Gondry was a pleasure and a delight. He started the evening kind of shy and got sillier and more candid as the night went on... Gondry grew up in a family of eccentric artists which afforded him the time and energy to be creative and explore. He wanted to be either a painter or an inventor when he grew up. But since he was not totally qualified for either he decided "a camera is the perfect instrument to let me make a world where i can be the inventor." He started making music videos for his band "Oui Oui" and Bjork saw them and loved them.
He met Bjork and she took him to museums and galleries which he'd never been interested in before. When Bjork watched his videos she couldn't stop laughing....and a collaboration was in place for what would be "Human Behavior." Bjork wanted to be eaten by a white bear in the video, Gondry wanted her to be eaten by a brown wolf. (There are wolves in France, bears in Iceland...) They compromised by making a brown bear.For the video Gondry used rear projection- which is a fave technique of his. Gondry said that many producers and filmmakers use blue screen for simple effects that can be easily created in a more realistic setting for the actor. He also said that actors feel dead in a blue screen- their work is flat and not alive.
Gondry's first feature Human Nature was a flop. After Charlie Kauffman's success writing Being John Malkovich, Gondry couldn't figure out why Human Nature did so poorly. All reviews said he was at fault and that he was a terrible director. Then when Eternal Sunshine came out critics said all his work was shit and that this one was good. Gondry said how important it was for him to go throught that as a director. He said "directors often do best at their lowest point."
He said he was angry that this film was overly hated and Eternal Sunshine was overly liked. He felt they were both valid and good films, but in a way very similar. For Human Nature Gindry storyboarded each frame and was very precise with the shooting of the film. But on Eternal Sunshine he was a little more lax and open with the shooting. A week before he called Charlie Kauffman and said "I have no idea how I am going to make this film."
The idea for Eternal Sunshine came from a contemporary artist who was friends with Gondry. This artist, Pierre Bismuth, had an idea to send postcards to people saying "Your ex has erased you from their memory. Please do not contact them again." They pitched the concept around and most people wanted it to be a thriller or a horror film, but Gondry found Kaufman willing to explore what he wanted: love and relationshsips. (Gondry said he wasnt supposed to say it was his own concept, but years have passed now...)
When Gondry was asked about his Oscar for Eternal Sunshine he said (in his cute French accent) "I would come home and it would be wearing a condom or have a broken leg, so I had to hide it." His son Paul (who was sitting a few rows behind me) laughed at this comment.
A clip was shown from Eternal Sunshine with the scene where Clementine and Joel are under the covers and she is telling a story about how she thought she was ugly growing up. After the clip Gondry smiled. "Interesting that you pick this clip because the whole scene was fabricated in post." After filming the scene Gondry was displeased. Kauffman's original dialogue was about Clementine's favorite book and Gondry thought that was too clcihed of romantic comedies. "In real life you don't talk about a favorite book in those moments. When I experience moments of intimacy I want to say something I've never said to anyone." Charlie Kauffman re-wrote the scene using 20% of the text that was filmed. The rest was re-constructed in post. (If you look closely you can see that the camera is mainly off of the characters in this scene as they are speaking.) Gondry said "you must find a creative solution to make sure the audience feels what they needs to feel."
Gondry also spoke extensively about how he got the performance he wanted from Jim Carrey and how he was most interested in Carrey's performance when he yelled "Cut!" He tricked Carrey a lot by using multiple camera and making Carrey feel like the camera wasn't on him. And Gondry got what he wanted: a genuine performance from Carrey.
Gondry has devoted himself to a slew of projects in the past few years. As he has gotten older his work has included a larger community and he has made a point to bring film to a more accessible level including building sets for people to shoot in at the Deitch Projects. Read more about that here.
Hearing Gondry speak was refreshing and inspiring, especially as a young filmmaker. He is unafraid to make mistakes, take risks, and be criticized. He is also a true artist dedicated to his craft. He just directed Seth Rogen's latest script "The Green Hornet" which was Gondry's first studio film, now in post.
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