Update: Huh. Turns out this wasn't directed by Gondry at all. Looks like he's got a fan in Japan…
While Michel Gondry has graduated from making music videos and commericals to directing feature films, he has hasn't abandoned them completely. He's recently done videos for Bjork and The Living Sisters, and now a new ad has popped up for the Japanese department store Sunshine Sakae. It's in every way a perfectly Gondry-esque spot, whimsical and weird and all wrapped up by a pretty decent tagline. But if Gondry had it his way, he'd rather not make them at all.
"I do as few commercials as possible, maybe one or two per year because it allows me to do the movies that I want to do. I confess I am not proud of doing commercials. If tomorrow I could make a decision that would make the commercials disappear altogether, I would make this decision even if it means I would gain much less money," Gondry told The Talks last year. "But since those commercials are getting made anyways, I am taking the opportunities. It’s true, I am not proud of that…I hope my movies will be more successful and then I won’t have to do commercials anymore."
In the same interview, Gondry reveals that while he admires the skill of Quentin Tarantino as a director, his movies are just too edgy and perhaps immoral for him to deal with. Explaining that his son, when he's angry, will tell him that Tarantino is a better director than he is, Gondry reveals, "He forced me to go see 'Kill Bill Vol. 2' and I walked out of it, just like every time I go and see a movie by Quentin, besides 'Pulp Fiction' – I finished that one. But all the others are too mean for me. I mean, he is a brilliant director, much more skilled than me. You see great performances, great images. Everything is great, only the message is dangerous. It’s all revenge and vengeance, about being mean and cynical. I would almost say that these movies are not made for my son, but it is exactly those movies that young people love. Even if they are too young they just sneak into it."
It's a valid assessment, and Gondry is being honest that ultimately, Tarantino's movies just aren't for him. On the flipside, Tarantino ranked "The Green Hornet" under consideration for his contentious best of the year that he dropped earlier this month. Anyway, check out the definitely not mean, cynical or vengeful ad below (via The Daily What).