Mood Indigo

 

Based on the novel Froth on the Daydream by Boris Vian, L’ecume des jours (The Froth of Days or Mood Indigo) is the story of a man who meets and falls for a woman who is dealing with an unusual illness caused by a flower growing in her lungs. Directed by Michel Gondry and screenplay by Gondry and Luc Bossi, the film is a genre-bending romantic-comedy that explores a man who falls for this woman as he tries to make her happy despite her illness. Starring Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aissa Maiga, and Charlotte Le Bon. Mood Indigo is a whimsical and heartfelt film from Michel Gondry.

The film follows a rich young man who meets and falls for a woman at a party as he would marry her only to deal with an illness she gained in their honeymoon caused by a flower in one of her lungs. It is a film with a simple premise as screenwriters Michel Gondry and Luc Bossi play into the whimsical world of this rich young man in Colin (Romain Duris) who lives with his cook Nicolas (Omar Sy) and a mouse (Sacha Bourdo) in a home that is unique. Attending a party hosted by Isis (Charlotte Le Bon) where he meets his friend Chick (Gad Elmaleh) and his new girlfriend in Nicolas’ niece Alise (Aissa Maiga). It is at the party where Colin meets Chloe (Audrey Tautou) as they take part in a dance craze and then meet again where he takes her to an underground forest as they fall in love and get married. Yet, things start to take a dark turn following their honeymoon when a flower flew into her lungs as it would cause this unusual illness.

Gondry’s direction can definitely be described as style over substance in terms of its overall presentation yet there is something charming to the way Gondry depicts the life of this rich man who lives in a home where a lot of objects have a life onto their own while the doorbell often acts like a bug that gets killed over and over again. Shot on location in Belgium with areas around Paris, France, Gondry creates a world that is offbeat where it’s not just Colin’s house that has moving objects but also the world around him that includes a ride he and Chloe ride on with the help of a construction crane. There are some unique wide shots that Gondry uses to get a scope into the world these characters are in while it is also full of eccentricities such as the way people dance to Duke Ellington (August Darnell) where they’re sitting but with bigger legs that are moving for the dance. The medium shots and close-ups do help play into the interaction between characters as well as the emphasis on the latter when it comes to moving objects created by stop-motion animation.

Gondry’s direction also play into the visual vibrancy as the first half of the film has this element of joy and whimsy though it does tend to overwhelm the story at times. The film’s second half when Chloe becomes ill is where the mood changes as it slowly play into this sense of decline. The look of the film becomes less colorful while the whimsy tone of it would also darken as Colin’s home starts to become smaller and unrecognizable. Even as there is this subplot in which Chick’s obsession towards this intellectual in Jean-Sol Parte (Philippe Torreton) would be his own downfall as well as cost his relationship with Alise as it adds to the declining presentation of the film in which the cinematography becomes more desaturated and colorless. Yet, Gondry does find a way to use the visuals to tell the story despite being overwhelmed by it add to this sense of odd yet entrancing tone of a man coping with the fact that he’s about to lose the love of his life. Overall, Gondry crafts an enchanting and heartfelt film about a man who falls in love only to later deal with the love of his life dying of a mysterious illness.

Cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of colors and lights to play up the sense of vibrancy to eventually going into a desaturated look and later black-and-white. Editor Marie-Charlotte Moreau does excellent work with the editing as its usage of jump-cuts and stylish cuts to help play into the humor and surreal presentation of the film. Production designer Stephane Rozenbaum and art director Pierre Renson do phenomenal work with the look of the home that Colin has as well as the rooms and some of the places the characters go to as it is a highlight of the film. Costume designer Florence Fontaine does fantastic work with the costumes as it has elements of style in the clothes the characters wear as it play into the world that the characters live in.

The special makeup effects work of Olivier Afonso, Guillaume Castagne, Nicolas Herin, Frederic Laine, and Emmanuel Pitois do terrific work with the look of the characters such as Parte in his offbeat look as well as some of the prosthetics the main characters wear in some bits. Special effects supervisor Julien Poncet de la Grave, along with visual effects supervisors Benjamin Ageorges, Stephane Bidault, Jean Louis Dousson, and Arnaud Fouquet, does amazing work with the effects from the usage of stop-motion as well as prosthetics as it is a highlight of the film. Sound editor Damien Aubry does superb work with the sound in the way objects sound as well as how music is presented on location. The film’s music by Etienne Charry is wonderful for its jazz-based score with some playful piano pieces but also some somber themes to play into the drama while music supervisor Thomas Jamois creates a music soundtrack that features an array of music from artists/acts like Boz Scaggs, Duke Ellington, Ray Shanklin, Mia Doi Todd, Loane, and Ariel Ramirez.

The casting by Marie-France Michel is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Michel Gondry as a doctor, August Darnell aka Kid Creole as Duke Ellington, Zinedine Soualem as a factory plant owner that rules over Colin late in the film, Alain Chabat as a cook that Nicolas watches, Natacha Regnier as a pharmacist, Sacha Bourdo as the mouse who lives in Colin’s home as he wears a mouse costume, and Philippe Torreton as the writer Jean-Sol Parte as a writer/intellectual whom Chick worships as he ends up giving his followers some awful advice on life. Charlotte Le Bon is fantastic as Isis as a friend of Colin and Chick who hosts a party and eventually has a relationship with Nicolas as she also a friend of Chloe where she expresses concern for Chloe’s health. Aissa Maiga is excellent as Alise as Nicolas’ niece who falls for Chick over their love of Parte only to feel neglected by Chick’s growing obsession as it lead her to become angry and obsessed towards stopping Parte. Gad Elmaleh is brilliant as Chick as a friend of Colin who is a fervent follower of Parte as he hopes to have a life with Alise only to become more obsessed by Parte’s ideals as he loses sight of reality.

Omar Sy is amazing as Nicolas as Colin’s cook/caretaker who runs the house as he makes great feasts and often provides a lot of help for both Colin and Chloe as he is sort of the film’s conscience where he watches Chloe in her ailing health. Audrey Tautou is incredible as Chloe as a woman who falls for Colin as she is into the world of whimsy and Duke Ellington while also becoming someone who deals with this illness as she is unable to cope with Colin struggling. Finally, there’s Romain Duris in a remarkable performance as Colin as a rich man who has it all and marrying Chloe seems to give him fulfillment until Chloe becomes ill where he struggles with his finances and the people in his life as well as the idea of losing Chloe.

Mood Indigo is a remarkable film from Michel Gondry that feature great performances from Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, and Omar Sy. Along with its ensemble cast, dazzling visual effects, incredible art direction, and its offbeat music soundtrack. It is a film, in its 126-minute cut, that explore love though its whimsical presentation can overwhelm the story at times. In the end, Mood Indigo is a marvelous film from Michel Gondry.

Michel Gondry Films: Human Nature - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Dave Chappelle's Block Party - The Science of Sleep - Be Kind Rewind - Tokyo!-Interior Design - (The Thorn in the Heart) – The Green Hornet - The We & I - (Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?) – (Microbe & Gasoline)

© thevoid99 2022

Jurassic World

Directed by Colin Trevorrow and screenplay by Trevorrow, Derek Connolly, Rick Jafa, and Amanda Silver from a story by Jafa and Silver from characters created by Michael Crichton, Jurassic World is the story of theme park that displays dinosaurs to public is suddenly thrown into chaos when a genetically-modified dinosaur breaks loose and all hell breaks loose. Set twenty-two years after the events that was presented in the 1993 film Jurassic Park, the film plays into humanity’s encounter with dinosaurs where a park operations manager and a researcher try to save everyone with the aid of a few dangerous dinosaurs. Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Lauren Lapkus, Omar Sy, Judy Greer, Andy Buckley, B.D. Wong, and Irrfan Khan. Jurassic World is a thrilling and intense film from Colin Trevorrow.

Two boys are sent to the fictional island of Isla Nublar where their aunt is managing a theme park that displays dinosaurs where a newly-created dinosaur has broken loose and creating havoc forcing the aunt and a researcher to stop things. That is pretty much what the film is about as it is film with a simple story yet it also has a lot to offer as it relates what happens when those who play God create something that can’t be stopped. Even as there are those that want to create dinosaurs for means that go beyond what they’re mean to do while there are those who see things differently and actually want to gain the trust of the dinosaurs without disrupting the natural order of things. It’s a film that does say a lot about the ideas of nature but it’s also a film that manages to balance the ideas of sci-fi intelligence with a sense of fun in its approach to action and adventure.

The film’s screenplay, which was largely written by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, doesn’t just explore the dangers of re-creating dinosaurs but also what would happen when dinosaurs are created with genetic DNA strains that would allow them to be not just intelligent but also adapt to any kind of environment for their own gain. It’s an experiment that has made the park’s owner in this billionaire, in Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), uneasy but he is forced to take responsibilities because of the sponsors he had to get to help sell the park who want these geneticists such as Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong) to make the dinosaurs bigger and scarier. The park’s manager in Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a workaholic that is asked to accompany her nephews in Gray and Zach Mitchell (Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson) as the former is a dinosaur buff.

Yet, she lets her assistant Zara (Katie McGrath) do the work as Claire is trying to deal with sponsors and making the park more successful but is unaware of what Dr. Wu as well as the park’s security head in Vic Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) have created. The creation is this hybrid dinosaur known as the Indominus Rex that can do a lot as it’s made one of the park’s experts in Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) extremely uneasy as he’s managed to gain the trust of the velociraptors whom he had been studying. Once the Rex is loose and is killing other dinosaurs, Claire realizes she must team up with Grady to keep her nephews safe as he has a better understanding of the dinosaurs than nearly everyone working at the park. Especially as the more naturally-created dinosaurs are also unsafe from this new creation forcing Grady to have his velociraptors to stop this dinosaur but knows it might not be enough as it relates to the laws of nature.

Trevorrow’s direction is definitely grand in terms of the world that is created where dinosaurs are roaming the Earth but in an environment that they can adjust to with humanity being able to help them as well as be seen by the public as an attraction. Shot largely in Louisiana with a few shots in Hawaii, Trevorrow knows how to maintain something that is large in its scenery as well as the scope of these dinosaurs including one that emerges from the water to eat its food. There are some medium shots and close-ups to play into some of the intimacy as well as moments of terror where Claire, Masrani, and others are watching things unfold in a control room as well as scenes where Gray and Zach find themselves dealing with the Indominous Rex that led them to find the old Jurassic Park. Trevorrow’s approach to suspense is slow-building as it relates to exactly what these people are facing where it’s not just this dinosaur but also in the fact that it is much smarter than they seem to believe and can release other hostile dinosaurs.

Trevorrow also creates that sense of excitement during the second act where some pterosaurs were released where Grady would be the one to regain some control. There are moments of comedy as it includes a few lines as well as some tension between Claire and Grady who had previously dated while there is a moment where one of control room people tried to make out with another. It does play with much of the conventions where Trevorrow knows how to inject moments that aren’t meant to be serious. The film’s climax is quite thrilling where it’s not just about Claire, Grady, Gray, and Zach trying to evade the Indominous Rex but also trying to see if the velociraptors will fight for them despite the fact that they’re outmatched against the Rex. Yet, it would lead to not just a homage of sorts to the original film but also a moment that proves to be exciting and fun. Overall, Trevorrow creates an exhilarating and entertaining film about a dinosaur theme park being under siege by a dangerous dinosaur.

Cinematographer John Schwartzman does excellent work with the cinematography from the way the jungles and woods look with its air of grain in the colors for some of the daytime scenes to the low-key set of lights for the scenes in the control room as well as the eerie look for the scenes set at night. Editor Kevin Stitt does brilliant work with the editing as it is quite straightforward while it does feature some fast-cutting for some of the action though doesn‘t deviate too much in that style so that the audience can see what is going on. Production designer Ed Verreaux, with set decorator Ronald R. Reiss and senior art director Aaron McBride, does amazing work with the look of the park in its entirety and its attractions along with the control room and relics of the old park. Costume designers April Ferry and Daniel Orlandi do nice work with the costumes from the casual look of most of the cast with the exception of the clothes that Claire and Masrani wear as it’s more business-like.

Creature designer Stan Winston does phenomenal work with the look of the dinosaurs in every way and form to create something that looks and feel real. The visual effects work of Tim Alexander, Glen McIntosh, Michael Meinardus, and Tony Plett do superb work with not just some of the set dressing but also in the movements of the dinosaurs including the way the Indominous Rex can shield itself from its enemies. Sound designers Pete Horner and Al Nelson, along with sound editor Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, do terrific work with the sound in the way the dinosaurs sound as well as capturing the chaos in the park in some of its intense moments. The film’s music by Michael Giacchino does a fantastic job with the score by not just creating variations of John Williams’ theme but also create some new pieces for its suspense and moments of intense action.

The casting by John Papsidera is wonderful as it features cameo appearances from Jimmy Buffett as a man running from the pterosaur, Jimmy Fallon as himself in the gyro sphere ride video, director Colin Trevorrow as the voice of Mr. DNA, and Brad Bird as the voice of a monorail conductor. Other notable small roles include Colby Boothman as a new handler at the raptor cage, Eric Edelstein as the Indominous Rex control room supervisor, Katie McGrath as Claire’s assistant who is tasked to watch over the nephews, and Brian Tee as a security leader who tries to stop the Indominous Rex. Judy Greer and Andy Buckley are terrific as Gray and Zach’s parents with the former being concerned about her sister’s workaholic tendencies knowing that she and her husband are going through a divorce. Lauren Lapkus and Jake Johnson are superb in their respective roles as Vivian and Lowery as two control room employees who try to watch over everything with the latter being more of a geek in his work and towards dinosaurs.

Irrfan Khan is excellent as billionaire Simon Misrani who is the park’s owner who tries to deal with the demands for the park to do well where he is concerned about the creation of the Indominous Rex. B.D. Wong is brilliant as Dr. Henry Wu as a geneticist, who appeared in the first film, who would create the Indominous Rex to play up the demands as he would do things that are against the laws of nature. Omar Sy is amazing as Owen’s friend Barry who also has an understanding with the velociraptors where he treats them humanely like Owen. Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson are incredible in their respective roles as Gray and Zach as Claire’s nephews who deal with the dangers of the park with the former knowing a lot about dinosaurs and the latter being a typical but resourceful teenager.

Vincent D’Onofrio is great as security head Vic Hoskins who sees the potential in using dinosaurs as weapons as he believes the Indominous Rex can be helpful. Bryce Dallas Howard is remarkable as Claire Dearing as the park’s operations manager who answers to what the sponsors want as she realizes that the creation of the Indominous Rex is a bad idea where she helps Grady in trying to stop it as well as help her nephews. Finally, there’s Chris Pratt in a phenomenal role as Owen Grady as a former Navy officer who has made a connection with the velociraptors where he sees what the Indominous Rex can do where he tries to save everyone as it’s a role that has a lot of the everyman in being a badass but also being very funny.

Jurassic World is a sensational film from Colin Trevorrow. Featuring a great cast, amazing action sequences, Michael Giacchino’s soaring score, top-notch visual effects, and engaging themes about the laws of nature. It’s a film that manages to not only be scary and fun but also provide that great balance of being an entertaining film with brains. In the end, Jurassic World is an incredible film from Colin Trevorrow.

Colin Trevorrow Films: (Home Base) - (Reality Show) - (Safety Not Guaranteed) - (The Book of Henry) - (Star Wars Episode IX)

Related: (Jurassic Park) - (The Lost World: Jurassic Park) - (Jurassic Park III) - (Jurassic World 2)

© thevoid99 2016

Micmacs

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-written with Guillaume Laurent, Micmacs is the story of a man who conspire with his friends to try and destroy two weapons manufacturers as an act of revenge. The film is a return to Jeunet’s more comedic style of filmmaking following the more dramatic epic of 2004‘s A Very Long Engagement. The film also serves as Jeunet’s response to the world of arms trades as he chooses to satirize the people who sells arms. Starring Dany Boon, Andre Dussollier, Omar Sy, Dominique Pinon, Julie Ferrier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, and Yolande Moreau. Micmacs is a witty yet whimsical film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

After being hit by a stray bullet, the life of Bazil (Dany Boon) goes into shambles with a bullet stuck on his head as he loses his home and his job as a video clerk. Unable to find work or a place to live, he meets an elderly man named Slammer (Jean-Pierre Marielle) who lives in a dump with other people. Among them is a contortionist named Elastic Girl (Julie Ferrier), a maternal cook named Mama Chow (Yolande Moreau), an ethnographer named Remington (Omar Sy), a young mathematical woman named Calculator (Marie-Julie Baup), a human cannonball named Buster (Dominique Pinon), and an inventor named Tiny Pete (Michele Cremades) who invent things from scraps from the dump.

When Bazil decides to pick up scraps for the people he’s living with, he stops to pick up a few things where he finds himself in the street where the buildings of two weapons manufacturers are. Realizing that one of them in Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet (Andre Dussollier) is the man who built the landmine that killed Bazil’s father 30 years ago while the other manufacturer across the street in Francois Marconi (Nicolas Marie), who created the stray bullet in his head. Bazil decides to create a plan to get back at both of them as he seeks out the help of everyone to create his plan. Staking out at their respective buildings, Bazil and the gang decide to create a scheme for the two manufacturers to fight each other by destroying whatever deals they have with an African dictator seeking arms.

With the plans becoming more elaborate and comical as de Fenouillet and Marconi starting to fight each other. Bazil starts to fall for Elastic Girl as they work out another plan where something goes wrong as men working for the African dictator break into Marconi’s apartment. With de Fenouillet and Marconi realizes what’s going on, it’s up to Bazil and the team to finally create another plan to nab both of them for their actions.

Throughout the world of arms trading, for the people who create the weapons. It’s all about the money but the real price is in the people who suffer in the hands of it. In this film, it’s about a man who is a victim in the hands of weapons who lost his father when he was just a boy and 30 years later, gets hit by a stray bullet that would affect his entire life. In his approach to revenge, killing these men wouldn’t solve anything so what he and a group of misfits do is essentially create a scheme where these two weapons manufacturers would fight each other and would pay dearly for the crimes they’ve committed against the human race.

What Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurent is create a film that is more about giving these two weapons manufacturers their comeuppance through a series of hilarious schemes concocted by the film’s protagonist and his band of hooligans. Yet, the characters that help the protagonists are all outcasts who have suffered some form of loss or alienation as they all band together to fight against two men who have it all. The villains however, are just as interesting for the way they present themselves as well as the quirks they have. Marconi is a guy who has a young son, likes to compare himself to Arthur Rimbaud, and loves to collect vintage cars. In de Fenouillet is a guy who likes to collect body parts of famous people that include Winston Churchill’s fingernails, the heart of Louis XIV, and Marilyn Monroe’s tooth.

The script works because of the way the revenge scheme is planned as well as the motivations for the characters. The reason the people join Bazil is because it gives them a chance for them to do something with their skills in hopes to create a better world. Jeunet and Laurent also allow the film to be very funny for the way things are handled in the planning of these schemes while allow the time for a bit of romantic tension between Bazil and Elastic Girl. The overall script is definitely engaging for the way the revenge story is told through humor and bits of political satire.

Jeunet’s direction is marvelous for the way he creates the world that the characters live in as it’s all heightened and presented in a comical fashion. The cave-dump Bazil and his friends live in is a world unto its own where even though there’s not much. What they can use gives them enough reasons to live while using these pieces of scraps and decayed objects to help them fight against the weapons manufacturers. The objects that are created along with the presentations of the schemes gives Jeunet a lot to do with the compositions and camera movements to see how are things done. Particularly as he goes for some wide shots, close-ups, and lots of shots in the air to give it a worldly feel.

Since it’s shot partially in places in Paris and out of Paris, Jeunet creates dazzling compositions of the locations while avoiding landmarks that has been seen in previous films. He also goes for something that’s a bit more intimate and simple in the use of the locations while keeping the events in the film lively. The film also plays as a homage to other films such as the silent films of Charlie Chaplin, westerns, thrillers, and its opening credits is presented in an old-school style where the film starts off with a scene of Bazil as a kid and his old life as a video clerk as he watches Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep. It’s all told in a light-hearted approach without being too funny while the commentary on arms trades is presented in a lighter context though the message is out there but not in an overbearing manner. Overall, Jeunet creates a truly sensational yet entertaining film that is really a joy to watch.

Cinematographer Testuo Nagata does a great job with the film‘s colorful yet lush cinematography to exemplify the use of yellow, green, and orange for the scenes in sunny day Paris as well as some of the exteriors in the caves. Nagata also employs a more straightforward yet colorful look to other scenes to set a mood for the scene or to heighten it for humor or suspenseful moments. Editor Herve Schneid does an excellent job with the editing as it’s presented in a straight yet playful presentation with some jump-cuts and other rhythmic cutting style to play up the film’s suspense and humor.

Production designer Aline Bonetto does a fantastic job with the art direction including the creation of the cave, the buildings the manufacturers work at as well as their posh homes, and the objects that is created. Particularly the little robots and inventions that the Tiny Pete character creates that was built by sculptor Gilbert Pyre. Costume designer Madeline Fontaine does a wonderful job with the costumes by playing to the film‘s look including the clothes that Elastic Girl wear to more straightforward clothes that other characters wear. Sound editor Gerard Hardy does a superb job with the sound work to capture the intimate yet crazy world of the dump-cave and the city locations including the sounds of explosions in some of the action scenes of the film.

The film’s score by Raphael Beau is very good as it features some comical, light-hearted orchestral pieces as well as a few, suspenseful pieces that play throughout the film. Yet, the rest of the soundtrack comes from the music of Max Steiner which plays to some of the dramatic and romantic elements of the film in reference to The Big Sleep as the music is a highlight of the film’s technical work.

The casting by Pierre-Jacques Benichou, with additional work by Valerie Espagne, is brilliant as it features some notable appearances from Noe Boon as the young Bazil, Manon Le Moal as Bazil‘s video clerk replacement, and Lara Guirao as Bazil‘s mother that appears early in the film. Other notable performances in the roles of Bazil’s gang includes Michele Cremades as the quiet yet inventive Tiny Pete, Marie-Julie Baup as the statistics-talking yet charming Calculator, Omar Sy as the cliché-spouting yet kindly Remington, and Dominique Pinon as the brash human cannonball Buster as he also briefly plays the Louison character from Delicatessen in a small scene.

In the roles of the two antagonists, Andre Dussollier and Nicolas Marie are great in their respective roles as de Fenouillet and Marconi as they each bring a big yet funny approach to their characters as two men who become pawns of a scheme to destroy each other. Jean-Pierre Marielle and Yolande Moreau are excellent as the older members of the gang in their respective roles as the encouraging Slammer and the tough yet maternal Mama Chow. Julie Ferrier is wonderful as Elastic Girl, a contortionist whose talents helps Bazil in his plans while dealing with her own feelings towards him as Ferrier displays some great work in her physical flexibility. Finally, there’s Dany Boon in a fantastic performance as Bazil by showing being a calm yet comical guy who can do a bit of mime and be tough as he really brings a lot of charm and wit to his role.

Micmacs is a delightful and exhilarating film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet that features an outstanding phenomenal cast and Jeunet’s approach to bending genres. It is a film that has Jeunet taking on political themes with his own brand of humor as well as providing something that is entertaining without being too whimsical. It’s a film that fans of his work will definitely enjoy while showcasing that there’s more to him than being quirky or romantic. In the end, Micmacs is an amazing yet exciting film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet and company.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: Delicatessen - The City of Lost Children - Alien: Resurrection - Amelie - A Very Long Engagement - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

© thevoid99 2011