Reviews

For the first ten minutes of INTERSTELLA 5555 I really didn't know what to think. The animation by Kazuhisa Takenôchi is really cool. Mixing old school formulas of 70's and early 80's art styles. With more realistic looking people while still giving it that goofy, anime feel. But the fact that it pretty much was a long ass Daft Punk music video wasn't helping much. I have nothing against Daft Punk, but rather that this film felt like it had no conventional story and the fact that there was no dialog hindered it a lot too. But after awhile I started finding a story within the music, Daft Punk songs that where synced almost rheumatically to the imagines and the story unfolding. And soon, INTERSTELLA 5555 became a fun, emotional and almost spiritual ride.

I think though, that Kazuhisa Takenôchi and more so Daft Punk are giving us an inside scoop to the life of a rock star. The film is about blue aliens that are taken away from their home planet by a mad record label producer who makes them over into humans and turns them into the biggest band out there. But they are being mind controlled and this life is not what they were born into and it starts to take a toll on them. But when a pilot from their home world looks to rescue them a whole bunch of crazy stuff happens of course, set to the techno beats of Daft Punk. But the actual story is about the impact of fame. I'm sure every band wishes they didn't write that one song that become a hit and are remembered for. This film is about the impact of that one song and the constant repetitiveness of singing autographs and recording and singing autographs and so on.

This is all wrapped up in a glorious lights and sound act that spans an entire hour, and I really did enjoy it. And the ending kind of has it all make sense. A sweet film with pure heart, and synthesizers.