Vice media are expanding their media empire to include film (with TV and DVDs recently tackled it was obviously the next logical step) and their first release will be Daft Punk’s new film, “Electroma“; an “odyssey of two robots (played by Peter Hurteau and Michael Reich) who journey across a mythic American landscape of haunting, surreal beauty on a quest to become human,” according to label rep at Vice Records.
The silent feature – which isn’t really new – had its debut at Cannes in 2006, but it will finally hit North America this summer. Don’t expect a regular film either: the French robotic dance duo’s film is more an abstract visual experience or an art exhibit than a regular narrative and sort of looks like a modern version of Michaelangelo Antonioni’s ’70s acid-failure, “Zabriskie Point,” if it were scored by Battlestar Galatica musicians mixed with a bit of Stanley Kubrick hauntedness and the endless tracking shots of Vincent Gallo’s “Brown Bunny.”
There will be a handful of screenings in North America starting June 14 in Toronto with more dates in Montreal and Los Angeles and then the rest of us will have to wait for the DVD release by Vice in the fall. Strangely enough Daft Punk’s music does not appear in the film, instead they have tastefully selected songs by Todd Rundgren, Brian Eno, Sebastien Tellier, Curtis Mayfield and ’70s cult astral folkie Linda Perhacs among others.
Songs used in the film (according to Vice Records) include:
“International Feel” – Todd Rundgren
“In Dark Trees” – Brian Eno
“Billy Jack” – Curtis Mayfield
“Miserere” – A Sei Voci Ensemble (composed by Gergorio Allegri)
“Universe” – Sebastien Tellier & Matheiu Tonetti
“String Quartet E Flat Major Op.64 No.6” – Kodaly Quartet (composed by Franz Joseph Haydn)
“If You Were My Man” – Linda Perhacs
“No.4 in E Minor [24 Preludes, Op.28] – Fryderyk Chopin
“Dialogue” – Jackson C. Frank
A few scenes can be seen here (which features the Rundgren track) and the here (warning: this last one has major spoilers; it uses the Vincent Gallo-like Jackson C. Frank sad folk ballad) As you might expect, they are weird, hypnotic, but quite strangely beautiful. Expect this one to become part of the midnight madness stoner set. This is not the first time Daft Punk have branched out into the cinematic world. The duo have lensed a few of their own music videos (“Robot Rock” and “Technologic“)and “Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem” was a Japanese animated musical film which acted as the visual realization of their album Discovery.
Download: Daft Punk – “Human After All”
Download: Jackson C. Frank – “Dialogue”
Download: Linda Perhacs – “Parallelograms”
Watch: Sebastien Tellier – “Universe”
Watch: “Electroma” teaser trailer
