The Work of Director Michel Gondry

Brilliant collection of pop music videos directed by Michel Gondry. Until I saw this DVD by chance in HMV, I had no idea that one man was responsible for so many of my favourite music videos - such as The White Stripes' Lego one, the one where Kylie Minogue walks down the street encountering lots of other Kylies, and the Chemical Brothers 'Let Forever Be'. It also includes some more obscure French ones (Gondry's earlier work). The most outstanding video is probably Bjork's 'Bachelorette', a creepy and beautiful postmodern fairytale with layers upon layers of reality and fiction.

It's fascinating to see them all side by side, as it really shows up some of the themes that run through all of Gondry's videos - for example, repetition but with a slight difference, lots of things that look nearly but not quite the same. The extra bits, short films, interview with Gondry, etc are also very interesting and a must-see for fans of his work.

Also a great DVD to stick on in the background if you have friends round - good tunes, variety of artists, and the coolest videos ever.

Go out and buy this DVD. Better yet, Amazon currently is offering all three in the series (Gondry, Spike Jonze & Chris Cunningham) for $35 with free shipping.

I bought all three at a retailer for $45 and I thought THAT was a bargain after watching this one on Michel Gondry. If the other two are as good, it IS a bargain! But at $35 for all three, now that's something nobody interested in "new directors" should pass up.

The fact is, I've rarely seen anything as brief, intoxicating and innovative as the videos on the Gondry disc. Not only do you get a two-sided disc with 20 or more music videos, you get some of this guy's early work (home movies), a 52-page booklet designed by Gondry, very funny interviews and videos of his early band (Oui Oui) performing at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

The four hours plus of material is fascinating.

I highly recommend this disc.

Part of the DVD series "The Work of Director ________", a trio of DVDs featuring the work of three groundbreaking video and short film directors, "The Work of Michel Gondry" is an extensive filmography of the director's work prior to his acclaimed feature film debut "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". It was interesting to see these pieces after having seen that film because it is so clear that his innovative and (usually) whimsical vision were present long before that film was released.

Essentially "discovered" by musician Bjork and tapped to do the video for her film "Human Behaviour", Gondry went on to do several videos for her as well as for The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, Foo Fighters & The Rolling Stones, among others. All of the videos feature enormous amounts of color, are usually laden with fantasy elements (there are a lot of themes that involve time-shifting) and most either are ironic or dryly humorous. The total effect is completely intoxicating. I have always found Bjork's videos to be wonderful and unusual, but all of the videos in fair succession of one another are a heady experience. The amount of work that went into The White Stripes' "Fell in Love With a Girl" video, which features the band as Legos, with every shot done manually is mind-boggling. Even Kylie Minogue's "Come into my World" (I personally find her insipid at best) was extremely enjoyable because the video, essentially a mobius strip where Minogue is walking around a city block, was so sublime.

The collection also features some commercial work and short films that Gondry has produced during his professional career including a beautifully shot black and white film called "The Letter". Having now seen all three of the collections released by the Directors Label series (including Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham) Gondry's work is the perfect addition to the series because he brings an element of bright imagination, and while all three directors are creative, his work is laced with a fancifulness that works as a thin patina, under which obvious intelligence lies. I considered "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to be the best film released in 2004, and Gondry's video work is a strong support for his talent and vision. I highly recommend it. 8/10 --Shelly

A five-hour length double-sided CD with a huge collection of Gondry's video-clips, commercials, short films and a documentary about him, which go from year 1987 to year 2003.

The video-clip collection is extensive and impressive and shows the largeness of Gondry's creativity world, from the delightful low-budget animated clips of his band Qui Qui, to the spectacular ones of modern pop-rock bands and soloists. I especially liked his videos for Bjork and the Chemical Bros, but all of them are fantastic, so different, unique and so very Gondry.

There are a few commercials, but they are just visually brilliant and impacting, less Gondry-ish so to speak, but the humor and naughtiness are still there. The one for Levis is just fantastic.

The collection of short stories is not as homogeneous and extensive, and mixes shorts that Gondry made for his family (birthday presents), others that express things that happened to him when young, and those directed to the public, still inspired in his life, with different styles and aesthetics. I loved "So Tiny" and "The Letter".

The bio-documentary is OK, and shows Gondry's childish, creative and naughty personality, but is not well structured, with bits of information missing. The figure of the father, who seems to be so important to him, is barely mentioned, but his mother is over-present. I would have liked a little bit more of biographical details and interviews from his childhood and youth friends, his brothers, and more personal things. However, the documentary focus more in his professional and creative work, giving a detailed explanation on how and why he made some videos, interviews with the bands for whom he worked, a lot of footage about his band Qui Qui, and some hints of his personal life, but very reduced. I think both things could have occupied similar space, but the professional part ends dominating the documentary. I loved that too, but it left me craving for more.

If you like Gondry and/or good quality music clips you'll enjoy this independent DVD.

Michel Gondry, the French mastermind behind the hugely popular 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', brings us back to his roots in this DVD showcasing the video clips that initiated his career in film-making.

'The Work of Director Michel Gondry' includes video clips by The White Stripes, Foo Fighters and Kylie Minogue among others. By seeing these video clips the viewer is able to see where Gondry gets his unique style of film-making from. The incredible directing that is prominent in 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' is evident here. His creativity is extraordinary and anybody thinking of venturing into the business of film-making should really see this DVD to gain an insight into the mind of a genius.

It's not just business either. Through this DVD we are able to see the humorous side to Michel Gondry.

Overall, it's an interesting DVD that allows the viewer to step into the mind of Michel Gondry.