Microbe and Gasoline
Description
Buckle up for a whimsical road trip with Microbe and Gasoline, two boys equipped with wild imaginations and insightful observations in visionary writer/director Michel Gondry’s gentle and amusing tale of teenagers who build a tiny motorized house on wheels and drive across France in search of adventure and pretty girls. It is a fitting story for a director who maintains a DIY approach to practical effects in visually inventive work, from his music videos to such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and The Science of Sleep (2006). Here, the titular misfits are Daniel (Ange Dargent), a hopeless romantic artist nicknamed “Microbe” for his puny size, and Theo (Theophile Baquet), a Fonzie-type greaser and the new kid in school. The two escape from their respective dysfunctional families and bullying peers with a grand adventure. Out on the road, the boys grow in maturity, facing run-ins with locals and striving to avoid any roadblocks in their path. Not quite a coming-of-age comedy, Microbe and Gasoline delightfully tiptoes the line between reality and fantasy as Gondry utilizes the playful yet socially constrained nature of youth to craft a touching tale of friendship while delivering subtle commentary on universal themes of identity, self-confidence and love. —Chad Liffmann
Rising to fame through directing music videos for Daft Punk, Björk, Chemical Brothers and others, Michel Gondry broke into feature-film directing with Human Nature (2001) and a few years later shared a Best Original Screenplay Oscar® with Charlie Kaufman for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Gondry’s signature visual style—emphasizing illusion-filled camera tricks and practical effects—continues to define his work, including such films as The Science of Sleep (2006), Be Kind Rewind (2008), Mood Indigo (2013) and Microbe and Gasoline (2015).
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/160929687?autoplay=1Film Details
Language French
Year 2015
Runtime 105
Country France
Director Michel Gondry
Producer Georges Bermann
Writer Michel Gondry
Editor Elise Fievet
Cinematographer Laurent Brunet
Music Jean-Claude Vannier
Cast Ange Dargent, Theophile Baquet, Diane Besnier, Audrey Tautou