Interesting French Music Video

February 26, 2003 11:49 AM

Very Interesting French Music VideoThe movie is somewhat hard to explain without giving away the ending, but the movie addresses very interesting implications for the future of mankind.
posted by banished (26 comments total)

oh, mickey 3d! i knew it before clicking the link. I who whate french music have to admit this song is really interesting. the lyrics are really brilliant, too, for anyone who can understand it. cheers on this one!
posted by Sijeka at 12:02 PM on February 26, 2003

That video is fantastic. Well, I mean, it would be, if it wasn't fashioned by the cowardly Frenchman.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 12:15 PM on February 26, 2003

really cool.
posted by computerface at 12:20 PM on February 26, 2003

I ♥ unreconstructed french hippies!
posted by dash_slot- at 12:29 PM on February 26, 2003

Wow, must be feeling sensitive today. I almost cried. I would try to start some conversation about the artificial vs the real and all that, but I think I'm going to take a walk instead.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:38 PM on February 26, 2003

Anyone know of a translation of the lyrics?
posted by internal at 12:58 PM on February 26, 2003

Oh come on, this movie did nothing that hasn't been done in countless science fiction stories countless times.

I mean, its a cool video, and what I understood of the lyrics through my rusty French made it seem like a pretty good song, but there is nothing overly original about any of the ideas I was able to pick up on.
posted by pjgulliver at 1:03 PM on February 26, 2003

There's nothing very original about most ideas actually, it is somewhat naive for anyone to think they have a thought that hasn't occured to someone else either living or dead. That's why writers and movies and entertainment take the same very human stories and repackage them over and over and make fortunes. That's probably part of the reason history repeats itself as well. But like they say, "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you."
posted by banished at 1:19 PM on February 26, 2003

Cool, my wife speaks french and was fascinated by the lyrics.

Here you have the original french lyrics (don't ever try to babelize them, if it's not for fun!). Beware, the link's from a Google cache and the site seems temporarily unavailable...
posted by samelborp at 1:28 PM on February 26, 2003

weird, that's not what I put in the box... I made funny of the site hosting the lyrics...

(must stop smoking fatties)
posted by samelborp at 1:33 PM on February 26, 2003

I tried to view it, it crashed quicktime twice. The first half looks interesting. Haven't been able to see the second half yet.
posted by riffola at 2:13 PM on February 26, 2003

The little girl looksl ike Golum.
posted by oflinkey at 2:13 PM on February 26, 2003

I want to be a kid again. The video captures the joy of discovery perfectly. I don't think you even need to social commentary at the end, but yeah, OK, whatever.

Thanks for the link.
posted by willnot at 2:25 PM on February 26, 2003

I think that's exactly what I reacted to, willnot. I just kind of enjoyed watching this kid having fun in a beautiful green world. The end hit me because it took everything away, brought us back to the real world of concrete and waiting in lines. It's not a new idea at all, just well executed.
posted by elwoodwiles at 2:40 PM on February 26, 2003

but there is nothing overly original about any of the ideas I was able to pick up on.

I could say the same of your comment :)

Very nice find, banished, but now i am itching for a translation of the song!
posted by elphTeq at 4:14 PM on February 26, 2003

absolutely gorgeous. If anyone's interesting, the technique being used is a plugin called a cel-shader. The animation is actually 3d, but when it renders, the shading is simplified and a black line is drawn along the horizon of the object. The end result looks like cel animation, but with eerily accurate perspective and motion. So in a way, the medium is the message. They've taken a very advanced set of digital techniques and used them to simulate a simple old analog cartoon.
posted by condour75 at 4:21 PM on February 26, 2003

"if anyone's interested", that should read. You all seem quite interesting.
posted by condour75 at 4:22 PM on February 26, 2003

internal, I haven't picked them all out or googled the lyrics yet, but I think my favorite line so far is Tu vas pas mourir de rire, or, you won't die from laughing. The line he repeats the most often is Il faut que tu respire, you need to breathe.
posted by whatzit at 6:38 PM on February 26, 2003

For what it's worth, Tu vas pas mourir de rire is also the name of his newest album.
posted by whatzit at 6:44 PM on February 26, 2003

Ha. I wish they had those things when I was growing up.
posted by rusty at 7:52 PM on February 26, 2003

this movie did nothing that hasn't been done in countless science fiction stories countless times

I would argue that the film is successful partially for that very reason. The notion of reality qua holodeck (or veldt, if you prefer the classic sf reference) is shorthand for a concept that is difficult to explain visually. The only reason you're able to "get" what's happening is that you're aware of the existing trope.

There is a predisposition among intellectuals (myself included), especially in the Age of Google, to present ad-hoc bibliographies of everything they're exposed to. It's understandable, I suppose, but not always necessary or desirable. It's like the guy who never misses the opportunity, when discussing music, to mutter, "Oh, I have that on vinyl." Nobody really likes that guy. And yet, on the Internet, so many of us work so hard to be that guy.
posted by vraxoin at 9:18 PM on February 26, 2003

condour75 yeah this is a recursive "medium is the message" interesting.

I see it as reality is subjective experience is not real which has been a great theme of the 20th C particularly in Europe deriving from philosophical schools such as Nietzsche and Kant and Marx very pervasive in popular culture (Matrix). Many people resign themselves to this view that reality is subjective and does not exist, note the look of disappointment on the girl at the end, she is defeated she has given up and is just part of a larger machine. It's this same mindset that allowed for Communism and National Socialism and ultimately comes back to the question each of us must face daily: does reality exist? Do I exist?

I don't read French or could expound on the lyrics which probably have this as a theme.

The film would have been more powerful with the girl walking out into the city and keeps on going until she finds the real version of what she was experiencing thus also creating a recursive plot leaving the viewer wondering is the new reality just another mirror?
posted by stbalbach at 10:41 PM on February 26, 2003

The lyrics.

No time to translate, but I'd advise you to listen to Mickey3D, they're a nice french band. Those who were on my swapset during the 4th MeFiSwap from 2002 got one of their songs on my CD: "Tu dis mais ne sais pas", from their previous album "La Trêve".

Sorry for all the french, btw =)
posted by XiBe at 1:43 AM on February 27, 2003

"...I see it as reality is subjective experience is not real which has been a great theme of the 20th C particularly in Europe deriving from philosophical schools such as Nietzsche and Kant and Marx..."

You forgot to mention Wittgenstein (and Lee-Whorf too) - Language is irreducible. And, of course, Einstein.
posted by troutfishing at 4:47 AM on February 27, 2003

I found some slightly different versions of the French lyrics, but here's my attempt at translation nonetheless:

Come here little one and listen to me
I’m going to tell you the story of being human
In the beginning there was nothing and in the beginning everything was good
Nature moved forward without the need for a path
Then man arrived with his big shoes
Giving kicks to the face in order to get respect
The one-way streets that he planned
Arrows multiplied across the plain
And all the elements were controlled
In two or three moments, the story was changed
Tomorrow is not the eve of when we will reverse our direction
We have even begun to foul the deserts

(Chorus)
You have to breathe
And that’s saying a lot
You aren’t going to die from laughing
And that’s saying a lot

In a few years, the last leaf will have been gobbled up
And your children will only have one eye in the middle of their foreheads
They will ask you why you have two eyes
And you will be passed off and as a fraud
They will say to you “How could you have let this happen?” And you will defend yourself, telling them very quietly
“It isn’t my fault, it was the fault of people in the past”
But there won’t be anyone left to wash your hands
You will tell them about the times when you could eat fruit in the long grass of the meadows
When there were animals everywhere in the forest
And how in the springtime the birds would come back

Chorus x2

The worst part of the story is that we are slaves
And sometimes we are assassins who cannot look at trees without feeling guilty
Half defrocked and 100 percent miserable
And so there you have the story of being human
It isn’t very happy and I don’t know what the ending is
You weren’t born in a cabbage patch but rather in a hole that one fills up everyday like a pit of manure

Chorus

It’s tomorrow that everything will worsen

Chorus
posted by melimelo at 8:08 AM on February 27, 2003

Here's what I made out:

come here little one
listen to me kid,
I'm going to tell you the story of humanity
in the beginning there was nothing,
in the beginning it was fine,
nature went forward, there was no plan
then man set out with his big shoes...
the arrows in the ... multiplied
and all the elements appeared to be mastered...
it's not just in my dream that...

you've got to breathe
and there's nothin to say about it
you're not going to die of laughter
and there's nothing to say...

they're going to ask you
....
it's not my fault
it's the fault of our ancestors
...
eat the wild fruits...
...
there were animals all through the forest
at the start of spring the birds would return

you've got to breathe
it's not enough to say
you're not going to die of laughter
....
You've got to breathe
it's tomorrow when you...
you're not going to die of laughter
...
the worst of this story
is that we're slaves
that appear to be incapable of
looking at the trees without
feeling guilty
half of...100% miserable
so take a look at the story of humanity
it's not so pretty, and I don't know the end...
...
you've got to breathe
....
you're not going to die of laughter
and who knows what to say about it
you've got to breathe
wait for tomorrow to...
you're not going to die of laughter
...
you've got to breathe
you've got to breathe
posted by bigschmoove at 2:16 AM on March 3, 2003