012 film)
Upside Down (French: Un monde à l'envers) is a 2012 English-language Franco-Canadian romantic science fantasy film written and directed by Juan Diego Solanas and starring Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst and Timothy Spall.
Upside Down
Juan Diego Solanas
Claude Léger
Dimitri Rassam
Aton Soumache
Jonathan Vanger
Alexis Vonarb
Studio 37
Warner Bros. Pictures (France)
Les Films Séville (Canada)[1]
- 22 August 2012 (Kazakhstan)
- 31 August 2012 (Canada)
- 17 April 2013 (France)
108 minutes
France
Canada
English
$50 million[2]
$22 million[3]
Release[edit]
The film was released on 23 August 2012 in Russia,[4] then on 15 March 2013 in the US, in a limited capacity (11 theaters initially). It was released in France on 27 March 2013 (Mauvais Genre Film Festival)[5] and, more generally, on 1 May 2013 through the local branch of Warner Bros., while the distribution rights were bought by Millennium Entertainment for North America and by Icon for the United Kingdom.[6]
The film became available on Blu-ray and DVD on 25 June 2013.
Production[edit]
The French production company Studio 37 initially searched for an American co-producer, and received positive response from Hollywood representatives who read the screenplay. However, because of cultural differences, they decided to look for European partners instead, as they thought it would be essential for the project to be driven primarily by its director.[7] The film was eventually produced by Studio 37, Onyx Films and the Montreal-based company Transfilm, for a budget of $50 million.[2]
Variety reported from the Cannes Film Market in 2009 that Kirsten Dunst and Emile Hirsch were in talks to play the film's two leading roles.[8] A few months later the same magazine reported that Jim Sturgess had been cast instead of Hirsch.[2]
Principal photography started in Montreal in February 2010.[2] Filming and post-production were located in the U.S. because of the country's low taxes for film productions. Producer Dimitri Rassam said: "We couldn't have made Upside Down without the French funding system but there was no way we could have shot [in France] because the tax rebate is not attractive enough."[9]
Reception[edit]
Upside Down received a score of 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "In spite of its wonderfully unusual premise and talented cast, Upside Down fails to offer much in the way of compelling drama to anchor its admittedly dazzling visuals."[10] Metacritic reported the film had an aggregate score of 45/100 based on 22 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11]
Mick LaSalle was one of several reviewers who admired the film's "brilliant" and "imaginative basis" while feeling ultimately disappointed, saying its "rich and bizarre premise is supported by fully realized visuals that make the fantastic real... it's all very enjoyable." However, he wrote, "The only problem is that, after creating the most wonderful fantastic frame, Upside Down doesn't devise a picture worthy of it. The story is serviceable. It starts small, and it stays small, even though the circumstances surrounding the story seem to cry out for something bigger."[12]
Wired called the film "an odd and ultimately flawed mix": "If only the story were as original, or as strong, as the film's topsy-turvy look. Unfortunately, Upside Down...invests almost all of its cinematic capital in gravity-defying eye candy."[13] The Star-Ledger also had a mixed reaction, with its reviewer praising the "wonderful visual shock" and its "marvelous sense of space and style" and writing, "Solanas' idea is a pretty audacious one, visually. A political one too, as it turns out that for generations the upper world (think Northern Hemisphere) has been getting fat exploiting the resources of the lower one (think Southern Hemisphere)," but concluding that the film "doesn't really develop its story, or its themes."[14]
Frank Scheck found the film confusing, saying, "You practically need an advanced degree in physics to fully comprehend the convoluted physical machinations depicted in Upside Down, Juan Solanas' dizzyingly loopy sci-fi romance. Depicting the Romeo and Juliet-style romance between lovers from twin planets with opposite gravitational pulls, this head-scratcher boasts visual imagination to spare even as its logistical complexities and heavy-handed symbolism ultimately prove off-putting."[15]