Known for his visionary style of surrealism that has captivated audiences in such films as “The Science of Sleep” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Michel Gondry has this time around channeled his creativity into an adaptation of French author Boris Vian’s 1947 novel “Froth on the Daydream” about a fantastical love affair.
Romain Duris plays the affable Colin, a sort of bohemian man of leisure who amuses himself by chumming around with his friend, Chick, and lawyer, Nicolas (who also functions as his personal assistant and cook), and occasionally tinkering with his pet project, a cocktail-making piano fittingly named the pianocktail. When Colin discovers over lunch one day that both Chick and Nicolas have found girlfriends, he incredulously proclaims that he too deserves love. Fast-forward to a cocktail party later that month during which Colin is set up with the endearing, dark-eyed Chloe (Tautou). An adorably awkward courtship ensues, replete with Gondry’s own brand of romantic magic that at one point sets the two soaring—literally—over Paris in a cloud.
The couple’s hyperbolic happiness takes a 180 degree turn one day, though, when Chloe suddenly takes ill. The diagnosis? —A flower is growing inside one of her lungs, and the only known treatment requires that Chloe constantly be surrounded by fresh flowers. As adept as he is at creating whimsy out of the ordinary, as seen in the first half of “Mood Indigo,” Gondry is equally masterful at portraying the depths of human despair. He is one of a select few filmmakers whose use of extreme symbolism and the bizarre works to reveal human emotions at their most truthful. An excellent supporting cast, including Omar Sy as Nicolas and Gad Elmaleh as Chick, infuses the film with energy and humor, grounding these relationships in reality despite their fantastic surroundings.
