Daft Punk’s Electroma (Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Vice Records)
In their sonically sparse but visually amazing Cannes Film Festival award nominated film “Electroma,” Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo—aka Daft Punk—go on a rather disappointing quest to turn from their robot reality into living, breathing humans.
Driving a ‘murdered out’ (all black) ‘90s sport coup, the duo travel through small-town California until they arrive at an empty school, where seeming ghosts of themselves perform a strange “surgery” that transforms them into ‘people’. Soon, the two discover the two most horrific elements of humanity: humility and mortality.
With all one-hour and eight minutes of its majestic scenery, the most curious cinematic moment is at minute forty-seven, when it seems quite clear that, after long, sweeping desert shots, the camera very slowly zooms in on a silhouette of a male ‘crotchal region’ while a ‘70s-esque song plays, singing, “I wanna treat you like a man…” Totally bizarre.
Self-directed by de Homem-Christo and Bangalter , the film is very similar to Gus Van Zant’s incredibly dark comedy “To Die For,” with a tiny hint of Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” (precursor to the film Bladerunner).
Not something you would necessarily watch over and over again, but accompanied by a 40 page book and a stainless steel case for the whole package, this is a really cool collectible item for any Daft Punk fan.
www.myspace.com/daftpunkelectroma
www.daftpunk.com
www.vicerecords.com
