Much has been said regarding Daft Punk’s Electroma. The reviews have been mixed to say the least and here’s why. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and people walked out on it. Then DP began having midnight screenings primarily in Paris, then one shots in Canada, Australia, London, Berlin, and Los Angeles. The film then became popular enough that the initial run was extended a whole six months.
Here’s what Wikipedia tells us about the story:
The plot revolves around the quest of two robots (the band members, played by Peter Hurteau and Michael Reich) in becoming human.
It should be noted that Daft Punk’s music is nowhere to be found in the movie. Rather, artists such as Brian Eno, Todd Rundgren, Curtis Mayfield et. al. were utilized for their music. So really, Daft Punk has nothing to do with this really as their music isn’t involved and their characters are played by actors.
Still, Electroma was directed by both Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter (D Punk’s real life alter egos). And though neither had any real experience shooting film, that didn’t stop Bangalter from buying 200 back issues of American Cinematographer and shooting this thing in 11 days. Step to that boys!
The journey of the robots seems to be the central point of debate concerning an extensive period shot in the desert.1 Whatever the vision, it will soon be accesible to us all on or around October 15 in dvd form. As Bangalter said himself:
We expected it to be less popular than Discovery, of course. The film is experimental and inaccessible; however, it’s a movie that does not require your brain to function.
Electroma
Directed by Daft Punk
Quicktime 7 (iPod compatible: 10.5 MB)
Via DaftPunk.com
- Compared to Van Sant’s Gerry which SRO agrees was exhaustive to watch even if it was Matt Damon and Casey Affleck walking through the desert.
ha ha nice comparison with gerry, I watched this last night in celebration to the fact that they are coming to oz in dec… Yes!
i was already a little skeptical after hearing that there’s no daft punk music in the whole movie. it’s an interesting decision and i’m not quite sure why they’d choose not to. however, what completely ruins this for me is Bangalter’s statement: “it’s a movie that does not require your brain to function.” hmm…