Written by Susie Salva
Daft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto have released the “Interstella 5555 the 5story of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem” DVD on Virgin/EMI Music. This disc is a silent animated film minus the French musicians Daft Punk soundtrack featuring music utilizing disco, soul, funk and electronica. This DVD is an animated House musical. The story revolves around four musicians from another galaxy who are kidnapped by an evil manager that wants them bow down to his demands. They ultimately become the biggest rock band on Earth. The animation illustrates the blue feeling of depression by drawing them in blue as they are feeling oppressed by this evil villain. The movie culminates in the end when a young boy who has dreamt the entire storyline wakes up surrounded by toy dolls emulating the featured rock stars of the movie.
The story is disjointed and the animation is fair…the and only saving grace is the Daft Punk’s soundtrack. The DVD features interactive play and that makes sense being that this disc is more like a video game then a movie. The DVD is a through back to 1987 animation but the colors are not that brilliant mostly muted. The disc also boasts a biography of Daft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto.
Daft Punk are known as much for their music and technical innovation as their groundbreaking and elaborate visual universe, which centers around their irrepressible and mysterious Robot personas. In 2006, their directorial art house film debut, “Daft Punk’s Electroma,” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and in 2007 they toured internationally with a jaw-dropping live show that was an awe-inspiring combination of their musical and visual prowess. Their collaboration with Kanye West on his #1 hit single “Stronger” was hailed as “The Song of the Year” by SPIN Magazine (January 2008 issue), which also saw Daft sharing the cover with Kanye, having been awarded “Tour of the Year” by the magazine. Daft Punk performed with West on the Grammy Awards in 2008, marking the duo’s first and only television appearance anywhere in the world. “TRON: Legacy” will mark Daft Punk’s first film score.
From Daft Punk’s first single release in 1993, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter were hailed as a new breed of electronic music innovators. Following their seminal debut in 1997 (Homework), the band went on to release two more studio albums (Discovery-2001, Human After All-2005) and two live albums (Alive 1997, Alive 2007), winning them both critical and popular acclaim throughout the world.
