Cirque Du Soleil: Journey of Man

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Cirque Du Soleil: Journey of Man is an IMAX 3D short (39 minutes) from 2000.

The story is an allegory: an Every Man narrating (via the voice of Sir Ian McKellen; the character is played onscreen by a succession of Cirque performers) the journey he made through the stages of life, represented by an assortment of acts from Cirque's live shows filmed in mostly Real Life locations. As a child, he is guided into the wild, wide world by two "Flounes" who serve as his instincts; as he becomes an adolescent, he leaves them in the dust to explore the world and seek fulfillment. Alas, as a young man his quest is led astray by the mistaken belief that love -- his great desire -- can be achieved through material gain; as a middle-aged man he is rich and well-read but cold and aloof. He must come full circle as a person and regain his ability to love and connect with others.

The film divides easily into "acts" based on this premise; they are:

  • Gestation - Taiko drums, Mystere
  • Birth/Infant - Underwater ballet, |O
  • Child - Bungee trapeze, Mystere
  • Youth [adolescent] - Aerial cube, Mystere
  • Young Man - Statue [hand-to-hand], Quidam
  • [Middle-Aged] Man - Banquine, Quidam

The film ran for several years in IMAX venues around the world, and is available on DVD.

Tropes used in Cirque Du Soleil: Journey of Man include:
  • Deal with the Devil: The Young Man wants love badly enough to be willing to make this; a demon (represented by a stilt-walker who, in Mystere, is actually named "Mephisto") arrives as soon as he thinks so, and gives him the wealth and power he thinks will buy love for him via the golden hat that replaces the old one that's just blown away. Alas, The Dark Side Will Make You Forget, and while he doesn't become outright evil he ages into a man who thinks he has everything he wanted...and yet has no one to love or be loved by, because power, wealth, and knowledge became ends in themselves instead of means.
  • Dramatic Thunder: Played straight when the Young Man chooses the wrong path to happiness and the demon arrives. The skies darken, lightning flashes and thunder peals, and his hat is swept away by the wind.
  • Empathy Doll Shot: When the Child decides to pursue his destiny and lets the bungee "birds" carry him away, the teddy bear he intended to take with him falls to Earth. The Flounes take it with them as they try to catch up. When they are finally reunited with him -- when he is an Old Man -- they still have it. *sniff*
  • The Everyman
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: Aerial cube.
  • Evil Laugh: The demon has one.
  • Fountain of Youth: Played with. He becomes "young again" when he accepts the old hat, but physically ages into an Old Man.
  • Friend to All Children: As it turns out, the Old Man.
  • I Just Want to Be Loved: The Young Man realizes this is his wish via witnessing the statue act (performed by a man and a woman), triggering his Deal with the Devil. In the end, his epiphany in middle age leads him not simply to romantic love, but to embodying unconditional love and respect for others.
  • Living Statue: The hand-to-hand performers are playing this.
  • Lonely at the Top: The Middle-Aged Man denies that he feels this way, but his memories and regrets nag at him...
  • Love Redeems: See The Power of Love below.
  • Man in White: The Infant is clad in a white bodysuit (the same outfit that the Child in Saltimbanco wears).
  • Match Cut: The transition from the Young Man in the garden to the Middle-Aged Man in his grand foyer is accomplished this way. We go from a Living Statue on a lily pad to a lifeless replica of it in an alcove.
  • Nice Hat: The hero's plain black bowler. The golden one is not so nice.
  • Nostalgic Narrator
  • The Power of Love: It is altruistic love (born of respect and compassion for others) that brings the protagonist around and is declared the greatest of the three keys to fulfilling life's journey.
  • Real Life Relative: The Young Man is played by the son of the Old Man.
  • Rewritten Pop Version: The end credits music, taken from an act in "O", is in Simlish; the pop version that appeared on the soundtrack album replaced this with newly-written English lyrics.
  • Scenery Porn: Cirque Du Soleil + IMAX + 3D = this.
  • Short Film
  • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids: The Young Man believes he has to leave his childhood dreams and wonder behind if he wants love and happiness, not realizing that the former work in tandem with the latter.
  • Singing Simlish
  • Speaking Simlish: The Flounes.
  • Stock Aesops: A few ambition-related ones work in tandem here. Happiness, adventure, and love are worth having and achieving -- the bigger, the better -- but if you try to do so via material things and/or cynicism, you'll be left lonely. You can only be truly fulfilled in life when you hang on to your childhood instincts and ideals (as the movie puts it, "Dreams, faith, and love").
  • 3D Movie
  • Vanilla Edition: The DVD; even though the film had two trailers and a promotional short -- the latter appeared on the VHS release! -- they weren't included on the disc despite tons of space, owing to the film's brevity.
  • The World Is Just Awesome: The Youth's flight over the desert canyons, shot from his POV and filling over a minute-and-a-half of screen time, is the most obvious example. The Child and the Flounes exploring the forest also counts, especially with the odd creatures (Mystere characters) roaming about.
  • You Are Not Alone: The Vagabond Girl comes to return the old hat to the Middle-Aged Man, representing the niggling doubts he has; she and the banquine performers remind him of What True Happiness Is.
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