'Mood Indigo' is a new Parisian love story by French director Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, The Green Hornet). The film is based on the 1947 book "L'Écume des Jours" by Boris Vian, who was also a singer-songwriter, jazz trumpeter and all-round cool dude.
Set in Paris, France, 'Mood Indigo' travels between the 1940s, the present and a lo- fi/sci-fi future. Colin (Romain Duris) is a wealthy inventor, he lives with his friend Nicolas (Omar Sy) who is a lawyer and chef, in a converted rail carriage suspended between two buildings. His best friend Chick (Gad Emaleh) introduces him to Chloé (Audrey Tautou), a romance blossoms.
Vian provides the perfect form of inspiration, Gondry's visual flair and surreal box of tricks is irresistibly conceived. From the opening scene we see rows of typists typing away on typewriters that move along without stopping, pianos that make cocktails, a TV chef who can reach through the screen to hand you ingredients, a dance style that turns your legs to rubber, to cranes lifting spaceships around Paris to give the best views of the city.
Its an overwhelming experience, especially the opening 30 minutes. Duris, Tautou and Sy do well to draw you back into reality, of sorts. Their performances are as breezy and whimsical as everything around them, but the mood isn't always so colourful, especially when Chloe's health suffers. Sy's character didn't sit too comfortably, his eager to please servant/chef and occasional lawyer is a cringeworthy throwback to outdated stereotyping.
'Mood Indigo' only just avoids the pretentious pitfalls which many films of this ilk can get sucked into, it often lapses into moments when such surreal inventiveness should be reined in, its occasionally overindulgent and a little precious. But Gondry's manifestations of Colin's experiences and feelings into physical forms is impressive, creating a surreal worldview which craves your attention, and its hard to resist such an overflow of creativity and imagination.
Set in Paris, France, 'Mood Indigo' travels between the 1940s, the present and a lo- fi/sci-fi future. Colin (Romain Duris) is a wealthy inventor, he lives with his friend Nicolas (Omar Sy) who is a lawyer and chef, in a converted rail carriage suspended between two buildings. His best friend Chick (Gad Emaleh) introduces him to Chloé (Audrey Tautou), a romance blossoms.
Vian provides the perfect form of inspiration, Gondry's visual flair and surreal box of tricks is irresistibly conceived. From the opening scene we see rows of typists typing away on typewriters that move along without stopping, pianos that make cocktails, a TV chef who can reach through the screen to hand you ingredients, a dance style that turns your legs to rubber, to cranes lifting spaceships around Paris to give the best views of the city.
Its an overwhelming experience, especially the opening 30 minutes. Duris, Tautou and Sy do well to draw you back into reality, of sorts. Their performances are as breezy and whimsical as everything around them, but the mood isn't always so colourful, especially when Chloe's health suffers. Sy's character didn't sit too comfortably, his eager to please servant/chef and occasional lawyer is a cringeworthy throwback to outdated stereotyping.
'Mood Indigo' only just avoids the pretentious pitfalls which many films of this ilk can get sucked into, it often lapses into moments when such surreal inventiveness should be reined in, its occasionally overindulgent and a little precious. But Gondry's manifestations of Colin's experiences and feelings into physical forms is impressive, creating a surreal worldview which craves your attention, and its hard to resist such an overflow of creativity and imagination.