Real panthers & puppet crocodiles in best short video of year - VIDEO

L’Odyssee de Cartier is a dazzling 3 1/2-minute CGI short film directed by Bruno Aveillan. The homage follows the epic voyage of an emerald-eyed panther, muse and figurehead of the House of Cartier. (Fun fact: the video employed real panthers and puppet crocodiles).

Part Golden Compass sci-fi, part Odyssean trek, la panthére’s journey traverses a sampling of mythical landscapes, most being real points of reference to Cartier’s global legacy. Supermodel Shalom Harlow plays the awaiting “Lady in the Mansion,” whose caress shakes loose from the feline’s coat a handful of glittering diamonds—presumably of the Cartier variety.

The film is beautiful, if predictable, wrought with iconic Cartier imagery and feats of digital technology (the panther hitching a ride atop an antique flying machine is a nice touch). And Pierre Adenot’s original score, a Hans Zimmer-meets-Howard Shore ode to the Hollywood epic, lifts the visuals to a grander place. Cartier was established in Paris in 1847 and has served as crown jeweler to 19 royal houses.


/forbes.com/