Michel Gondry used to have a style that was easy to pigeonhole. His "Science of Sleep," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and past music video collaborations with Bjork, The Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk suggested a magical, expansive style that took place just left of center.
But now comes "The We And The I," a simple, honest look at a bunch of Bronx high school kids taking the bus home from school. The film will premiere at Cannes, and the trailer was just released via Bleeding Cool.
In 2010 he told Cinema Blend that this film was about his own experience as a high-schooler, and "the phenomenon of people, how different they are in groups and large numbers, and how they become more interesting and complex when they are in smaller groups."
He also said it would be about "a group of school kids who travel into the future by mistake and discover a machine that keeps people younger."
Well, OK! Maybe it's both. Maybe it's everything.
Judging from the trailer, though, the film seems more in line with Gondry's work on the Dave Chappelle project, "Block Party," from 2005, and his last, underrated lo-fi comedy, "Be Kind Rewind."
What do you think Gondry's new direction, readers? Let us know in the comments.