Thursday, July 29, 2010

Interstella 5555 : The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

It was an ambitious project. After the release of their second album, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk dreamed of creating a musical to their album "Discovery". With the help of Cédric Hervet, Emmanuel de Buretel, Toei Animation and anime legend Leiji Matsumoto that dream became a reality. After three years of hard work, “Interstella 5555 : The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem” was released.


The plot is pretty simple. An alien rock band is abducted and taken to Earth by an evil record executive. Back on the band's home planet, Shep, a space pilot that is in love with the band's bass player, sets on a quest to rescue the band. While on Earth, the record executive makes the band look human and implants mind control devices on the musicians.




I'm not sure if the story is a metaphor for how the music industry manufactures and controls artists but it is entertaining all the same.



The animation is fantastic! With Leiji Matsumoto in charge of character designs, Interstella is very reminisent of his previous epics, Captain Harlock and Queen Emeraldas (kudos to you if you can spot the Harlock "cameo"). The animation is very smooth even during the adrenaline pumping action sequences. The bright color palette used in the film makes the world of Interstella alive and vibrant. While paying homage to the past and using modern techniques, Matsumoto and Toei Animation have really outdone themselves with this film.







The lack of dialogue and minimal use of sound effects enhances the soundtrack. Let's face it; without the music, this film wouldn't have happened. As I mentioned earlier, the album "Discovery" serves as the movie's soundtrack. "Discovery" is my favorite Daft Punk album of all time. Not only does it contain my favorite Daft Punk songs, but some of my favorite songs, period! It is a constant battle to resist the urge to dance while viewing this movie--a battle that I usually end up losing.





“Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem” is a wonderful combination of artistic mediums. It is one of the few movies that I can watch repeatedly. Even while listening to the album in my car, I think of this movie. What are you doing still reading this?!  Go and buy this movie so we can celebrate, one more time!

No comments:

Post a Comment