The monkey prince – Le voyage du prince (2019)

Directed by: Jean-François Laguionie, Xavier Picard | 77 minutes | animation

In 1999, the French director Jean-François Laguionie (known for, among other things, ‘Louise en hiver’ from 2016) already released an animation film about monkeys: ‘Le château des singes’. His latest work, ‘Le voyage du prince’ (Dutch title: ‘The monkey prince’), co-directed by Xavier Picard, is presented as a kindred spirit, rather than a direct sequel. Yes, again it’s about monkeys that behave like people, and in a flashback there is even reference to the main character from the earlier film, but ‘The Monkey Prince’ is otherwise completely independent. So if you have not seen the first film, you will not be short of information.

Despite the limited duration of 77 minutes, ‘The Monkey Prince’ is wonderfully languid. The first half of the film mainly consists of talking monkeys. We start with an aging monkey that washes up on a beach and is found by a young monkey who seems to be talking to birds. The ape-of-age introduces himself to the viewer as Prince Laurent and will remain the narrator throughout the film. Laurent belongs to the Laankos monkeys and has ended up with the Nioukos monkeys, who do not want to believe that there is other monkey life outside their city. Therefore, Laurent is interesting study material for Professor Victor Abervrach, who has fallen from grace at the Academy and hopes to regain his place at the scientific table with this evidence.

His wife Elizabeth conducts another investigation into the encroaching forest that threatens the monkey city. Their adoptive son, the foundling Tom, is the young monkey Laurent found on the beach. Tom turns out to be the only one who can understand Laurent’s foreign language a bit and therefore serves as a translator, but also as a comrade. He takes Laurent in tow and is given an increasingly important role in the story. In a flashback, Laurent recalls a young monkey from his own community (‘Come’, the main character from ‘Le château des singes’), who reminds him a lot of Tom. So much for the relationship between the two films.

In the first half, medium shots are often used, so without the bigger picture – namely the city where Laurent ended up – really becoming clear. You mainly see the talking monkeys in the picture and the play area is mainly limited to the laboratory where Laurent is being examined. This changes halfway through when the prince comes outside and the film immediately becomes a lot more lively. Not that the start is boring, but the slow pace probably won’t appeal to everyone. Despite the somewhat faster pace of the second half, the film remains very contemplative. Laurent philosophizes and the director duo Laguionie and Picard take a lot of time to portray nature.

En passant, the consumer society gets hit by it (the Nioukos produce for the sake of production and not because they need articles per se) and the film reacts against both a philosophical view of life (the Laankos) and too scientific a discourse (the Nioukos). Eventually a third club of monkeys comes into view, after Tom has listened carefully to his gut. The middle path that these monkeys walk is not a blissful one, but the film mainly seems to indicate that you should not focus on one form of philosophy. And especially the one who has a different philosophy of life should not automatically see as the enemy.

The life lessons are presented en passant – the film gives the viewer plenty of space to think for themselves. It therefore seems especially suitable for a somewhat older audience, although there is enough beauty to admire for young viewers. The tranquility that the film radiates is enhanced by the soft color palette. In the end, the story doesn’t amount to much, but as a succession of atmospheric images and with the basic idea that you should listen carefully (to nature), ‘The Monkey Prince’ is a pleasure to experience.