Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry in Paris in March 2008
Born	May 8, 1963 (1963-05-08) Paris, France
Occupation	Director, screenwriter
Years active	1986–present

Michel Gondry (born May 8, 1963) is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène.^{[citation needed]}

Life and career

Gondry was born in Versailles, France. He is the grandson of inventor Constant Martin. He has a teenage son named Paul, who is also an artist.

Gondry's vision and career began with his emphasis on emotion, according to Gondry himself in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life by journalist Robert K. Elder. Much of his inspiration, he says, came from the film Le voyage en ballon.

When I watch this movie, I dream I’m flying and then I do stories where people are flying. I think it’s directly influencing.

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 seven 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 has also created numerous television commercials. He pioneered the "bullet time" technique later adapted in The Matrix,^{[citation needed]} in a 1998 commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed advertisements for clothing retailer Gap, Incorporated.

Gondry, along with directors Spike Jonze and David Fincher, is representative of the influx of music video directors into feature film. Gondry made his feature film debut in 2001 with Human Nature, garnering mixed reviews. His second film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also his second collaboration with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman), was released in 2004 and received very favorable reviews, becoming one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. Eternal Sunshine utilizes many of the image manipulation techniques that Gondry had experimented with in his music videos. Gondry won an Academy Award alongside Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth for the screenplay of Eternal Sunshine. The style of Gondry's music videos often relies on videography and camera tricks which play with frames of reference.

Gondry also directed the musical documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006) which followed comedian Dave Chappelle as he attempted to hold a large, free concert in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. His following film, The Science of Sleep, hit theaters in September, 2006. This film stars Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, and marked a return to the fantastical, surreal techniques he employed in Eternal Sunshine.

According to the Guinness World Records 2004, Michel Gondry's Levi's 501 Jeans "Drugstore" spot holds the record for "Most awards won by a TV commercial". The commercial was never aired in North America because of the suggestive content involving purchasing latex condoms.

He was asked by French comic duet Éric and Ramzy to direct Seuls Two, but declined; by his suggestion, Éric and Ramzy subsequently asked Mr Oizo to direct another movie : Steak.

In September 2006, Gondry made his debut as an installation artist at Deitch Projects in New York City's SoHo gallery district. The show, called "The Science of Sleep: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Pathological Creepy Little Gifts" featured props from his film, The Science of Sleep, as well as film clips and a selection of gifts that the artist had given to women he was interested in, many of them former or current collaborators, Karen Baird, Kishu Chand, Dorothy Barrick and Lauri Faggioni. A leitmotif of the film is a 'Disastrology' calendar; Gondry commissioned the painter Baptiste Ibar to draw harrowing images of natural and human disasters.

His brother Olivier "Twist" Gondry is also a television commercial and music video director creating videos for bands such as The Stills, Hot Hot Heat, Daft Punk and The Vines.

Gondry was an Artist in Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005 and 2006. Later directing the music video for the Paul McCartney song "Dance Tonight", in which Gondry makes a cameo appearance. Gondry directed of "Unnatural Love," the fifth episode in season two of HBO's Flight of the Conchords. Interior Design one third of the 2008 anthology film Tokyo! was next for Gondry. Interior Design was based on the comic book "Cecil and Jordan in New York" by Gabrielle Bell but was adapted from New York City to Tokyo for the film.

In 2009, The Thorn in the Heart, another feature documentary, was released, it is about Michel's aunt Suzette and her son Jean-Yves. In 2011, Gondry directed The Green Hornet, a superhero film by Sony starring Seth Rogen and Christoph Waltz; Rogen co-wrote the script. In 2011, he will be the head of the jury for the short film competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Gondry lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Filmography

Feature films

Gondry participating with The 1 Second Film art project, October 28, 2008

• Human Nature (2001)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• The Science of Sleep (2006)
• Be Kind Rewind (2008)
• The Green Hornet (2011)
• The We & the I (2012)

Short films

• L'expedition fatale (1986)
• Jazzmosphère (1987)
• My Brother's 24th Birthday (1988)
• La lettre (1998)
  • The Letter
• One Day... (2001)
• Pecan Pie (2003)
• Ossamuch! – Kishu & Co. (2004)
• Tiny (2004)
• Three Dead People (2004)
• Drumb and Drumber (2004)
• Michel Gondry Solves a Rubik's Cube with his Nose (2007)
• Tokyo!: Interior Design (2008)

Documentary films

• Vingt p'tites tours (1989) Co-director
• Twenty Small Towers
• I've Been Twelve Forever (2003)
• Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005)
• The Thorn in the Heart (2009)

Music videos

• "Crystalline" - Björk (2011)
• "How Are You Doing?" – The Living Sisters (2011)
• "Open Your Heart" – Mia Doi Todd (2010)
• "Too Many Dicks On The Dancefloor" & "Carol Brown" (unofficial videos) – Flight Of The Conchords (2009)
• "Soleil du Soir" – Dick Annegarn (2008)
• "Declare Independence" – Björk (2007) [2]
• "Dance Tonight" – Paul McCartney (2007)
• "Limitless Undying Love" – Sergio Hiram (2007)
• "Cellphone's Dead" – Beck (2006)
• "Anysound" – The Vines (2006)
• "King of the Game" – Cody ChesnuTT (2006)
• "Heard 'Em Say" (U.S. Version) – Kanye West (2005)
• "The Denial Twist" – The White Stripes (2005)
• "Light & Day" (movie version) – The Polyphonic Spree (2004)
• "Winning Days" – The Vines (2004)
• "Mad World" (Donnie Darko soundtrack version) – Gary Jules (2004)
• "Ride" – The Vines (2004)
• "Walkie Talkie Man" – Steriogram (2004)
• "I Wonder" – The Willowz (2004)
• "The Hardest Button to Button" – The White Stripes (2003)
• "Behind" – Lacquer (2003)
• "Come Into My World" – Kylie Minogue (2002)
• "A l'envers à l'endroit" – Noir Désir (2002)
• "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" – The White Stripes (2002)
• "Fell in Love with a Girl" – The White Stripes (2002)
• "Star Guitar" – The Chemical Brothers (2001)
• "Knives Out" – Radiohead (2001)
• "Mad World" – Michael Andrews and Gary Jules (2001)
• "Let Forever Be" – The Chemical Brothers (1999)
• "Gimme Shelter" – The Rolling Stones (1998)
• "Another One Bites the Dust" – Wyclef Jean (1998)
• "Music Sounds Better With You" – Stardust (1998)
• "Bachelorette" – Björk (1997)
• "Deadweight" – Beck (1997)
• "Jóga" – Björk (1997)
• "Everlong" – Foo Fighters (1997)
• "A Change Would Do You Good" – Sheryl Crow (1997)
• "Around the World" – Daft Punk (1997)
• "Feel It" – Neneh Cherry (1997)
• "Sugar Water" – Cibo Matto (1996)

• "Hyper-Ballad" – Björk (1996)
• "Like a Rolling Stone" – The Rolling Stones (1995)
• "Isobel" – Björk (1995)
• "Protection" – Massive Attack (1995)
• "High Head Blues" – Black Crowes (1995)
• "Army of Me" – Björk (1995)
• "Fire On Babylon" – Sinéad O'Connor (1994)
• "Lucas With the Lid Off" – Lucas (1994)
• "Little Star" – Stina Nordenstam (1994)
• "This is it (Your Soul)" – Hothouse Flowers (1993)
• "It's Too Real (Big Scary Animal)" – Belinda Carlisle (1993)
• "Human Behaviour" – Björk (1993)
• "Believe" – Lenny Kravitz (1993)
• "She Kissed Me" – Terence Trent D'Arby (1993)
• "Voila, Voila, Qu'ça r'Commence" – Rachid Taha (1993)
• "La main parisienne" – Malcolm McLaren, featuring Amina (1993) (unreleased)
• "Je Danse Le Mia" – IAM (1993)
• "Snowbound" – Donald Fagen (1993)
• "La Tour de Pise" – Jean François Coen (1993)
• "Hou! Mamma Mia" – Les Négresses Vertes (1993)
• "Les Jupes" – Robert (1992)
• "Two Worlds Collide" – Inspiral Carpets (1992)
• "Close But No Cigar" – Thomas Dolby (1992)
• "Paradoxal Système" – Laurent Voulzy (1992)
• "La Ville" – Oui Oui (1992)
• "How the West Was Won" – Energy Orchard (1992)
• "Les Voyages Immobiles" – Etienne Daho (1992)
• "Blow Me Down" – Mark Curry (1992)
• "Comme un ange (qui pleure)" – Les Wampas (1992)
• "Dad, laisse-moi conduire la Cad" – Peter & the Electro Kitsch Band (1991)
• "La normalité" – Les Objects (1991)
• "Sarah" – Les Objects (1991)
• "Ma Maison" – Oui Oui (1990)
• "Queen for a Day" – The Life of Riley (1989) (unreleased)
• "Tu rimes avec mon coeur" – Original MC (1989)
• "Les Cailloux" – Oui Oui (1989)
• "Il y a ceux" – l'Affaire Louis Trio (1989)
• "Dô, l'enfant d'eau" – Jean-Luc Lahaye (1988)
• "Bolide" – Oui Oui (1988)
• "Un Joyeux Noël" – Oui Oui (1988)
• "Junior Et Sa Voix D'Or" – Oui Oui (1988)

Advertisements

• Adidas Aftershave – Released From Work
• Air France – Le Nuage
• Air France – Le Passage
• AMD – Flatzone
• BMW – Pure Drive
• Coca-Cola – Snowboarder
• Nespresso – The Boutique
• Diet Coke – Tingle and Bounce 1, Tingle and Bounce 2
• Électricité de France – Selects
• Earthlink – Privacy
• Fiat – Lancia Y10
• Fox Sports Network campaign (four ads)
• GAP – Holiday Campaign
• Gatorade – Propel Fitness Water – Drip

• Heineken – Debut
• Levi's – Bellybutton
• Levi's – Drugstore
• Levi's – Mermaids
• Levi's – Swap
• Motorola – Razr2
• NatWest – Zoom
• Nike – Basketball campaign (five ads)
• Nike – I Can Play
• Nike – Leo
• Nike – The Long, Long Run
• Polaroid – Resignation / Living Moments
• Smirnoff – Smarienberg
• Volvo – I Said Volvo

Television

• Flight of the Conchords, Episode 17: 'Unnatural Love' (2009)
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!, January 13, 2011 (guest director)

Bibliography

• Henry Keazor, Thorsten Wuebbena, Video Thrills The Radio Star. Musikvideos: Geschichte, Themen, Analysen. Bielefeld 2005, p. 90ss., p. 288ss. ISBN 978-3-89942-728-8
• You'll Like This Film Because You're In It (2008). PictureBox
• Markus Altmeyer, Die Filme und Musikvideos von Michel Gondry. Zwischen Surrealismus, Pop und Psychoanalyse, Marburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-8288-9764-9
• Henry Keazor, "`Emotional Landscapes´: Die Musikvideos von Michel Gondry und Björk“, in: Klanglandschaften, ed. by Manuel Gervink and Jörn Pieter Hiekel, Hofheim 2009, p. 45 – 63. ISBN 978-3-936000-59-7
• Henry Keazor/Thorsten Wuebbena, "Introduction" and Giulia Gabrielli, "An Analysis of the Relation between Music and Image. The Contribution of Michel Gondry", in: Keazor, Henry; Wuebbena, Thorsten: Rewind, Play, Fast Forward. The Past, Present and Future of the Music Video. Bielefeld 2010; ISBN 978-3-8376-1185-4, p. 16 – 18 and p. 89 – 109

External links

• MichelGondry.com Official Website and Shop
• Michel Gondry at the Internet Movie Database
• Michel Gondry at AllRovi
• Le Monde de Michel Gondry French website dedicated to Michel's work
• AOL Interview about 'Be Kind Rewind' that looks at how Gondry has matured as a filmmaker.
• Director File ·· Michel Gondry documents all of Michel's work
• Le Romantique New York Times Magazine profile on Michel Gondry (09/2006)
• Washington Post: Michel Gondry (03/2006)
• The Advocate interview
• Associated Press article that links Gondry's dreams to his work.
• Suicide Girls Interview
• [3] #2
• DirectorsLabel.com co-founded with Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham
• Partizan represents Gondry alongside many other directors for commercials and music videos worldwide
• BBC Imagine... A unique Exquisite Corpse which Michel Gondry has contributed to
• "Dream Factory" by Ben Davis, Artnet Magazine
• "How My Brain Works" Gondry interview with Scott Thill of Bright Lights Film Journal
• Interviews SiouxWIRE interview compilation
• Michel Gondry's Crew Profile on The 1 Second Film website
• Videography at Clipland
• [4] Website for the book by Henry Keazor & Thorsten Wübbena, Video Thrills The Radio Star. Musikvideos: Geschichte, Themen, Analysen. Bielefeld 2005, p. 90ss., p. 288ss. ISBN 978-3-89942-728-8 which features in-depth-analysis of Gondry's music videos and references to sources