If you don't know what Interstellar 5555 is, it is basically an extended music video to Daft Punk's Discovery album. They commissioned the director/animator Leiji Matsumoto (who made all the great animes they loved from their childhood) to animate a movie for their music. The result is a great collobration. Without any actual dialogue it tells a pretty simple yet touching love. Basically an alien band of musicians are kidnapped during a concert and taken back to Earth. Here they are transformed to look like humans, by a machine that changes their memories, and their hit songs are put into Earth's billboards. During their kidnap an astronaut of the blue alien race is notified and he is able to follow the human spaceship to save the band and the bassist who he has a massive crush on (or is maybe in a relationship with). After discovering that the band has become very popular on Earth, the pilot is able to fly into one of their concerts and free all but the bassist of the group, who is swept away quickly. During the getaway however the pilot is injured. After a fashion show where the last controlled member of the band picks up a card that Earl dropped, she is taken to a music award show where the band wins a golden record. The drummer is then able to free and rescue the bassist. She joins the pilot, who then reveals their real identidies and dies as they thank him. They bury him and see off his spirit. On the drive back they see a sign to Darkwood Manor, which was also on the card the bassist picked up, and they go to check it out. They explore the castle and learn about Darkwood's history and plans. Basically with 5555 golden records Darkwood would get some huge power and the Crescendolls had just got him the last one he needed. They then get caught by guards and taken to the place where Darkwood will fulfill his plans. However, after a struggle Darkwood is pushed to his death and the band escapes. The band then sneaks into the record company and steal all their memory disks and stuff. But in his escape, the keyboardist is shocked by a guard and turns blue again. Despite this the truth about eveything is discovered by the humans and the band are helped back to their planet. The band get home after they are attacked by Darkwood's spirit but rescued by the pilot's spirit.
So yeah it has a pretty good story focussed somewhat around the love between the female bassist and the astronaut. It has a pretty good animation, seemingly aged but many would say retro as this is Daft Punk's vision of their childhood. The soundtrack is awesome (I love the Discovery album). However, what I found most interesting is how the movie talks about the music industry told through how the band transforms. Obviously the evil kidnapper that has been a music manager for however long is the personfiication of what is wrong with the popular music industry. He takes what seems to be an underground yet beloved band from obscurity and puts them into the limelight. But when he does this he puts them through a machine, seemingly the popular music corporate machine. It transforms their looks to be more mainstream. It is interesting how the guitarist looks like a typical "rocker" and the singer/keyboardist looks like someone from a Jazz or Disco background. The looks seem archetypal rather than individualised. Their music is then distrubuted everywhere and they seemingly become popular because of their management rather than the merits of the music (which admittedly does win the award necessary for the storyline). Often Earl de Darkwood, their manager, will force the band, especially the girl, to do things they would rather not do.
Also after they go through the machine they are brainwashed and often have glazed looks on their face, especially during their perfromance. I mean this could just be part of storyline but I would say it is more a comment on how popular music is rather stale and unadventurous in both terms of music and lyrics. I mean many people may say it with a musical snobbery but yeah it does seem to be true. Also they never smile. Does the mainstream music industry take the fun out of making music? However, this may also just be part of the storyline itself. They had to be brainwashed so that the evil doer can get his golden record. I suppose the same could be said with their looks and how their music is distributed. Anyway I also wonder about the last part of the film, with the kid and the dolls. Does this talk about the merchanising of the music industry? Does it show how big bands (and their management) are willing to cash in on any popularity they have? Maybe or maybe it is just a random way to end.
So maybe this potential commentary of the popular music industry is just part of the story itself and should not be seen as seperate. However, why is this story placed in the music industry? Daft's songs is really just about love. Why could some other type of love story with key plot points (like the pilot's death because that really fit in which the simple lyrics of Something About Us)? Interestingly one half of Daft Punk has been quoted as saying "The only secret to being in control is to have it in the start... Retaining control is still hard but obtaining control is virtually impossible." In other words Daft Punk has some experiences about how the corporate music machine works. I think that Interstellar 5555 could in fact be their comment on the music industry. Although it could be said this was rather early in their career to do this they had still been making music for almost a decade when the film came out, I think this message is particularly relvelant though. So on reflection maybe the specfics of what I drew out of the film are not so important but the general ideas that the mainstream music industry (as personified by Earl de Darkwood) is potentially abusive and manipulative to musicians.
All the main characters of the anime with the Daft Punk characters. http://charactermodel.tumblr.com/post/18002572793/interstella-5555-daft-punk
So I hope you enjoyed this analysis of Interstellar 5555. Links for the anime:
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