Flatland (2007 film)

This article is about the animated feature film. For the animated short film, see Flatland: The Movie.

Flatland
Promotional film poster
Directed by	Ladd Ehlinger Jr.
Produced by	F.X. Vitolo
Written by	Edwin A. Abbott Tom Whalen
Starring	Chris Carter Megan Colleen Ladd Ehlinger Jr.
Music by	Mark Slater
Editing by	Ladd Ehlinger Jr
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Flatland (also released as Flatland: The Film and Flatland the film), is a 2007 computer animated film based on the 1884 novella, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott. The film was directed and animated by Ladd Ehlinger Jr. in Lightwave 3D. The screenplay was written by author Tom Whalen. The music was composed by Mark Slater.

Plot

In a two-dimensional world called Flatland populated by living squares, triangles, lines, circles and other two-dimensional shapes, it is three days until the celebration of the year 3000. A Square, attorney at law, struggles to instruct his son, A Hexagon, in the art of sight recognition. The lesson is interrupted by his brother B Square’s arrival. As clerk to President Circle, B Square wants to warn his big brother to stay home that afternoon while there is a meeting at the Senate of the Great Southern Republic of Flatland.

The Senate session has been called to discuss the increasing hostilities between the Chromatist movement and the government. Senator Chromatistes is the irregular dodecagon who leads this rebellious movement that wants to legalize the right of Flatlanders to color their sides as they see fit. Traditionally a taboo practice, the laws were previously relaxed somewhat which emboldened the Chromatists to demand legalization against the will of the majority. The Great Southern Republic distinguishes itself from its enemy, the Northern Kingdom, by its stances on Chromatism and Irregulars along with a democratic government. Relaxing the laws has already been perceived as weakness by the Northern Kingdom who are massing on the borders.

Unable to heed his brother’s advice, A Square meets with his new client, the first female charged as a Chromatist and on his way home finds himself embroiled in the melee issuing forth from the Senate. President Circle’s soldiers have assassinated Senator Chromatistes along with his supporters thus sparking a riot that has spilled into the streets of the city. A Square barely makes it home safely where he then barricades his family against the chaos for the night.

Once asleep, though, A Square has an unusual dream in which he visits a one-dimensional world, Lineland, and attempts to convince the realm's ignorant king of a second dimension. A Square finds it essentially impossible to make the King of Lineland see outside of his eternally straight line. After waking uneasily, A Square learns that the riots which killed hundreds originated in the Senate meeting that B Square was attending. A visit to B Square’s home confirms that he is missing in action and sends A Square through the city now under martial law in a fruitless attempt to find B Square. Passing through the marketplace, A Square comes upon an unusual merchant selling a fascinating item called a glow point which he purchases for A Hexagon who has been sulking since being disciplined for coloring one of his sides purple.

The family prepares for another anxious night in Flatland only to be completely terrified by the sudden appearance in their home of A Sphere, CEO of Messiah, Inc. A Sphere declares that A Square is his apostle of the Three Dimensions and privately begins to explain things to him. A Square resolutely refuses to entertain the concept of three dimensions to the point of becoming violent with A Sphere. In desperation, A Sphere decides the only way to convince A Square that there are three dimensions is to show him.

Suddenly and quite painfully, A Square finds himself plucked out of his dimension and into Spaceland. After his initial shock, the gospel of 3 dimensions becomes clear to A Square along with the possibility of locating his brother from his newfound point of view. Having business himself at the Great Hall, A Sphere brings A Square to look for his brother there. On their arrival, A Sphere delivers the standard millennial speech espousing three dimensions to President Circle and the Priests who are anticipating this very event. After rejecting A Sphere’s message and attempting to kill him, the Flatland leaders execute all who have witnessed the event except B Square who is only imprisoned for life on pain of silence while his brother watches from high above Flatland.

Realizing that time in Spaceland is short, at least for A Square, A Sphere brings him to Messiah, Inc. to finish his education on the gospel of Three Dimensions. Enthralled by the complex world of Spaceland, A Square posits further about 4 dimensions and so forth to A Sphere who dismisses it as nonsense. Meanwhile, A Square’s intrusion into Spaceland has become a national emergency which prompts the Spaceland Senate to call to him to appear for a hearing in the Senate Chambers. The Senators demand an explanation from A Sphere for this serious breach of protocol in bringing a Flatlander into their midst. They insist that it will be viewed as an act of war by their enemies, the X-Axis, who will take the opportunity to launch a full scale war.

During the discussion, A Square also learns that the X-Axis considers the Great Senate as weak because they have allowed the continued existence of his own world, Flatland, which they view as an abomination. As the debate in the Senate rages, an ailing A Square tries to explain his theory of multiple dimensions to an unsympathetic crowd. Air-raid sirens wail as A Square collapses from the overwhelming effects of gravity on his two-dimensional body and chaos ensues.

A Sphere manages to send his dying apostle back on his way to Flatland via a mailing tube before bombs destroy Messiah, Inc. but A Square’s journey back is fraught with obstacles and he ends up plunging in freefall toward Flatland and through its surface into unknown regions below where he experiences a revelation on dimensionality and infinity.

The next thing he knows, A Square finds himself in his own bed on the eve of the year 3000 and his family informs him that the government has issued a proclamation ordering the arrest of anyone proclaiming the gospel of three dimensions. Undeterred, A Square hurries to see his brother in Flatland jail to discuss their new shared knowledge of the third dimension. B Square, afraid of execution, denies the experience and in a panic assaults his brother who falls temporarily into an unconscious state where he encounters A HyperSphere along with the Monarch of Pointland who curiously resembles a “glow point.” As the Monarch drones on in his monologue of “being the all in all, the one in the one,” A HyperSphere informs his former apostle that time is short and A Square must proclaim the gospel of the three dimensions to his fellow Flatlanders although they, like the Monarch, will probably remain trapped within their own perspectives.

Returning to himself, A Square manages to escape Flatland prison and the guards that B Square has set upon his brother. Arriving at his home ahead of his pursuers, A Square informs his wife that they are going to defect to the Northern Kingdom where he might be able to spread the gospel of three dimensions to a more open minded populace. The soldiers arrive and A Square makes his escape with the help of Frau A Square’s “war cry” that temporarily stuns them. Before he can reach the border, A Square is cornered by the soldiers whose attempt to dismantle and segment him is thwarted by the Northern Kingdom army’s attack. In the fracas, things suddenly begin to disappear as though sucked down through the fabric of Flatland until only A Square remains. He too begins to disappear until there is only his eye, then a point of light, a glowing point of light, which welcomes him into another dimension.

Cast

Actor and roles

Actor	Character	Dimensional shape	Role
Simon G. Hammond	A Sphere	a sphere	the CEO of Messiah, Inc.
Greg Trent	President Circle	a circle	the president of the Southern Republic
Chris Carter	King Of Lineland	a line	the longest line in Lineland six inches of Space
Linda Meigs	Mathilde & Millicent	pyramids	the office assistants of A Sphere
Jon Shoemaker	Soldier Y	a triangle	a lethal triangle in the great Southern Republic Army
Ashley Blackwell	A Line	a line	an accused Chromatism line
Michael Karle	Pentagon Doctor	a pentagon	the chief doctor at Hospital of Reconfiguration
Dr. Jeff Sanders	Cube Carlton	a cube	Cube Carlton. Receiving.
Oscar Gutierrez	Old Trapezoid	a trapezoid	a crazy old trapezoid
Ladd Ehlinger Jr.	A Square	a square	attorney at law the main character
Karen Ehlinger	Frau A Square	a line	A Square’s loving wife
Megan Ehlinger	A Hexagon	a hexagon	A Square’s youngest son
Robert Ehlinger	B Square	a square	President Circle’s personal assistant
Catherine Ehlinger	Frau B Square	a line	B Square’s loving wife

Other voices

• Denise Carter
• Juliana Carter
• Mark Carter
• Jacqueline Clift
• Colin Duckworth
• Corin Ehlinger
• Perrin Ehlinger
• Raven Hood
• Chris Kolb
• Lauren Meigs
• Matthew Meigs
• Lacon Mitchell
• Jorge J. Raub
• Sean C. Spurlock
• Bill Wells

Animation

Using off-the-shelf 3D animation software such as Lightwave 3D and Adobe After Effects, Ehlinger animated and edited the feature film by himself over the course of a year and a half, starting in 2006 and ending in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

In nearly all reviews the film received praise, with minor criticism. At SciFi.com, Paul Di Filippo gave the film a rating of "A", stating that it "entertains, enlightens and educates," and that "Ehlinger manages to retain the Victorian satire on pomposity and cultural blindness while updating it to modern conditions. And ... [its] conceptual breakthrough is brilliantly handled." Di Filippo single criticism was that the superimposed text exposition got "a bit heavy-handed." Film Threat reviewer Phil Hall referred to the film's "bold originality and vibrant intelligence", stating, "Sequences throb with raw power, provoking visceral emotional responses". Hall flatly called it "a work of genius," and gave it five stars (of five).

Dennis Schwartz (Ozus' World) gave Flatland an "A", referring to it as "smart, without being cheeky", in taking the likely unfilmable source material, and creating a "spirited avant-garde" film. He summarized:

"...there's not a single thing about it that's disingenuous or unworldly or superficial. It's by a serious and gifted filmmaker who brings a light touch to his craft and does it without an ounce of pretentiousness or Hollywood phoniness or a sense of self-consciousness."

Scott Green at Ain't it Cool News called it "captivating", "an enjoyable mental amusement park ride", and "something amazingly different and intriguing to watch." But he noted, "the complexity of the world being explored does not coherently coalesce", and that the film attacks divisive topics "with an undisciplined flurry of jabs." Green was intrigued by the film's "glib omniscient" title cards, writing that their presence "almost makes for a character in and of itself."

External links

• Official website
• Flatland at the Internet Movie Database
• Flatland at Rotten Tomatoes

Articles

• Interview with Phil Hall on Film Threat
• Math at the Movies

Reviews

• SciFi Lists review
• Revolution SF review