Berlinale: Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? Review

Directed by: Michel Gondry

Written by: Michel Gondry

Starring: Noam Chomsky, Michel Gondry

Running time: 88 minutes

Release date: TBA

In the least shallow-minded, one dimensional sense possible, what initially drew me to Michel Gondry’s animated documentary, Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?, was the way it looks - the magnetism of the illustration. Quite simply, it is pretty incredible - fluid, trippy and alive - and it becomes immediately clear that the content of it all holds its own to the same standard. In this feature, which premiered in the Panorama section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, Gondry sits down in conversation with linguist, philosopher and political activist Noam Chomsky to discuss, among other things, memories, language, childhood, astronomy and inspiration (which Chomsky aptly describes as ‘a mystery’). The result of this animated-bolex camera footage hybrid is both thought-provoking and highly original.

Gondry makes his documentary as much about Chomsky’s personal human experiences as about gaining insight into his theories and expert opinions, composing a blend of the scientific, philosophical and anecdotal. So obvious and genuine is his interest in the Chomsky’s cognitions that his illustrations will often show his head transformed into the bolex camera used to shoot their conversations. Conversation part of which unravels experiences had during World War II, spousal relationships and the innateness of language. How is it that a simple sentence such as, ‘Is the man who is tall happy?’ is so instantly reconstructed in even the freshest of minds to gain new meaning? It touches upon the resounding significance of the brilliance of the human mind, both tool and focus for the documentary itself, but also emphasises the fact that we remain in a state of puzzlement about many things.

For someone so intelligent and well-versed in his study, Chomsky’s discourse makes for an educating watch - not necessarily in any formal sense but more to the tune of being able to sit back and be carried away by the information that is unfolding. The feature as a whole is the cinematic equivalent of an artist keeping a journal of treasured extrospection scrawled across every part of each page. Gondry fills the screen with seamless animation of neon bright scribbles starkly set against vintage stills, abyssal blacks or bold whites all spiked with intellectual musings. One thought bleeds into another, a stream of consciousness you watch spill out over the screen, and the pair have a solid rapport - Chomsky, serious and thorough in his explications; Gondry playful and inquisitive in his absorption.

The care and effort that has gone into the project comes across as painstaking in its ingenuity and in the same instance insouciant and spontaneous, evinced in the inclusion of mistakes, misunderstandings and meanings lost in translation. Often, he is able to use his animation as an instrument through which to provide whimsical and lighthearted humour. Returning once more to the idea of inspiration being a mystery, this sentiment could not be more appropriate in the context of this work by Gondry, the result of some unknowable firing of creative spark within the depths of his own consciousness. It is striking documentary filmmaking - the kind you would want to revisit again and again, and feel a little bit more enlightened for doing so.