{"id":3237,"date":"2014-08-03T20:58:49","date_gmt":"2014-08-03T20:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=3237"},"modified":"2014-08-03T20:58:49","modified_gmt":"2014-08-03T20:58:49","slug":"mood-indigo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/comedy\/mood-indigo\/","title":{"rendered":"Mood Indigo ***"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mood-indigo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If incredibly imagination alone were the key to a successful film, then writer-director Michel Gondry\u2019s L’\u00e9cume des jours<\/em> or Mood Indigo<\/em> would be a guaranteed box-office smash. It\u2019s like an animated delicacy that ignites the creative juices with every scene, beautifully crafted to help tell a delicate story of loss. However, as much as fans of Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind<\/em>, La science des r\u00eaves<\/em>) will revel in his trademark surrealism and visual effects once more, the storyline is a little lacking in substance and doesn\u2019t appear to translate as well from Boris Vian\u2019s heart-felt 1947 novel about losing a great love (translated as Froth on the Daydream<\/em> and Foam of the Daze<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Wealthy, inventive bachelor Colin (Romain Duris) has everything he has ever asked for and is financially comfortable. What he doesn\u2019t have is someone to share it with \u2013 until he meets Chlo\u00e9 (Audrey Tautou) at a friend\u2019s party and they fall in love. Everything is peachy until the couple marry and go away on honeymoon. The first night Chlo\u00e9 contracts an unusual illness overnight \u2013 caused by a flower growing in her lungs. Their idyll is rudely broken as Colin endeavours to find a cure before it\u2019s too late while trying to avoid financial ruin.<\/p>\n

Gondry sets the scene and the appetite for some zany antics perfectly, with the animation quenching the senses and thrilling all who take it in. His cast of Duris and the ever-delightful \u2018dolly-like\u2019 Tautou are made for his films, both never failing to deliver here. In fact, the show-stealing character is Omar Sy as Colin\u2019s right-hand-man, Nicolas, who pulls the whole narrative together when it veers off on an indulgent Gondry tangent.<\/p>\n

In terms of wackiness that always goes hand in hand with a touching sensitivity to the characters\u2019 mood moment, one of the most memorable scenes is Colin taking Chlo\u00e9 on a \u2018cloud capsule ride\u2019 over an apparent building site on their first date. It\u2019s sheer brilliance of quirky imagination as they take in their surroundings (and each other).<\/p>\n

However, as the \u2018illness\u2019 of the growing flower progresses \u2013\u00a0that appears to be a metaphor for lung cancer, the story seems to subside, as if getting lost in the enveloping darkness that the production takes. Whether there is not enough relationship development to begin with to really get a sense of how deep Colin and Chlo\u00e9\u2019s love for each other is, or the written word just gets lost in translation as the creativity takes over, who knows, but we feel the depressed pet mouse\u2019s gloom at what should be a momentous time.<\/p>\n

Still, there is always the hilariously funny dance move that involves bandy legs and arms to enjoy and the introduction of the \u2018pianocktail\u2019 that would make a grand central party piece, though whether there is enough to entice anyone who is not a Gondry fan to pay to see Mood Indigo<\/em> on the big screen is debatable, however creative he gets and charming Duris and Tautou are.<\/p>\n

3\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

By @FilmGazer<\/p>\n

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