The story of “Interstella 5555”, the cult anime by Daft Punk

In the metropolis of a planet located in a galaxy light years away from planet Earth and populated by strange beings with human features but blue skin, a band made up of four musicians is performing during a concert. Suddenly, a spaceship approaches the planet threateningly and sends a commando of masked characters to earth who put the spectators to sleep using a narcotic gas and kidnap the four musicians, bringing them before the enigmatic Earl of Darkwood. No, it is not the beginning of a new chapter in the “Star Wars” saga, but the beginning of “Interstella 5555“, The anime masterpiece that Daft Punk decided to write at the beginning of the 2000sto make a film that is now considered a cult not only by fans of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, but also by fans of the genre.

The film came out in 2003, two years later.”Discovery”, the album that consecrated Daft Punk as new heroes of European disco music, causing the French duo to sell over 3 million copies on both sides of the Atlanticthanks to hits like “One more time”, “Aerodynamic”, “Digital love” and “Harder, better, faster, stronger” that Kanye West would have sampled in 2007 in his “Stronger”. After more than twenty years, “Interstella 5555: The story of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem”, this is the full title of the film, is preparing to return to theaters around the world for three days, from 12 to 15 December, in the remastered in 4K.

“Interstella 5555” was conceived by Daft Punk on the music of “Discovery”. In the initial plans of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who immediately brought into play their right-hand man Cédric Hervet, creative director of the duo’s project, the film should have represented a feature film linked to the 2001 album, based on the fusion between science fiction and the entertainment industry and focusing on themes such as oppression and rebellion against the mechanisms of life. Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were inspired by Captain Harlockthe science fiction manga created by Leiji Matsumoto from which a very successful TV series was based even outside the Asian world, starring a ruthless, idealistic, loyal and incorruptible space pirate. Daft Punk wrote a draft of the screenplay as early as 2000, during the “Discovery” sessions, which they then brought to the creatives at Toei Animation of Tokyo that summer, in the hope of being able to convince the manga master Leiji Matsumotothe same mind that had created Captain Harlock, to support the project. The operation was attractive to the producers of the Japanese animation studio, who were convinced to budget well 4 million dollars for the realization of the project.

In 2001, in an interview with Cartoon Network still available online, Daft Punk revealed that they were working on some Japanese animation videos: “We’ve made three of them and we’re very interested in that stuff, so in a certain sense we’re already trying to make a series of cartoons.” After all the video clips for “One more time”, “Aerodynamic”, “Digital love” and “Harder, better, faster, stronger” were already mini animated anime filmsdirected by Kazuhisa Takenouchi of Toei Animation under the supervision of Leiji Matsumoto himself: to all intents and purposes a preview of the project on which Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were secretly working, with Takenouchi himself directing.

“We think dance music is really about rhythm and dynamics. What we like in cartoons and what we think most people like is the pace and speed of the cartoon. In cartoons and music, you can be free to do whatever you want. You can be as innovative and imaginative as you want. .We think the music we made on ‘Discovery’ was cinematically crafted in our minds. We were looking at the music visually and trying to come up with ideas that were captivating to people’s imaginations. An animation fan would find this mix of elements and story in our music”, they said. And master Matsumoto also joined their fan club: “At the beginning, we were looking for ideas to make videos for ‘Discovery’. We thought of Mr. Matsumoto and tried to approach him, but we received no response. After a few months, we were still looking for ideas, and he simply called us back and said he’d like to meet up to work with him. We were really happy. His response was a really positive surprise”.

“Interstella 5555” was premiered in May 2003 at the Cannes Film Festivalbut divided the critics On the one hand there were those, like the BBC, who enthusiastically reviewed the operation, assigning the Daft Punk project almost the maximum score and stating how the film, characterized by the absence of dialogues between the characters, who communicated only through songs from “Discovery,” were “a visual and aural delight of intergalactic proportions.”

On the other hand, those, like Empire, rejected the project outright, calling it “simply stupid”. The film arrived in theaters on May 28, 2003, but remained there for a few days, immediately taking on the contours of a cult. Who now takes his revenge. On the occasion of the event in cinemas simultaneously in more than 40 countries, .the album “Discovery: Interstella 5555 Edition”, the soundtrack of the feature film, will be re-released in a limited edition with the original artwork of the Japanese editionthe stickers and the Daft Club card, which became a real collector’s item after its original release. The limited edition will consist of 5555 gold vinyls, 5555 numbered CDs and 25,000 black vinyls. And to accompany the re-release of the album showing the film, a special limited edition merch dedicated to the Crescendolls, the animated group at the center of Interstella “5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem” was also created. The items are available on the official Daft Punk store.