Mood Indigo (French: L'Écume des jours (The Foam of Days)) (2013)
Director: Michel Gondry
Watched: March 2018
Rating: 6/10
Feels like "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" with its gadget silliness, "Amelie" with its artfulness (and Audrey Tatou), "Love Me if You Dare ("Children's Games")" with its uncanny romance, & "Romeo & Juliet" with its depressing Shakesperian change for the worst.
... Every scene a visual delight. Each shot an art piece...
A corporate looking room with numerous rows of typewriters and there are typos, all tapping away, narrating Colin's life. Representing his thoughts, when he stands, they stand. When he eats, they magically all have lunches appear before them.
A fully gadgeted, steampunk reminiscent piano that makes cocktails (even savory ones) depending on your choice of music; chords, scales, pace, and mood. Not only does it look fascinating, the theory is ingeniously mesmerizing. Name? A "Pianocktail", clearly.
A Rubik's Cube calendar that one has to "solve" when consulting it.
Colorful stop motion food that literally dances, served by the friend and highly adept personal cook, Nicolas (to draw a line between the two, one time he brilliantly leaves the apartment and knocks on the door to return as a friend, his demeanor instantly transformed).
An automated waiter in the form of a treat with roller skates.
Colin has a best friend. Chick has his own best friend, an obsession with the philosopher Jean-Sol Partre (play on Jean-Paul Sartre). At one of the speaking engagements, he meets his girlfriend Alise.
A turntable with a fabricated DJ above, but one whose arm and hands will move to begin your record of choice.
He forgets whose birthday party is at, mistaking it for the owner's rather than the dog's. Fastidiously, he magically folds a pair of thick leather gloves into an origami daschund. Voila!
A dance called the "Biglemoi" where legs bend, arms flow, dimensions curve, bodies flop around. Magnified and saturated by special effects.
A random cloud swan ride (like those coin operated machine rides outside supermarkets) in the middle of downtown that lifts you via construction crane high above the city, an ideal vantage point better than any tourist attraction. It magically moves with an unseen arm all around the city. Oh, not to mention it will take opportune candids that print automatically for you.
The "Underground Forest" with birdhouses in an underground tunnel with train tracks where the couple runs in slow motion through a snowfall of down feathers.
Their wedding. "In keeping with the new nomenclature of the Theodocian code, I will only marry the winning couple," says the priest in charge. And with the contrasting image of this religious man during a gun into the air, thus begins a colorful, shaky camera, surrealist,video game reminiscent, zany go kart race between the couple and their friends, who were supposed to be there as groomsmen and bridesmaids.
A completely see through paneled Cadillacesque car. But maybe more like a limousine, with its viewing dome atop and a "rainbow option" (when looking out, everything is viewed through a rainbow striped filter), a matching pull-out see-through picnic table in the back that comes ready with a lightning, rain, + thunder generator (for such occasions as Colin wanting rain, Chloé and Nicolas sunshine).
On their honeymoon, a large white lily floats into and lands in Chloé's right lung. Though, visually, their honeymoon is nothing but fun; cannon balling up flights of stairs, running through generated rain.
A doctor who shows Colin a picture of his wife to cheer him up ("Beauty is not everything!")
The whimsical loft bed the couple shares in a room that bends and becomes round in accordance to the music played.
At the pharmacist. Seems closed. Colin needs Chloé's medicine. "Trust Chick," says Chick, as he gets a running start. Of course, the pharmacist opens the door.
The medicine? Some magnetic balls that already caused an explosion before their eyes. "An ordinary plant won't survive long," the pharmacist informs them.
Arbitrary resplendent underwater scenes, though usually in some very pleasant time, like the two of them leaving the church post-wedding and making love.
To treat Chloé, they are to intimidate the lily by surrounding her with other flowers. To prevent its growth, she is to have no more than two spoonfuls of water a day.
A glorious flower shop in which a large wheel, like one you would find on a ship, can navigate you through a real life flower catalog before your eyes. They appear not on a page, but in a room you stand before, rows and rows of them.
... Until it is not.
About 1:05 in. And then, right after this scene, suddenly it is a completely different film. Yes, that black and white. That night and day. Mark it. A different film might as well have commenced. The mood changes, yes. But along with it, the caliber of the film. Transitions erratic. Pacing incongruous. Bleak, dark, nothing. Artful aesthetics are few and far between.
Colin has to begin working to pay for Chloé's treatments. More exaggerated shenanigans. Things get dark. Representations of Colin's emotions include a giant shadowed man chasing him (fear), walls closing in on him (limited options). Because he has always been wealthy, he has no work experience; no one wants to hire him. The first place he works produces proton guns, which apparently requires human heat. He strips completely nude and lays on a pile of dirt in 24 hour increments.
No more ugly wife pictures. Now the doctor gives him medication and money back because he thinks he "made a mistake".
A redeeming scene. Colin is now in that previously mentioned corporate room of typists with typewriters. Except now dark and solemn. Colorless. He types away, taking over the narrative. Chloé improves. We see a perfect couple. Unfortunately, Colin's typewriter gets away from him. Literally. He is escorted from the recesses of his mind.
Alise & Chick have since married, but he has been neglecting her for Partre, spending all his funds- even those"borrowed" from Colin- and time on ridiculously priced ephemera. He is killed at work resisting authority. Blaming Partre, Alise finds the man and murders him fanatically.
Colin & Chloé's home disintegrates along with her health. Walls literally begin to peel, colors fade. Nicolas ages rapidly; years in what is really weeks.
He fires Nicolas, what he sees as "releasing" him. He sells the amazing "Pianocktail".
Colin now works for "the administration", going door to door informing individuals of their fates ("We announce bad news a day in advance... Can you call someone who can take you to the hospital?")
Film is in monochrome colors now. I am delighted by how Gondry chose to do this. In the next scene, around 1:20, black and white.
No more money. Chloé dies. Same minister who fired that gun in the colorful, whimsical go-kart race wedding scene from another world now callously tells him he will have an "appalling wedding" due to lack of funds. We see Chloe's coffin being thrown out of their second story window. Colin, Nicolas, and his girlfriend follow a dark padded armpry vehichle to a foggy lake. Misted in shadows, Colin shoots at the water with a proton gun as Chloé is taken away to be buried. Friends watch helplessly.
Final scene. Typewriters with their typists again, now closing up. Throughout the film, Chloé has been seen to be sketching self portraits. Now, they are shown as an animated flipbook that the typists approvingly pass around the room.
The End.
Everything before the shift? Near perfect. Now how to rate this most regrettable loss of potential? As a side note, the title must be a reference to Indigo children? Since the book it is based on, by Boris Vian, is actually called "Froth of the Daydream" in English, "The Foam of Days" in French. Nothing regarding a blue color. Although that color does come from a plant? With flowers? Although Chloé's flower is white. That is what we are left with. A couple conundrums, where we could have been left with bliss.
The Real End. #FilmReview #PoetryReview #Gondry #LostPotential #MagicalRealism #Surrealism
Feels like "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" with its gadget silliness, "Amelie" with its artfulness (and Audrey Tatou), "Love Me if You Dare ("Children's Games")" with its uncanny romance, & "Romeo & Juliet" with its depressing Shakesperian change for the worst.
... Every scene a visual delight. Each shot an art piece...
A corporate looking room with numerous rows of typewriters and there are typos, all tapping away, narrating Colin's life. Representing his thoughts, when he stands, they stand. When he eats, they magically all have lunches appear before them.
A fully gadgeted, steampunk reminiscent piano that makes cocktails (even savory ones) depending on your choice of music; chords, scales, pace, and mood. Not only does it look fascinating, the theory is ingeniously mesmerizing. Name? A "Pianocktail", clearly.
A Rubik's Cube calendar that one has to "solve" when consulting it.
Colorful stop motion food that literally dances, served by the friend and highly adept personal cook, Nicolas (to draw a line between the two, one time he brilliantly leaves the apartment and knocks on the door to return as a friend, his demeanor instantly transformed).
An automated waiter in the form of a treat with roller skates.
Colin has a best friend. Chick has his own best friend, an obsession with the philosopher Jean-Sol Partre (play on Jean-Paul Sartre). At one of the speaking engagements, he meets his girlfriend Alise.
A turntable with a fabricated DJ above, but one whose arm and hands will move to begin your record of choice.
He forgets whose birthday party is at, mistaking it for the owner's rather than the dog's. Fastidiously, he magically folds a pair of thick leather gloves into an origami daschund. Voila!
A dance called the "Biglemoi" where legs bend, arms flow, dimensions curve, bodies flop around. Magnified and saturated by special effects.
A random cloud swan ride (like those coin operated machine rides outside supermarkets) in the middle of downtown that lifts you via construction crane high above the city, an ideal vantage point better than any tourist attraction. It magically moves with an unseen arm all around the city. Oh, not to mention it will take opportune candids that print automatically for you.
The "Underground Forest" with birdhouses in an underground tunnel with train tracks where the couple runs in slow motion through a snowfall of down feathers.
Their wedding. "In keeping with the new nomenclature of the Theodocian code, I will only marry the winning couple," says the priest in charge. And with the contrasting image of this religious man during a gun into the air, thus begins a colorful, shaky camera, surrealist,video game reminiscent, zany go kart race between the couple and their friends, who were supposed to be there as groomsmen and bridesmaids.
A completely see through paneled Cadillacesque car. But maybe more like a limousine, with its viewing dome atop and a "rainbow option" (when looking out, everything is viewed through a rainbow striped filter), a matching pull-out see-through picnic table in the back that comes ready with a lightning, rain, + thunder generator (for such occasions as Colin wanting rain, Chloé and Nicolas sunshine).
On their honeymoon, a large white lily floats into and lands in Chloé's right lung. Though, visually, their honeymoon is nothing but fun; cannon balling up flights of stairs, running through generated rain.
A doctor who shows Colin a picture of his wife to cheer him up ("Beauty is not everything!")
The whimsical loft bed the couple shares in a room that bends and becomes round in accordance to the music played.
At the pharmacist. Seems closed. Colin needs Chloé's medicine. "Trust Chick," says Chick, as he gets a running start. Of course, the pharmacist opens the door.
The medicine? Some magnetic balls that already caused an explosion before their eyes. "An ordinary plant won't survive long," the pharmacist informs them.
Arbitrary resplendent underwater scenes, though usually in some very pleasant time, like the two of them leaving the church post-wedding and making love.
To treat Chloé, they are to intimidate the lily by surrounding her with other flowers. To prevent its growth, she is to have no more than two spoonfuls of water a day.
A glorious flower shop in which a large wheel, like one you would find on a ship, can navigate you through a real life flower catalog before your eyes. They appear not on a page, but in a room you stand before, rows and rows of them.
... Until it is not.
About 1:05 in. And then, right after this scene, suddenly it is a completely different film. Yes, that black and white. That night and day. Mark it. A different film might as well have commenced. The mood changes, yes. But along with it, the caliber of the film. Transitions erratic. Pacing incongruous. Bleak, dark, nothing. Artful aesthetics are few and far between.
Colin has to begin working to pay for Chloé's treatments. More exaggerated shenanigans. Things get dark. Representations of Colin's emotions include a giant shadowed man chasing him (fear), walls closing in on him (limited options). Because he has always been wealthy, he has no work experience; no one wants to hire him. The first place he works produces proton guns, which apparently requires human heat. He strips completely nude and lays on a pile of dirt in 24 hour increments.
No more ugly wife pictures. Now the doctor gives him medication and money back because he thinks he "made a mistake".
A redeeming scene. Colin is now in that previously mentioned corporate room of typists with typewriters. Except now dark and solemn. Colorless. He types away, taking over the narrative. Chloé improves. We see a perfect couple. Unfortunately, Colin's typewriter gets away from him. Literally. He is escorted from the recesses of his mind.
Alise & Chick have since married, but he has been neglecting her for Partre, spending all his funds- even those"borrowed" from Colin- and time on ridiculously priced ephemera. He is killed at work resisting authority. Blaming Partre, Alise finds the man and murders him fanatically.
Colin & Chloé's home disintegrates along with her health. Walls literally begin to peel, colors fade. Nicolas ages rapidly; years in what is really weeks.
He fires Nicolas, what he sees as "releasing" him. He sells the amazing "Pianocktail".
Colin now works for "the administration", going door to door informing individuals of their fates ("We announce bad news a day in advance... Can you call someone who can take you to the hospital?")
Film is in monochrome colors now. I am delighted by how Gondry chose to do this. In the next scene, around 1:20, black and white.
No more money. Chloé dies. Same minister who fired that gun in the colorful, whimsical go-kart race wedding scene from another world now callously tells him he will have an "appalling wedding" due to lack of funds. We see Chloe's coffin being thrown out of their second story window. Colin, Nicolas, and his girlfriend follow a dark padded armpry vehichle to a foggy lake. Misted in shadows, Colin shoots at the water with a proton gun as Chloé is taken away to be buried. Friends watch helplessly.
Final scene. Typewriters with their typists again, now closing up. Throughout the film, Chloé has been seen to be sketching self portraits. Now, they are shown as an animated flipbook that the typists approvingly pass around the room.
The End.
Everything before the shift? Near perfect. Now how to rate this most regrettable loss of potential? As a side note, the title must be a reference to Indigo children? Since the book it is based on, by Boris Vian, is actually called "Froth of the Daydream" in English, "The Foam of Days" in French. Nothing regarding a blue color. Although that color does come from a plant? With flowers? Although Chloé's flower is white. That is what we are left with. A couple conundrums, where we could have been left with bliss.
The Real End. #FilmReview #PoetryReview #Gondry #LostPotential #MagicalRealism #Surrealism