Insights from the iconoclastic French auteur.

French-born Michel Gondry started his career making music videos for his own band, Oui, Oui. When his work caught the eye of Finnish pop star Bjork, the pair’s collaboration jump-started the director’s unique and unparalleled efforts in the world of music advertising. When he moved into commercials, Gondry continued devising or adapting groundbreaking visuals. One example is the “bullet time” technique, best known from The Matrix, which Gondry perfected on a Smirnoff spot. His feature debut came in 2001 on Human Nature, and the follow-up was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, his second collaboration with writer Charlie Kaufman. That film, photographed by Ellen Kuras, ASC, also incorporated innovative camera techniques from the world of music videos. His other credits include The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind and The Green Hornet. David Heuring talked with the iconoclastic French auteur to find out what first got him excited about filmmaking, and how he navigated his first voyage through the movie-by-committee approach that is the Hollywood studio system.