The Human Plant () is a Canadian animated feature film, directed by Pierre Hébert and released in 1996.Marcel Jean, Pierre Hébert, l'homme animé. Laval, Les 400 coups, 1996. p. 195. The film stars Michael Lonsdale as Mr. Michel, a lonely and isolated widower who spends all his time at home watching television, but is driven to nightmare visions by the constant bombardment of negative and frightening information.Sonia Safarti, "La vie intérieure d'une plante humaine". La Presse, November 23, 1996.
The film was a coproduction of the National Film Board of Canada and commercial film studio Arcadia Films.Georges Privet, "Gravure d'ombres". Le Devoir, November 14, 1996. It grew out of an experimental stage animation project that Hébert undertook with composer Robert Marcel Lepage in the 1990s, in which Hébert would draw improvisational animations while Lepage performed a live score.Andrea Martignoni, "The Burgeoning of a Project: Pierre Hébert's La Plante humaine". Animation World Network, April 1997.
Its voice cast also included Sotigui Kouyaté, Domini Blythe, Joseph Rouleau, Michelle Allen, Laurent Chabot, Marisa Corriols and Denis Karegeya.
The film premiered at the 1996 Toronto International Film Festival.Kim Heinrich Gray, "Mehta film to launch Perspective Canada". The Globe and Mail, July 24, 1996. It was subsequently screened at the Ottawa International Animation FestivalJay Stone, "Toon Town: Film-makers and cartoon fans will flock here next week for the city's best-kept secret: The Ottawa International Animation Festival". Ottawa Citizen, September 28, 1996. and at the Festival du nouveau cinéma.
Lepage received a Genie Award nomination for Best Original Score at the 18th Genie Awards in 1997."Sweet Hereafter leads the Genie award pack". The Province, November 5, 1997. The film won the Prix AQCC-SODEC from the Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois in 1997."La Plante Humaine wins best feature-film honors at Rendez-vous du Cinema Quebecois". Montreal Gazette, March 10, 1997.
References
External links