G Connolly A landmark movie. It's very attractive and will retain an emotional attraction and personal significance for many. One reason, as another reviewer remarked here, is its comforting simplicity. There is no cerebral requirement for external references etc. as in some art movies. Surely there can be cinematic references there to artistic movies, however the film kind of, simultaneously creates a visual artistic paradox in shunning any necessity or compulsion to know.People shouldn't be put off this film by connections to the music world and the band Daft Punk, or associations with electro, disco or house music."Electroma" is a movie 100%, and is to be viewed 100% on movie terms. It is a feature film, and has nothing to do with music, disco music, electro music or Daft Punk in itself. It has no Daft Punk music and no club soundtrack, though the soundtrack is gorgeous. While, yes, Daft Punk the musicians see themselves as culturally varied artists and may kind of live some sense of concept art, and the film may fit within this notion; the characters in the film are based on the band characters. However, again, there's really nothing more connected to the film. The wider contextualisation, for anyone who needs it, need only be that to know the characters are meant to be the 2 band members. The artistic meaning of "Electroma" is self contained.I feel this is a very deep film. While very sparse in elements of interpretation, this means that the meaning of what you can find in there can be incredibly strong indeed. You won't want to treat any of it lightly. There are very serious and emotional themes (and they're very difficult to treat well), such as predeterminism, life as disingenuous facade for the seeing, the lack of choice in life, perhaps, that worldly fate is doomed in the here and now.What is astonishing about this film is both that this is done in the gorgeous visual way achieved, lovely cinematography, and then the sheer, deep endearingness that this gives way to in appreciation of the film. The themes call upon sympathy for those in the welded, inescapable routes, while we may surmise as to whether this has meaning for the two actual band members. It seems there is a lean to a theme of kind of artists as hero, yet anti-hero in a traditional sense, moreso again - as hero. Endearing and comforting. Lovely cinematography and soundtrack. Full of significance and far from flimsy.

robotbling (www.plasticpals.com) Electroma is the story of two robots (Daft Punk) who break from the norm to express their inner individuality in a world populated by robots, with disastrous consequences. This is an experimental film with no dialog whatsoever, running a generous 74 minutes, and some people may feel it drags on a bit in parts. Even fans of Daft Punk may be left scratching their heads since it doesn't feature their music but, supposedly, it syncs up with their album Human After All ala Pink Floyd/Wizard of Oz. If you are not into experimental film you will probably much prefer their animated excursion, Interstella 5555, which I highly recommend.I haven't tried synchronizing it to their album but I enjoyed it just fine, though it should be said I'm a fan of unusual movies. The photography is very professional considering they are amateur film makers, and there's enough here to keep your interest, all without the need for words. I hope they'll continue exploring their visual creativity through cinema in the future, and if it sounds like something you might enjoy, check it out.

Polaris_DiB Daft Punk's "Electroma" has a pretty simple story: two robots attempt to become human, fail, then wander a desert landscape until they destroy themselves. Thematically, I wouldn't see why it shouldn't be taken at face value, though if you want to get technical about it I suppose it does have some things to say about plastic surgery, alienation, and conformity.This movie's real focus resides, however, on the visuals. It's use of music and it's sense of surrealism, plus the fact that it has such a slight story, lends it to the inevitable comparison to music videos, but even that's not quite getting to the unique way the two directors use music and imagery. For one thing, the movie is shot in video and the movie often jumps or halts while panning, giving a sort of POV from the electronic minds of the protagonists (they are billed simply Hero 1 and Hero 2). Secondly, the soundtrack is just as ready to use environmental noise as it is music to hold the moment.It could have been shorter. Most of the screen time is spent on the robots walking or driving through the desert landscape, staring at the other robots in the world or just watching the road or dunes. I think in this case Daft Punk were trying to make the movie fit into feature length presentation, though I suppose an argument into the monotony and blankness of the robots mechanical lives isn't unwarranted. The problem, however, is that after several long takes of repeated imagery, one hopes that it'll eventually lead to some form of action.Still, the imagery is pretty gorgeous, and the middle scenes (involving the modeling, the robot society's reaction, and the abandoned bathroom) are pretty much 100% fascinating. This might be a good movie to see on DVD--watch the landscape traveling until it gets repetitive, then skip to the next scene of action.--PolarisDiB

alisoncolegrooveq It doesn't bother me in the slightest whether people think this film references others or not. That's irrelevant because it just works - it's delightfully simple, beautifully shot, visually arresting and surprisingly poetic.Part of the charm of this film is both the fun (the makeover) and then the quite moving climax in the desert. It works against all your expectations of Daft Punk (and their music) and in many ways this is what makes this also quite special. The choice of music is sublime, and the pace itself becomes quite hypnotic. In fact the pace seems to be one thing that people use to critique this film as though it's somehow pretentious..which itself is an absurd and dimwitted comment really, because the playful charm of the silent characters themselves is anything but pretentious. Hell, if that's pretentious, the world needs a lot more of it because we are drowning in the bile spewing from the Hollywood trough.As an older Daft Punk fan, probably more in tune with their own age and tastes i loved this film. Also worth a mention that there's a very Kubrick-esquire 2001 look to one scene (thumbs up there!)Ignore the doubters. Sit back and immerse yourself in Electroma. In time this will definitely considered a classic concept film by one of the more innovative electronic artists of our age.Human After All