Michel Gondry has directed quite an array of movies that utilize his unique visual style. From THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP to THE GREEN HORNET, Gondry has delivered original film after original film, but ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND remains his best work, in my opinion. The combination of his dream-like visuals and a stirring love story made for one of the most memorable movie experiences of the last twenty years, if not longer. Now, it looks like he is could do it again with MOOD INDIGO.
The original French trailer has been floating around the Internet since last year, but now we have the first official domestic trailer and poster for the movie. Starring AMELIE’s Audrey Tatou, MOOD INDIGO looks like another movie set in a world just parallel to our own. Slightly surreal, very quirky, and all around original, MOOD INDIGO looks like a must see.
Eminently inventive Michel Gondry finds inspiration from French novelist Boris Vian’s cult novel to provide the foundation for this visionary and romantic love story starring Audrey Tautou (Amélie, Coco Before Chanel) and Romain Duris (The Beat My Heart Skipped). Set in a charmingly surreal Paris, Duris plays wealthy bachelor Colin, whose hobbies include developing his pianocktail (a cocktail-making piano) and devouring otherworldly dishes prepared by his trusty chef Nicolas (Omar Sy, The Untouchables). When Colin learns that his best friend Chick (Gad Elmaleh, The Valet), a fellow acolyte of the philosopher Jean-Sol Partre, has a new American girlfriend, our lonely hero attends a friend’s party in hopes of falling in love himself. He soon meets Chloé (Audrey Tautou) and, before they know it, they’re dancing to Duke Ellington and plunging headfirst into a romance that Gondry rapturously depicts as only he can. Their whirlwind courtship is tested when an unusual illness plagues Chloe; a flower begins to grow in her lungs. To save her, Colin discovers the only cure is to surround Chloe with a never-ending supply of fresh flowers.
Like Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry never sacrifices his style to make a movie more mainstream. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny the guy has no comparison. I hope he directs an English-language film soon on par with MOOD INDIGO.
MOOD INDIGO premieres in limited release on July 18th.