I just watched the "A" side of Michel Gondry's music videos collection on the Director's Series DVD and I now have to add him to my list of all-time most brilliant people ever. A list which includes, in no particular order, Luis Bunuel, especially for
Un Chien Andalou and
L'age d'Or; Michael Almereyda for the only watchable version of
Hamlet ever put on film; David Lynch, especially for
Mulholland Drive; Spike Jonze for anything and everything he has ever touched;
Leni Riefenstahl, the best Nazi there was;
Altman, for everything;
Brakhage, the only man on this list I've ever met; and Spielberg, but only for
Minority Report.
But I digress.
This is the man responsible for such videos as The White Stripes' "Fell In Love With a Girl" video (the lego video) and "Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground" video. Also, he's done "Star Guitar" by the Chemical Brothers and "Come Into My World" by Kylie Minogue. I have a feeling like I'm pissing into the wind here with this post, but I'm going to continue anyway. What makes these videos so interesting is their obsession with cycles and reflexivity. He uses the camera and film tricks (not to mention an optical printer -- a lot) to turn the world of his focus into a world that mimics not the real world, but the world of the mind. In "Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground," the spectator feels as though he can see the thoughts of the protagonist through Gondry's use of projection for events that (seemingly) occurred in the protagonist's past. In "Come Into My World," the world cycles, but is not refreshed, in a way similar to the world of the song. In this way, the events that occur in cycle begin to back-up on each other and mingle in a way that is both interesting and terrifying (also, creating tension in a way similar to the build-up of the rhythm of the song). What if you just kept meeting yourself over and over and over doing exactly the same thing?
Anyhow, check this out if you get the opportunity. It's like watching a moving painting (very much like watching Brakhage's films).
-Matt 06:23 EST |
|
