A surrealist romance where a water lily in the lung triggers a tragic decay
In short: Michel Gondry’s 2013 film Mood Indigo transforms a whimsical, colorful world into a monochromatic nightmare. Adapted from Boris Vian’s 1947 novel, the story follows Colin, a man whose life of luxury and invention collapses as his wife, Chloe, falls ill from a water lily growing inside her.
The film, titled L'écume des jours in French, is a surrealist tragedy that mirrors the decline of its protagonist's life through its visual aesthetic. Colin begins in a world of wonder, defined by his talented cook, Nicolas, and his pianocktail—a device that mixes drinks based on musical notes. However, the narrative shifts abruptly when Chloe develops a lung condition after a water lily embeds itself in her body. As Colin exhausts his fortune to save her, the film’s environment decays supernaturally, reflecting his descent into poverty and grief.
The production of the film was notoriously troubled, a process that eventually inspired Gondry’s 2023 project, The Book of Solutions. With a budget of 19 million euro, the film was a massive undertaking involving multiple production houses, including Brio Films and StudioCanal. Filming took place between April and July 2012 across Belgium and Paris. Upon its 2013 release, the film saw varied reception; while it garnered 861,627 admissions in France, international audiences received a truncated version. Drafthouse Films released a cut in the United States lasting only 94 minutes, significantly shorter than the original 131-minute runtime.
Beyond the central romance, the film weaves in biting satire through the character Jean-Sol Partre, a spoonerism of the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. The subplot involving Chick, who ruins his life through an obsessive devotion to Partre’s works, serves as a dark parallel to Colin’s own trajectory. By the end, the whimsy is entirely stripped away, leaving only the stark reality of death and loss. Critics remain divided on the result, with the film holding a 61% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, often praised for its visual creativity but debated for its narrative cohesion.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Mood Indigo (film)
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