Watch Daft Punk’s arthouse movie ‘Electroma’
Even though their music made its way into countless feature films as part of the soundtrack, Daft Punk tended to keep cinema at arm’s length, bar the occasional foray. When they did, though, it was inevitably as experimental and opinion-splitting as the world had come to expect from the French electronic duo.
Their most notable contributions to the film world came as the composers of the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy, which saw them construct 36 tracks in total for Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi legacy sequel across its various special and extended editions. However, the duo also wrote and directed the 72-minute arthouse feature Electroma, which endures as an endless source of cult fascination.
Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2006 – a little over a year after the release of their third studio album Human After All – there were walkouts during Electroma‘s first showing after many in attendance grew weary of its avant-garde stylings and existential musings. That being said, Daft Punk’s fans showed up in force when the film was made available for public consumption, and it ended up playing to packed houses in both France and the United Kingdom.
While Daft Punk had directed several of their own music videos in the past – including ‘Fresh,’ ‘Robot Rock,’ and ‘Technologic’ – Electroma began life as an accompaniment to the title track from Human After All before evolving into a full-length movie experience. That being said, unlike animated sci-fi Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem that was created to serve as a companion piece to Discovery, Electroma doesn’t feature any music from Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo at all.
Instead, the soundtrack features songs from Todd Rundgren, Brian Eno, Curtis Mayfield, and Linda Perhacs, among others, along with recordings of compositions originally written by Frédéric Chopin and Gregorio Allegri. While most people would have expected Daft Punk to add another string to their bow on a movie where they were already serving as co-writers and co-directors, they never intended for that to be the case.
Speaking to The Age about how Electroma came together, de Homem-Christo described it more as a matter of happenstance: “We were not nervous – making a full-length movie was like a dream. We never planned for it to happen, but after we directed the videos for our last album we decided to keep on working,” he said. “We were in the shooting dynamic, so the movie came naturally. We didn’t think too much. Whether it’s making music or directing a video, whatever we do we do it quickly. When we have a good work dynamic we don’t need to ask too many questions of each other.”
The narrative – for want of a better word – followed two robots called Hero Robot No. 1 and Hero Robot No. 2, who travel through California and into a facility where they’re transformed into humans with an exaggerated resemblance to Bangalter and de Homem-Christo. Naturally, they get chased out of town by the angry townsfolk before their new faces melt in the sun, prior to an extended hike across the desert that segues into a third act, culminating in self-immolation. It’s weird, possibly wonderful depending on your interpretation, but unmistakably Daft Punk.
