Kaena: The Prophecy

Kaena: The Prophecy
Promotional poster for US release.
Directed by	Chris Delaporte Pascal Pinon
Written by	Patrick Daher Chris Delaporte Tarik Hamdine
Produced by	Marc du Pontavice
Starring	Kirsten Dunst Richard Harris Anjelica Huston Keith David Ciara Janson
Edited by	Bénédicte Brunet
Music by	Farid Russlan
Production company	Xilam
Distributed by	StudioCanal (France) Samuel Goldwyn Films (USA) TVA
Release dates	June 2003 (France) July 2004 (USA)
Running time	85 min
Country	France/Canada
Languages	French, English

Kaena: The Prophecy (also known as Kaena: La prophétie) is a 2003 French-Canadian computer-generated fantasy movie. The United States release of the film is distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films and features the voices of Kirsten Dunst, Richard Harris (in his last role before his death), Anjelica Huston, Keith David and Ciara Janson.

The idea originally started out as a videogame idea at Eric Chahi's company Amazing Studio. However, it became a movie instead when the company went bankrupt, with their only game being Heart of Darkness.[1]

Plot

The film begins with an alien ship crash landing on a desert planet. The alien survivors, known as Vecarians, are quickly killed by the planet's predatory native inhabitants, the Selenites. The ship's core, Vecanoi, survives, and from it sprouts Axis, a massive tree reaching up into space.

600 years later, a race of human-like tree-dwellers have evolved living in the branches of Axis. One of them, a young girl named Kaena (voiced by Kirsten Dunst), is an adventurous daydreamer who longs to explore the world beyond the confines of her village. Kaena's inquisitiveness is opposed as heresy by the village elder, who commands his people to stay productive and toil for the villager's gods (who are, unbeknownst to them, the Selenites living in the planet below).

Led by prophetic dreams of a world with a blue sun and plentiful water, Kaena eventually defies the elder and climbs to the top of Axis. There, she encounters the ancient alien Opaz (voiced by Richard Harris), the last survivor of the Vecarian race that crash landed on the planet centuries ago. Opaz has used his technology to evolve a race of intelligent worms to serve him and help him escape the planet. Upon learning of Kaena's dreams, Opaz enlists her help in retrieving Vecanoi, which contains the collective memory of his people.

However, Vecanoi rests at the base of Axis, where the Selenites dwell. The Queen of the Selenites (voiced by Anjelica Huston) blames Vecanoi for the destruction of their planet, and has spent most of her life (and sacrificed the future of her people) attempting to destroy it.

Cast

French Cast

• Cécile de France as Kaena
• Michael Lonsdale as Opaz
• Victoria Abril as La reine
• Jean Piat as Le prêtre

English Cast

• Kirsten Dunst as Kaena
• Richard Harris as Opaz
• Anjelica Huston as Queen of the Selenites
• Keith David as Voxem
• Michael McShaneas Assad
• Greg Proops as Gommy
• Tom Kenny as Zehos
• Tara Strong as Essy
• Dwight Schultz as Ilpo
• John DiMaggio as Enode
• Ciara Janson as Kamou, Roya
• Jennifer Darling as Reya
• Cornell John as Demok
• Gary Martin as The Priest
• William Attenborough as Sambo

External links

• Kaena: The Prophecy—Sony Pictures
• Kaena: The Prophecy at IMDb
• Unofficial French website
• Interview with director Chris Delaporte—FilmJerk.com