France – Cannes
Presented last month at the Filmmakers' Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival, The Solutions Book is Michel Gondry's first film since Microbe and Diesel, released in 2015. Eight years during which the director ofEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind He stayed away from the big screen, but not from cinema.
In 2014, on the advice of Audrey Tautou, who had just starred in his adaptation of Foam of the Daze, Michel Gondry is embarking on one of his most personal projects: the evocation of a childhood memory, that of a friendship he shared in adolescence with a young, somewhat tinkering boy. Since the release in 2015 of Microbe and DieselWith his eleventh feature film, the filmmaker has multiplied projects beyond the big screen.
A visual artist first and foremost, Michel Gondry initially returned to his first loves: music videos and commercials. In 2017, he directed an incredible spot for the American music platform Pandora: in just over a minute, he recreated and brought to life on stage a dozen legendary rock and rap album covers, from the Morrisons Hotel Doors to Blackstar from David Bowie, through Nothing Was the Same by Drake, Starboy from The Weeknd and of course Nevermind of Nirvana.
A visual and musical talent
The wild creativity of this video brings together Michel Gondry's two great passions: the art of patchwork and visual bricolage – which makes cinema something plastic – and music. It is part of Gondry's DNA, a musician himself and the author of numerous legendary music videos (Around the World Daft Punk, Come Into my World (by Kylie Minogue…).
Since 2015, the filmmaker has directed five new music videos, including the video for Go for the British electronic group The Chemical Brothers, filmed on the Beaugrenelle plaza in Paris. But Michel Gondry has primarily collaborated on a collection of music videos filmed in 2021 for songs by Serge Gainsbourg. He also directed a short film for Prévert's Songreturning for the occasion to his passion for stop-motion animation using cut-out cardboard.
A return to cinema
Over the past eight years, Gondry has also achieved DetourA ten-minute musical road movie shot entirely on an iPhone 7 for Apple. Earlier this year, he designed the set for the Louis Vuitton men's Fall/Winter 2023-2024 show, which evoked a little boy's bedroom. And most notably, he directed most of the episodes of the very "Gondry-esque" series Kidding, created by Dave Holstein (available in France on MyCanal), which marks his reunion with his friend Jim Carrey, the hero from Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind.
Nevertheless, many fans of the director, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday, were eagerly awaiting his return to feature films. Especially since The Solutions Book Its ambition matches that of its cast – Pierre Niney, Françoise Lebrun, and Blanche Gardin, among others – while also promising a very personal story. Indeed, his twelfth feature film follows the adventures of Marc, a film director whose creativity is boosted by a shoot in a family home. He is brimming with so many ideas that he decides to turn them into a book. The Solutions BookAn intriguing comedy to be discovered soon in cinemas.
The Solutions Book
Michel Gondry
Presented at the Filmmakers' Fortnight at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival
