Gorgeously illuminated chats with Chomsky on the big screen

Michel Gondry and Noam Chomsky in a scene from Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?

Whanganui Film Society's next screening has a cast of two - American linguist, philosopher and political activist Noam Chomsky and film maker Michel Gondry, both playing themselves.

Film society president Helen Marie O'Connell said Gondry's Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? is an "illustrated conversation" between the two men.

The two talk about life and language in a conversation "gorgeously illuminated" with Gondry's hand-drawn animations.

Gondry is a French, independent film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Mood Indigo and Be Kind Rewind.

He is also known for his music video collaborations with Radiohead, Björk, Beck, The Chemical Brothers and The White Stripes.

Alan Scherstuhl of Village Voice described Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? as [an] edifying treasure-hunt into the depths of a living mind...

"Imagine a doozy of an office-hours audience with the most brilliant professor you never had, set inside a kaleidoscopic lightboard of a shared mind-space, where everything that professor says is illustrated in pulsing, wheeling, mercurial cartoons.

"It's a mad thrill, like witnessing a great evolutionary leap of the margin notes you may have doodled in class."

The film, first released in 2013 was made in the USA with production team George Bermann, Raffi Adlan and Julie Fong.

Film Society half-year memberships at whanganuifilmsociety.org.nz, $45, $40 discount for students, Gold Card and Community Service Card holders.
Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? Davis Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum, Watt St, 7pm Monday November 6.