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

I hardly ever listen to Daft Punk's kind of music and hardly ever watch an Anime, but this one really got me. The animation and the music is a winning combo together here and I enjoyed every minute of it, even for the second and third run. In fact, I even looked for a recent album of Daft Punk and 'discovered' those moments when I like to listen to it, and even in the gym or at the Friday night parties the tunes come up making me smile. I don't thing to go that far to purchase a complete set of the plastic dolls (Shep, Stella, Arpegius, Octave, Baryl from the movie). But don't be mislead, Daft Punk is a French band of only two guys making electronic music. They started back in 1997 with 'Homework', then released 'Discovery' in 2001 - this movie builds mostly on the music of this album -, and 'Human After All' is dated to March 2005. Interstella 5555 is among the few titles in my collection that I like to watch over and over and each time I got the same addicted to it, 10/10! '… don't stop, come a little closer…'

I am a big Daft Punk fan. Actually, a huge one. I play the Discovery album on a loop, all day, quite regularly. So when my friend first informed me about this movie, I was ecstatic. I immediately borrowed it, and the magic began.

It tells a fairly simple and predictable story. But when you watch it, you won't care. The music and art are expressive and captivating. They alone carry the film, as there is no dialog anywhere to be found. You will never miss the dialog, I can promise you. Instead, you will be dancing, then on the edge of your seat. You'll laugh, you may cry. But you will be left stunned.

A tip: watch the 'extras'. Many amusing scenes are merely random bystanders doing silly things.

Though on the surface, this is nothing but a long music video, in truth, it is an epic musical journey.

In its way a remarkable film, and a genuine one-off, which deserves to be better known amongst animation lovers. Co-director Leiji Matsumoto, who during his long career in anime has been associated in one capacity or another with such cheesy epics as Space Battleship Yamato, the Harlock Saga, Star Blazers & etc, worked with Daft Punk (a French two-man band specialising in electronic rock) on this unique feature. Deliberately recreating the extreme glam stylisation of the 1970's/early 80's Japanese animation style, albeit done with more fluidity and detail which modern day budgets and software allow, Matsumoto has married image and sound to hypnotic effect in a movie which in effect is both unique and unforgettable. A "digital love story" of a kidnapped technoband - who incidentally travel together in a Scooby-Do like 'Mystery Machine' as events unfold - and an evil music impresario (echoes of the obscure Toomorrow here (1970) - anyone seen that?). Despite some snipes at pop exploitation, there are no great depths here story-wise, although there are dark elements, such as the painful burial of a deceased major character. But the characterisation is not important, as it was not what the creators were after, leaving the graphic designs and timings to unfold. What makes the film so great is the peculiar manga-music hybrid that results, as the stylised visual design and editing rhythms join with a contemporary soundtrack (the entire film is wordless outside of lyrics)in a way which is both culturally nostalgic as well as being strikingly modern in effect. The plastic surface which results entirely transcends the original pulp manga inspiration. In short it's a film which sounds naff but, somehow, works. As an achievement the result is miles ahead of the director's previous, briskly produced juvenelia and ought to be required viewing.

It is curious that "Discovery", the hit record by Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo (AKA Daft Punk) was launched in the year 2001. Perhaps it was some kind of hommage to that coincidence and the legendary picture named after that year, but it inspired a whole movie. And the result is this one. Some years later, it comes out, and what to say? At first, I remember I didn't like the singles, I remember thinking that "One More Time" was too commercial and bubble-gum. And I thought also that this kind of japanese animation wasn't something that wondered me at all. But there is something magical about this movie, which starts to glory with that same tune, the one I thought I didn't like. The animators really had a field day here, working hard to revive every feel of that 70's style, adding a fantastic feeling to the listening of the music, and making the viewing experience sheer pleasure. The movie never loses breath as long as the music stays up to it, and we are greeted with bone-chilling renditions of "Aerodynamic", "Digital Love" et al. Beautiful sounds, that find their true meaning when married to these pictures and when they come out of theatre speakers. The concept may have looked like risky, since the animation looks so old fashioned, but the revival goes all the way to the music, and the result is a fascinating journey in time. Fantastic achievement, that will change the way we look at "Discovery" forever.

Despite not really being a Daft Punk fan, i enjoyed this film. Looking at this as a film & not just an extended film clip, i thought it took a little while to move into full swing, the middle sections were very good, while the end tended to drag on a tad. I know it was based on a Daft Punk album, but the end would have been better if it was a couple of minutes shorter.

Well worth checking out if you are a fan of Daft Punk and/or a fan of anime, especially 1970's & 1980's style anime. 7/10