The Work of Director Michel Gondry

So far this is one of seven in the director series compilations (the others being Chris Cunningham, Anton Corbijn, Jonathan Glazer, Mark Romanek, Stephane Sednaoui, and Spike Jonez). These would definitely be considered the new wave, MTV generation type directors. These directors are fully integrated into a visual medium. I would love to see who the series go to next.

You might remember Michel Gondry from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Chappelle's Bloc Party. Prior to these movies he became famous for doing stunning music videos for artists like the White Stripes and Bjork.

This is mostly a collection of the various music videos that he has done from about 1986 to 2003. Out of the all the music video's I have to pick 5 as my favorite.

1) Daft Punk - around the world. Trippy and surreal dance number consisting of aliens, skeletons, mummies, and a few women.

2) Kylie Minogue - come into my world. Kylie's Mobius trip from her dry cleaner + 1.

3) White Stripes - fell in love with a girl. Lego land video is simply amazing.

4) White Stripes - the hardest button to button. Recurring Michel theme of duplication.

5) Cibo Matto - sugar water. Split screen asynchronous story that has a focal point in the middle.

This is basically a compilation of the work of the director. It includes his music videos, commercials, and other projects. This is their portfolio. The Director's Series is the great thing as you see the influences and evolution of the director. I also enjoyed the Levi's commercial, with the truck driver. I highly recommend this and the other DVDs in this series.

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

this is a gem in my movie collection. everyone who watches it falls in love. do yourself a favor, resist the urge and watch "i've been twelve forever" (included on the discs) instead of watching the videos separately. he explains the inspiration/context (but not too much to spoil the presentations) behind each work and then you are able to watch each video. in the end, you will have watched an entirely engaging film about a very humble, gentle, and talented, young boy living inside a man. he is a real genius, and i think there would be many more like him if we took life less seriously and stopped making sense.

10 out of 10 because it could not be better!

This is my favourite DVD among the three "work of director" series, which also include Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham.

Michel Gondry is truly a genius, as inventive a video artist can get. I always saw him as a child in an adult body, and that's a compliment because only children can come up with such vivid imagination while exploring their world. But somehow, when we grow up, we loose that instant creativity, the kind of naive curiosity that drives children to filter Reality. Life simply gets the best out of us with its endless routine and repetitive patterns. How many times do you get to see some old cartoons you adored when you were little, and somehow you get disappointed and tell yourself "It sucks!"

Michel Gondry is one the most awarded music video and commercial directors, he is a gifted artist who's never afraid to try new things. He has such an avant-garde view and creativity, the kind of videos you just stare at in awe and wonder "How the hell did they do that" (e.g. the Fell in Love with a girl video.) Some of his techniques are truly brilliant, yet when you look closely, every bright child could have come up with the same ideas.

This is a must-have for every Gondry fan, as well as those who are looking for many hours of creative inspiration & fun.