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 Set in the context of a space invaders attack, ATOMIK CIRCUS is a camping car adventure in which the main character faces difficult choices, giving the story tragic overtones: he has to find his place in a society which does not like him but which he is the only one to be able to save. At the same time, he is trying to retrieve the love of his fiancée, who is tempted to forget him and start an artistic career. The Cid meets The Red Shoes in a psychotronic version that has its roots in 1950s subculture as well as Sam Raimi and Tim Burton’s films.
One of the aims of the film is to reach an audience seeking new mythologies and new aesthetics coming from the unconscious accumulation of diverse cultures.
As far as we are concerned, we were exposed during the 1970s to a fully-fledged form of culture, the coherence of which owe to its apparently heterogeneous content : a mixture of comics, music and movies which is peculiar not only because of the genres involved ( sci-fi, horror, western) but also because of its low-budget aspect: B-movies feature an exceptional ingeniosity that established a genuine aesthetics.
Our approach is comparable to that of Tim Burton, who will borrow exotic elements from Japanese monster films as well as Mario Bava’s popular movies. In the same way, we start with a fiction that reflects our tastes, and it is our undertaking to create a visual universe for it by reinterpreting elements borrowed from this aforementioned subculture.
The latter was for us the source of a very personal imagery, which we sought to represent in our commercials and music videos. The success of those is an evidence of the widespread fondness of this imagery, which is precisely the one we want to give life to. The recent fancy for so-called genre films is an encouragement to proceed in this direction.
What is the right way to represent imaginary worlds that diverge from the mere reproduction of daily life ?
We have an expertise in creating strong imageries. That of James Bataille is characterised by its exaggeration: it is set far from large cities, and features archetypal characters : the traditional family, the police officer, the misfit, the wanton girl, the dishonest impresario. Evil is embodied by extraterrestrial jellyfishes.
This overemphasis can be successful only if it is counterbalanced by plain acting. In order to give life to this world, actors must give the impression that it is their usual environment. This film will be a conclusion and a debut for us: a conclusion in the sense that it will entail using all the expertise and know-how accumulated in ten years. It will also be a debut in a more ambitious means of representation. The film should seduce thanks to the conjunction of a fresh style and an amusing, compelling story.
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