Michel
Gondry, the king of whimsy, is back with his latest film “Mood Indigo” and he
has brought with him the queen of cute, Audrey Tautou, along for the ride. While I am quite a fan of Tautou, I find
Gondry’s output to be quite inconsistent.
There is no doubt that his “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” is
something of a masterpiece, but everything he has done since then is just a bit
too hit and miss for me. Gondry is at
his best when he is at his most inventive, which is something the trailer for
“Mood Indigo” promises, but with Audrey Tautou on board as well, I must admit
that I was worried that “Mood Indigo” was going to be far too cure and
whimsical for its own good, and be nothing more than mere fluff; something
which I have reacted strongly against in recent times.
When all
of his friends start falling in love, Colin decides it is time to find a girl
for himself and settle down. He is set
up with Chloe at a party he attends with his friends and the two immediately
fall in love. The young couple prance
around a beautiful and quirky version of Paris, riding on cloud cars controlled
by giant cranes from above, while sipping cocktails made by a fancy piano. The whimsical world is representative of the
couples blossoming love, however soon after Colin and Chloe get married, Chloe
starts to become ill and is diagnosed with a rare medical condition: she has a
water lily growing in one of her lungs.
Suddenly the world, that was so bright and full of fun and colour,
starts to decay around Colin at the same time Chloe’s condition deteriorates.
As I was
sitting in the cinema watching “Mood Indigo” I was aware of how much I was
enjoying the film and yet I found the above synopsis incredibly hard to write
because I had forgotten so many of the film’s details. I do not know if this is an indictment on “Mood
Indigo” itself or if it is just a case of mid-festival fatigue, but sadly my
memories of this film falter. What I do
remember is just how visually inventive the whole film was. Gondry is really at the top of his game here
creating an alternate Paris that looks super fun to live in or just visit. However I was worried that the film was
headed towards a fate of being too cute, as the first half of the film is just
that, but just as I was thinking that, Chloe is diagnosed with her illness and “Mood
Indigo” heads down a much darker path than I was expecting. Visually the film becomes darker too, as
suddenly all the fun things that were so evident in the opening half, when the couple
was falling in love, start to disappear and are replaced with a visual
representation of despair. Open spaces
that once felt so large, begin to feel cramped, as though the walls are closing
in on everyone, sunlight seems not to exist anymore, with the bright colours of
the opening half becoming muted, and characters seem to age years in a matter
of days, as Chloe’s illness takes a lot out of Colin and his friends.
Much has
been made recently about the fact that those who have not read the book the
film is based on, are destined to find the film confusing. At the time I watched “Mood Indigo” I was
actually blissfully unaware that it was based on Boris Vian’s 1947 novel “L’Ecume
Des Jours” (which has the gorgeous English title “Froth On The Daydream”), and
the majority of the film I believe I had no trouble in understanding. There is a subplot about one of Colin’s
friends, Chick, who is obsessed with a certain author’s work, Jean-Sol Partre, and
his attempt to collect every word the man has written to the point that it ends
up souring his relationship with his girlfriend. To me this section felt superfluous to the
rest of the film, but it may be this section of the film that makes more sense
if you have read the book; I do not know, but it may give it more meaning. Either way, word has just come out that when “Mood
Indigo” is released outside of France, it will be a shorter “international”
version, running 36 minutes shorter than the version that played at MIFF (the
film will be released in Australia on September 12, and it has already been
confirmed that it will be the shortened version). I cannot fathom how a film that has that much
cut out of it can hope to offer the same experience gotten from viewing the
original version, but I am just thankful I took the chance to see the “French”
version when I had the chance.
In
regards to performances, I thought both Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou were
nice in their roles of Colin and Chloe respectively. Both presented the required smiles, giggles
and a general sense of fun during the stages of them falling in love, and then
both convince when the film changes to a more serious manner and the outcome
appears tragic. The person who stood out
for me though was Omar Sy who plays Nicolas, a friend of the couple who is
actually a lawyer but feels more at home in the kitchen spending time trying
out recipes from his favourite chef than he does in court. Sy is just so charismatic in the role; you
cannot take your eyes off of him when he is on screen. He just elevates the mood and quality of the
film too, and the scene when he and Colin practice dancing in the kitchen is an
absolute classic.
Overall,
I sadly have to admit that my memory of “Mood Indigo” is tainted – it just hasn’t
stayed with me, therefore I do not know whether the recollections I have of the
film are indeed accurate. What I do
remember though, was that in the moment I thoroughly enjoyed “Mood Indigo” and
found it both visually exciting and inventive.
It has a magic within it that a lot of films do not have anymore. Audrey Tautou plays her cute card again and
does it well, but she also equips herself mightily when the film took a much
darker tone which impressed me.
Personally I would recommend “Mood Indigo” but under the proviso that it
is known that my memory of the film is slightly tainted.
3.5 Stars.
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