FEATURE:
Come Into My World
Super Eight: The Greatest Videos of Michel Gondry
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IN this feature…
I am spotlighting one of the most innovative and stunning music video directors ever. I am looking at the sensational and hugely imaginative videos of the fifty-seven-year-old French genius, Michel Gondry. I am going to finish by bringing in his best eight music videos. Before then, I want to introduce some Wikipedia information:
“His career as a filmmaker began with creating music videos for the French rock band Oui Oui, in which he also served as a drummer. The style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the attention of music artist Björk, who asked him to direct the video for her song "Human Behaviour". The collaboration proved long-lasting, with Gondry directing a total of eight music videos for Björk.
Other artists who have collaborated with Gondry on more than one occasion include Daft Punk, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Steriogram, Radiohead, and Beck. Gondry's video for Lucas Secon's "Lucas with the Lid Off" was nominated in the Best Music Video (short form) category at the 37th Grammy Awards, (one of two Gondry music videos nominated that year along with Sinéad O'Connor's Fire On Babylon).
Gondry has also created numerous television commercials. He pioneered the "bullet time" technique later adapted in The Matrix in the 1996 "Smarienberg" commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed advertisements for clothing retailer Gap”.
I sort of explored music video directors in 2019; I have featured Gondry before. Rather than merely repeat myself, I wanted focus in on his very best videos - in addition to providing a little bit of interview information.
In this interview from 2004, we learn more about Gondry’s musical tastes – he also speaks about his filmmaking experiences and influences:
“Much of the world at large has been introduced to Michel Gondry via the quirky visual stylings he has instilled in music videos by the likes of Beck, Bjork, The Foo Fighters, Massive Attack, Daft Punk, Kylie Minogue, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, and others. He also has two feature length films under his belt, 2001's Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind, both of which have been collaborations with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.
Yet despite his visual prowess, Gondry actually has quite an interesting musical background that goes far beyond the dreamlike visages of his videos and films. His father was a jazz musician, his mother plays piano, and his grandfather invented the Clavoline, one of the earliest synthesizers. Oh yeah, Gondry himself is a rather adept drummer and formed the '80s French indie-New Wave combo Oui Oui. In fact, he still breaks out on the downbeat from time to time, although now his rhythm making has become more of a hobby. "Yeah, yeah, although I admit that a couple of years ago I tried to invent a rhythm. Which I did, but it's not very interesting," he laughs. "I was just happy to sit down [behind the drums] and invent something new”.
Gondry's failure to create a new, life changing rhythmic interlude aside, has the director taken anything from his eclectic musical background and applied it to his filmmaking experiences? "I don't know," he says with a gleam in his eye and a sly grin on his face. "I mean it's all in me. The fact that you mentioned my parents; it must be what's in my genes. I guess it's there. I think my brother and I, when we were little kids our parents immersed us into pop culture. Duke Ellington and Serge Gainsbourg were like the heroes of our family. And I think ultimately it made us, when we got to an age when we could make a living, we could say what we remembered, only we'd kind of mesh with the culture around us. I don't know if that makes sense, but I think it helped us. Sometimes it's good that you have a background that has nothing to do with you, 'cause you create your own world. And sometimes it's good that there is nothing to conflict at this moment. But in terms of music, maybe you would see more of that in my work with music videos than film. It's more about my input in the film would be more how to shoot people in a way…when I started to do music video, I hated the music videos with people showing off or being like macho or like a pop star. I think when I try to shoot people, I try to be on an equal level with them and get that feeling of connecting. So it's more on that level in terms of my background influences”.
Because I am such a fan of Gondry’s work, I wanted to come back to his videos and highlight a director with an imagination and mind like no other! I have not ranked these seven videos in order of which I think is best. Instead, it is a spread of his best work that shows what an immense talent he is! If you like these videos, then take some time online investigating Michel Gondry’s work. Here are some exceptional examples from one…
THE greatest music video director ever.
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