Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry (Template:IPA) is a French filmmaker and producer. He is known for directing the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which he co-wrote with Charlie Kaufman, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. His other films include the music documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005), the surrealistic science fantasy comedy The Science of Sleep (2006), the comedy Be Kind Rewind (2008), the superhero comedy The Green Hornet (2011), the drama The We and the I (2012), and the romantic science fantasy tragedy Mood Indigo (2013).

Gondry has directed numerous music videos, including Björk's "Human Behaviour" in 1993 and "Bachelorette" in 1997, both of which earned him nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video. He also directed several videos for The White Stripes. He is also a record producer, most notably producing several tracks for American rapper and illustrator MC Paul Barman on his 2009 album Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud.

Early life and education

Michel Gondry is from Versailles. He is the grandson of inventor Constant Martin.<ref name =mit>Template:Cite web</ref>

He attended art school in Paris. While studying there, he formed the band Oui Oui, for which he was the drummer.<ref name =mit/>

Career

Gondry in 2008

Gondry's vision and career began with his emphasis on emotion. Much of his inspiration, he says, came from the 1960 French family film Le voyage en ballon.<ref>Robert K. Elder interview with Michel Gondry, The Film That Changed My Life, Chicago Review Press, 2011, pg. 151.</ref> He became known for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Music videos

Gondry's 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1994 his "Human Behaviour" video earned him a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Music Video;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "Bachelorette" earned another nomination in 1997.Template:Cn

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.Template:Cn 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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gondry directed the music video for the Paul McCartney song "Dance Tonight",Template:Cn in which he makes a cameo appearance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2014, Gondry produced the video for Metronomy's single "Love Letters", taken from the album of the same name.Template:Citation needed

TV commercials

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

According to the 2004 Guinness World Records, Gondry's Levi's 501 Jeans "Drugstore" spot held the record for "Most awards won by a TV commercial".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Films

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 favourable reviews, becoming one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year.Template:Citation needed Eternal Sunshine utilises 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.Template:Citation needed

Gondry 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 neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York. His following film, The Science of Sleep, was released in 2006. This film stars Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, and marked a return to the fantastical, surreal techniques he employed in Eternal Sunshine.Template:Citation needed

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.Template:Citation needed

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, Jay Chou and Christoph Waltz; Rogen co-wrote the script. In 2011, he was the head of the jury for the short film competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

His film The We and the I was selected to be screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 3 January 2013, Gondry released an animated short Haircut Mouse on his official Vimeo channel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2013, he released a hand-drawn animated documentary on famed linguist Noam Chomsky, Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?.Template:Cn

In April 2013, he directed Mood Indigo, based upon Boris Vian's 1947 novel Froth on the Daydream.Template:Cn

In 2015 his feature film Microbe & Gasoline was released, a smaller scale endeavour after the troubled production of Mood Indigo.Template:Cn The latter also served as inspiration for 2023's The Book of Solutions.Template:Cn

In 2024, his first animated feature-length film, Maya, Give Me a Title was released. His daughter, Maya Gondry, voiced herself in the film, and Pierre Niney voiced a character in the film. It also has a short live-action sequence.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

TV series

In 2009 Gondry directed "Unnatural Love", the fifth episode in season two of HBO's Flight of the Conchords.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Visual art

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A leitmotif of the film is a 'Disastrology' calendar; Gondry commissioned the painter Baptiste Ibar to draw harrowing images of natural and human disasters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gondry was an artist in residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005 and 2006.Template:Cn

Other activities

In 2014, Gondry was selected as a member of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.<ref name="Berlin">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He has a son named Paul and a daughter named Maya.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Feature films

Fiction

Title	Year
		Director	Writer	Notes
Human Nature	2001	Template:Yes	Template:No
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind	2004	Template:Yes	Template:Partial	Story co-written with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth
The Science of Sleep	2006	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Also producer
Be Kind Rewind	2008	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
The Green Hornet	2011	Template:Yes	Template:No
The We and the I	2012	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Co-written with Paul Proch and Jeff Grimsha
Mood Indigo	2013	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Co-written with Luc Bossi
Microbe & Gasoline	2015	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
The Book of Solutions	2023	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Maya, Give Me a Title	2024	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Also animator
Golden	Unreleased	Template:Yes	Template:No	The film was canceled during post-production<ref name=Donnelly>Template:Cite web</ref>

Documentary

Title	Year
		Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
Dave Chappelle's Block Party	2005	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:Yes
The Thorn in the Heart	2009	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?	2013	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Also animator and appears as himself

Short films

Title	Year
		Director	Writer	Notes
L'expedition fatale	1986	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Jazzmosphère	1987	Template:Yes	Template:No
My Brother's 24th Birthday	1988	Template:Yes	Template:No
Vingt p'tites tours	1989	Template:Yes	Template:No
La lettre	1998	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
One Day...	2001	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Appears as "The Man"
Pecan Pie	2003	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
I've Been Twelve Forever	2004	Template:Yes	Template:No	Appears as himself
Ossamuch! – Kishu & Co		Template:Yes	Template:No
Tiny		Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Three Dead People		Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Drumb and Drumber		Template:Yes	Template:No
Michel Gondry Solves a Rubik's Cube with His Nose	2007	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Interior Design	2008	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Segment from Tokyo!
Haircut Mouse	2013	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Détour	2017	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
A Dozen Eggs	2021	Template:Yes	Template:Yes

Television

Title	Year
		Director	Executive Producer	Notes
Flight of the Conchords	2009	Template:Yes	Template:No	Episode: "Unnatural Love"
Jimmy Kimmel Live!	2011	Template:Yes	Template:No	Guest director
Kidding	2018–2020	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Directed 8 episodes

Other releases

• The Work of Director Michel Gondry (2003)
• Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1) (2009)

Bibliography

• Henry Keazor, Thorsten Wuebbena, Video Thrills The Radio Star. Musikvideos: Geschichte, Themen, Analysen. Bielefeld 2005, pp. 90, 288; Template:ISBN
• You'll Like This Film Because You're In It (2008). PictureBox<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Markus Altmeyer, Die Filme und Musikvideos von Michel Gondry. Zwischen Surrealismus, Pop und Psychoanalyse, Marburg 2008; Template:ISBN
• Henry Keazor, "`Emotional Landscapes´: Die Musikvideos von Michel Gondry und Björk", in: Klanglandschaften, ed. by Manuel Gervink and Jörn Pieter Hiekel, Hofheim 2009, pp. 45–63; Template:ISBN
• 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; Template:ISBN, pp. 16–18, 89–109.
• Michael Fleig: Von Hand gedacht – Zum Werk von Michel Gondry. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2024. ISBN 978-3-8260-6645-0.

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Le Romantique New York Times Magazine profile on Michel Gondry (09/2006)
• Democracy Now! Interview Animating Noam Chomsky: French Director Michel Gondry on New Film "Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?" December 3, 2013