Mood Indigo

The Studiocanal release of Michel Gondry's whimsical love story offers a engrossing and detailed insight into the methodology of the director and many of his team.

Among the extras is a documentary by Charlotte Pouch which, though threatening to be too stylishly quirky in places - as when she shoots a 'double image' of Gondry in a taxi - gives a real sense of what it is like to be on the set of a film with him. Running at 38 minutes, Pouch follows him around as he throws himself into everything from an acting role to last-minute set adjustment.

It's interesting to see his high-energy working practices and his increasing stress levels and shortened temper are also noticeable as the film reaches completion - "Let's celebrate mediocrity," he announcees at one point, the sarcasm dripping venomously. Because film sets are full of cameras, Pouch's is largely ignored, which means we are privvy to the some amusing asides between the actors and director, such as a moment when Audrey Tautou asks: "Did you learn your lines, Michel?" before adding: "I didn't learn mine either... for solidarity."

The documentary mixes this sort of footage - including the 'little cloud of Paris' scene when Tautou finds it impossible to hide her fear of being hoisted metres into the air by a crane - with the crew and actors offering their own opinions on Gondry's ability to find order in chaos.

From The Film To The Book (21 minutes) is another excellent extra that rewinds through the action from the finished product to a sentence of Boris Vian's novel to give a sense of how creative Gondry's team are. We see the painstaking construction of the piano cocktail contraption, the room of revolving flowers and Colin's four-disc record player among others.

About The Novel (six munites) and Inside Michel Gondry's Head (nine minutes) offer further exploration of the cast and crew's approach to Vian's work and Gondry's style. Pleasingly, throughout all the extras a lot of weight is given to the technical work that goes on behind the scenes and Creation Of The Sets (eight minutes) and Costumes (five minutes) take us further into the processes and discussions involved, so that we can see how, for example, the mouse costume goes from drawing board to whiskery reality.

The extras are completed by five deleted scenes and a predictably quirky animated letter which Gondry sent to Tautou in a bid to get her to accept the role. A pleasure to watch for anyone who is interested in Gondry's approach to filmmaking.