We've been left waiting another six months after the GTA VI release date was pushed back from May to 19 November. In the meantime, the legacy of the franchise was apparent at the Cannes Film Festival, which saw the premiere of a movie inspired by the graphics of 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Le Vertige (or Vertiginous) is a 67-minute comedy about a man who seeks to prove that reality is a computer-generated simulation. Appropriately for that premise, the film has a crude low-poly 3D style inspired by Rockstar's classic PlayStation 2 game, and it was made using the free animation software Blender.
Le Vertige was directed by the French filmmaker and music producer Quentin Dupieux, AKA Mr. Oizo. It stars the actors Alain Chabat, Jonathan Cohen and Anaïs Demoustier, while the art and animation was handled by a team of just five recent animation graduates. They used an iPhone app for motion capture and the free 3D software Blender for animation, proving that AI isn't the only way to make a movie with a small team on a low budget.
Quentin says the art style was directly inspired by GTA: Vice City. His reasoning for the unusual choice is that animated blockbusters "are becoming increasingly elaborate". He wanted to invent "something consistent with my way of working."
The animation in the trailer does indeed look very true to PS2 graphics. The use of Sims-like characters wearing the actors' faces showing limited expressions and awkward movement seems to fit well with the protagonist's belief that reality is a simulation. The limitations of the art style and the strange glitches typical of retro games become intentional devices, contributing to the comedy.
Unlike the AI movie that was shown in Cannes not at Cannes, Le Vertige was part of the film festival's Directors' Fortnight, a section for independent film. It will be released in cinemas in France on 10 June.
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