SILVER

[LES MAÎTRES DU TEMPS]
Directed by visionary science-fiction animator René Laloux (FANTASTIC PLANET) and designed by the legendary Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Mœbius), THE TIME MASTERS is a visually fantastic foray into existentialist space adventure. After his parents are killed on the dangerous planet Perdide, young Piel (voiced by Frédéric Legros) survives by maintaining radio contact with Jaffar (Jean Valmont), a pilot transporting the exiled Prince Matton (Yves-Marie Maurin) and Princess Belle (Monique Thierry) from their former kingdom. Jaffar seeks the help of Silbad (Michel Elias), a cheerful old-timer who knows how to circumvent Perdide’s hazards, which include brain-devouring insects and watery graves. Along the way, Jaffar and company encounter a pair of impish homunculi stowaways, identity-less angels controlled by an amorphous hive mind and the Masters of Time, mysterious beings who can bend reality — and perhaps reveal to the heroes their secret origins and destinies. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR René Laloux; SCR Jean Giraud, from the novel by Stefan Wul; PROD Jacques Dercourt, Roland Gritti. France, 1982, color, 79 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Restored in 4K in 2023 at the initiative of CITE FILMS in collaboration with the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna and with the support of the CNC.