The Work Of Director Michel Gondry

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Primary Contributor : The White Stripes
Primary Contributor : Kylie Minogue

Product Details

Actor : The White Stripes, Kylie Minogue, The Chemical Brothers, Bjork, Beck
Format : PAL
Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0724359904191
Number of Discs : 2
Product Group : DVD
Region Code : 2
Release Date : 2003-12-01
Studio : Mute Films
UPC : 724359904191

ASIN : B0000DK4OO

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

The Work of Director Michel Gondry invites the lucky viewer into a wonderland of childlike imagination. Before the Versailles-born Gondry turned his creative ingenuity to feature films (beginning with the underrated Human Nature and the 2004 Jim Carrey comedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), these 27 music videos and assorted "stories and things" formed a legacy of supreme cleverness, suggesting a creative lineage from the pioneering film magic of Georges Méliès to the groundbreaking experimental films of Norman McLaren.

It's perfectly fitting that the accompanying 75-minute documentary is titled "I've Been 12 Forever," because Gondry (b.1964) never lost the sense of wonder and inventiveness that children display when their minds are allowed to flourish in a creative environment. No wonder he's best known for his dazzling collaborations with Icelandic pop star Björk, resulting in music videos (seven included here) that redefined the magical potential of the medium. Each, in its own way, is a masterpiece of the fantastic.

What's also remarkable about Gondry's work is its technical progression, from the homemade crudeness of his earliest videos for the French band Oui Oui, to the technical wizardry of Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World", in which the Australian pop star is seamlessly multiplied as she strolls around a busy Parisian intersection; like many of Gondry's videos, it's a stunning "how-did-they-do-that?" work of art, reminiscent of Zbigniew Rybcynski's prize-winning 1982 short "Tango". From the hilarious dreamworld of the Foo Fighters' most popular video "Everlong" to the painstaking pixilation of Gondry's videos for the White Stripes (one made entirely of animated Lego blocks), this DVD is packed with Gondry's tireless pursuit of perfection; he'll do whatever's necessary, no matter how simple or complex, to achieve perfect harmony between song, artist, and visual concept. All the while, he's drawing from a seemingly endless well of inspiration, as evident in the delightful 52-page booklet of stories, drawings, photos, and interviews that chronicle the eternal sunshine of a brilliant mind. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

dreamy, spooky, funny (2006-05-12)

Gondry has this wizardly combination of cool ideas and a real feeling for the music he's illuminating. Highlights for me are Beck's Deadweight - which is full of haunting and humerous images of dislocation - and Chemical Bros' Star Guitar - which perfectly maps the tune onto a hypnotic view of industrial suburbs from the window of a train. When I play it on my PC, the DVD freezes after I select an option from the menu where he's playing drums (though you can get round this) - hence four stars instead of five.

Genius! (2004-05-26)

Just watched this today and all I can say is that it's probably the most exciting dvd I've ever seen. This man has a fantastic knack of simply matching images to music. No other director exhibits such a real feel for the music - every video here totally matches the artist and the song. So many clever touches - you really have to watch some of these videos several times to 'get' all the ideas he puts into his work. In short, there is no other video director who is quite so innovative, creative, artistic and just plain damn brilliant as Michel Gondry. Buy! With 4 hours plus of footage you really can't go wrong with this. I'm thinking of buying a copy for all my friends as early Christmas presents!

Gondry the Genius (2004-01-24)

I love this DVD! It really is a treat and Gondry obviously has a sense of humour aside from being a visual storytelling genius.

The only problem I had (technically) with the DVD is the main menu page: I don't see him playing the drums in the menu when I put it into my Pioneer DVD player. All I see is a black background, no sound and just the text of the activated choice e.g. Music Videos or Stories which I can select... It was only when I popped the DVD into my computer's DVD drive that I saw the great interface of him playing drums and realized I was missing something (at first I just thought the interface was badly made). I have the other 2 DVD's in this series too and the Spike Jonze one has exactly the same problem.

Am I the only person with this problem?

Still worth buying though!

The work of Director Michel Gondry (2004-01-22)

This is my most recent purchase in "The Work of Director" collection. I'd only really heard of Michel Gondry because of some of the Bjork videos and the Chemical Brother's Star Guitar. I bought this DVD more on the strength of the two DVD's in this series.

Having just spent the last couple of hours watching this one, it is in my opinion the best one so far. From the clever way it's packaged, to the amazing videos and the fascinating story behind Gondry, this DVD will appeal on so many levels.

It's worth the price alone for the ingenuity of Cibo Matto's Sugar Water video! This is a definite must have!

you'd be a daft punk not to get this! (2004-01-07)

This is a great DVD. If you like your music videos creative then this is for you! I have just ordered the Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham DVD's on the Strength of this DVD. I await with eager anticipation.

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