Thoughts on Michel Gondry

“To what extent does an aesthetic appreciation of Tarantino’s Kill Bill rely on a prior knowledge of Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)? To what extent is contemporary cinema merely a cinematic performance of prior texts and passed traditions?” (Non Linear Narrative, ‘New Punk Cinema’, Nicholas Rombes)

If this be true, Michel Gondry is the exception that proves the rule. His refusal to be boxed in by formulas and patterns has led him to define a new paradigm in film making today. Born and raised in Versailles, France, and eventually going to Art College in Paris, he has scripted inspiring imagery in the form of commercials, music videos, shorts, feature films, and other media. He is partially credited with reviving the music-video format in the 1990's. His autobiographical documentary 'I've been 12 forever' is a substantial evidence of his wide palette and unique aesthetic in the medium.

In a world where we are taught how to fit into larger systems, Michel Gondry has chosen to define his own rules. Needless to say, he is one of the most sought-after directors in the mainstream media today, and his unique style of film making - a new path that has been defined. Even though his work is mostly in the realm of 'live action', he seems to think like an Animator.

"As a child I was interested in the possibilities that Lego and Meccano opened up, to create and invent new discoveries. My cousin and I used Meccano to build a prototype cartoon machine, quite similar to the zoetrope. It was a black circle with a gap to look at the little drawings. One of the stories we drew was about a journey in which you fractal zoom from a larger infinity to a smaller infinity. It started in space, with the planets, and then closed in on the Earth, then the continents, the countries and cities, the streets and the houses, down through a chimney, deep into the wood and right into the little atoms. Then it zoomed back out to the planets again. It was about a minute long, and we were 12 years old.” ('I've been 12 forever', Michel Gondry)

Unlike most 'film directors', he treats his picture plane as a layer amongst others, and plays with them in highly unorthodox ways. In 'Let Forever Be' (Chemical Brothers), he puns on this very aspect of 'multiple layers' in the real physical world. I find these self reflexive methods more a favourite with animators rather than live action film makers. Michel Gondry is responsible for several of the 'special effects' commonly used these days. One of them, the 'Zoom Morph' was first used by him in "Je Danse Le Mia" - IAM (1993) This effect is now a 'plug-in' in many Visual Effects Packages. Gondry was also one of the pioneers of the 'time slice' effect made famous by 'The Matrix'.

Since the release of Gondry's first feature film 'Human Nature' and more successful second feature ‘'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', he produced a film he wrote called 'The Science of Sleep'. He is one of the few directors to have spanned the film, music video and ad commercial genres, and how. His next feature, 'Be Kind Rewind' to be released this year, will apparently be his most accessible film to date.