See this review on the Bath Film Festival blog:

http://bathffblogger.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/the-congress/

The Congress was 4 years in the making by director Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir). The film is based on the book The Futuroligical Congress by Polish Stanislaw Lem, first published in 1971. Though Folman doesn't follow the book to the letter, the main character is female rather than male and the story of chemical dictatorship is changed to that of the film studio running the world, it does stay true to its core.

Robin Wright (played by herself) is approached by her agent Al (Harvey Keitel) for a lucrative role that will make her career. After going over all the poor choices she made over the years, he tells her how she can reap the rewards with never having to work again. Mirramount studios in the form of gnarly film boss Jeff Greene (Danny Huston) wants to buy her image and use it to make movies without the need for her to be present. After much deliberation, and swayed by realising what treatment money can buy for her son Aaron (Kodi Smit McPhee) who has a rare condition, Robin signs the 20 year contract.

20 years later when Miramount studios wants Robin to renew her contract she travels to the Abrahama hotel, which is also hosting The Futurist Congress. To get there she breaks open a cartridge sniffs it, and is taken into the strange animated world. This is where the film gets wacky and surreal with around 50 minutes of the film in the quirky animation. Here Robin Wright looks like a cross between "Cinderella on heroin and an Egyptian queen on a bad hair day" as she describes herself. Details of the new contract unfold not only do they want to keep the image and personality of Robin Wright, but now also want to own the chemical of Robin Wright so that people can swallow a pill and become her. So not only can you watch your favourite celebrity, you can become them. Later Robin returns to the present day after being frozen in the animated world for an unknown length of time where the world is unrecognisable.

The film looks into many areas such as sexism, ageism, capitalism, identity and the human condition. It gives a view of a dystopian future where people can escape reality and become who they want to be by just taking a pill, fueling the celebrity obsessed culture and where reality is secondary and the world they have programmed and built is preferred and worshiped.

So I had high expectations of this film before I went in, and I left a little disappointed and a bit confused. Yes, it looks amazing and it talks about lots of interesting themes, but I think it lost itself in parts and made it over complicated. At first I thought that maybe I just didn't get it and it was too intellectual for me but I found other reviews that had the same viewpoint. Equally there are other reviewers who love it, so it's proving to be a bit of a Marmite film. I wouldn't dismiss the film totally though, I can see that there has been loads of work on the script - the film itself has a lot to say as well as being visually stimulating. I definitely think I would watch it again, and would urge you intrigued cinema goers to seek it out and make up your own minds. I suggest you take a look at the web page www.thecongress- movie.com, which has lots of visuals, behind the scenes and an interview with the director Ari Folman.