MOOD INDIGO (L'ecume des jours) (2013)

Genre: Drama/Fantasy
Director: Michel Gondry 
Cast: Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga, Charlotte Le Bon
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Nudity)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.lecumedesjours-lefilm.com/

Opening Day: 23 January 2014

Synopsis: The surreal and poetic tale of Colin, an idealistic and inventive young man, and Chloé, a young woman who seems like the physical embodiment of the eponymous Duke Ellington tune. Their idyllic marriage is turned on its head when Chloé falls sick with a water lily growing in her lung. To pay for her medical bills in this fantasy version of Paris, Colin must go out to work in a series of increasingly absurd jobs, while around them, their apartment disintegrates and their friends, including the talented Nicolas, and Chick – a huge fan of the philosopher Jean-Sol Partre – go to pieces.

Movie Review:

Below is a true account of this reviewer’s:

Me: Free tonight? Want to watch Mood Indigo? It’s a French film starring the actress from Amelie

Girl: I can’t appreciate French movies because they are too atas (read: French movies are too artsy for common Singaporeans like you and me)

Me: But it’s a funny show. It’s about a girl who is sick with a water lily growing in her lung.

Girl: How is that funny?!?!?

Me: Okay, it’s more like… quirky. Anyway, never mind, let’s catch another show next time then.

Maybe there’s a loose screw somewhere in this writer’s head, but he genuinely thought the setup of this French film co written and directed by Michel Gondry was innovatively tickling. After all, Gondry is the mind behind eccentrically original films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), The Science of Sleep (2006) and Be Kind Rewind (2008). Nope, pairing Jay Chou up with Seth Rogen in 2011’s The Green Hornet doesn’t count as being creative.

Gondry’s latest work tells the story of how a young man and a young woman fall in love, and eventually get married. Alas, their marriage takes a turn when the girl becomes sick with a water lily growing in her lung (let’s be honest here, you were chuckling a little when you heard this bit). The guy then takes on a series of out of this world jobs to pay for her medical bills, and things just get increasingly stranger – in Gondry’s world, at least.

Adapted from Boris Vian’s 1947 novel Froth on the Daydream, this seemed like the perfect story for Gondry to take on, considering how he has enchanted audiences with his innovative visual style. True enough, the filmmaker has a ball with the story, evident from the first moments of this 95 minute film. You see how the male protagonist enjoys artfully created cuisines, before the dishes are rolled off a conveyer belt and smashed on the floor, making way for the nest exotic meal. Cocktails are concocted by a “pianocktail” (a piano that makes cocktail, duh), and housework is done by a miniature mouse man. How’s that for quirkiness?

This apparently became a double edged sword for Gondry, because the international version we are getting is a trimmed down version, with more than 30 minutes snipped from what was screened back in France.  

The kookiness goes on, as the visual feast presents you with countless imageries, including an underwater wedding ceremony, a trip across Parisin a cloud vehicle and a hall of rotating typewriters. It is easy to lose yourself in this slew of technically able scenes without realising the love story the filmmakers are trying to tell. You’d be so fascinated with what you’re seeing, you may forget this is a classic romance between a boy and a girl.

Roman Duris and Audrey Tautou are perfect in their roles, and one can only lament why real life can’t be as whimsically fun as this. The two renowned French stars are accompanied by Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy and Aissa Maiga, a cast who delivers competently engaging performances.

When the film credits begin rolling, this columnist walked out of the theatre (alone, of course), hoping the world around him will be Gondry-fied into something…funnier. 

Movie Rating:

(Indulge yourself in Michel Gondry’s whimsical world if you’re in the mood for something quirky)

Review by John Li