All language subtitles for Daft Punk Unchained (2015) [1080p] Bluray.en

We're always trying

new things.

We are so used

to having crappy products.

Daft Punk thought about
their music before they made it.

That makes a real difference.
And weirdly enough,

creating those robot personas
let them stay human,

grounded and completely free.

They bought their freedom
by sending the robots

to do their dirty work.

They were proud to release an EP
on the same label as Stereolab.

That's how it all started.

Guy-Manuel and Thomas
were 17 or 18 back then.

They thought everything
had been set in motion.

But a critic from Melody Maker
called them "daft punky thrash".

That made them stop and wonder.

It changed the optimistic view
they had on their music.

It took them six or seven months
to send me two other tracks.

I think they just
did not want to go that way.

They would say "you'll have
the new tracks next week",

but what they really meant was
"we don't care.

We have
other things to think about."

We were 18
when we went to our first rave

on the roof of Beaubourg.

We discovered a new kind
of music and energy

with people dancing to music
they had never heard before.

Something new
was happening on that scene

and it was still alternative
and underground at the time.

Not the kind of music
you heard on the radio.

We thought there was
something to be done

with electronic music.

Thomas,
Guy-Manuel and I met there

and the closer we got, the more
we could feel the vibrations.

There's a track from Chicago
with a dark voice

It was the last major revolution
in recent decades.

Electronic music and hip-hop
were the last great revolutions.

Everything since then
ultimately comes from

one of those two movements.

There were people
discovering drugs as well.

I remember Thomas saying
he did not like it

because using ecstasy made you

lose your critical faculties.

And that was it.

He hates nothing more
than losing control.

I called and asked them to come

and to bring their demo.

When they arrived,

they were wondering
what was going on.

They come in, their eyes
wide open. Guy-Man is blushing.

I introduce
the people from Slam.

We didn't have a name.

We decided to use
the name from that bad review.

They called us "daft punk".

They have a very clear vision
of their careers

because they get advice from
Thomas's Bangalter father.

He produced disco music in the 70s
under the name Daniel Vangarde.

He helped them work out
the deals they were offered.

He was the ideal advisor
for a band

making dance music
produced in France

with lyrics in English
and aimed at the whole world.

We've received faxes

from Denmark, Sweden,

Spain, Japan, New York...

although
we've only sold 15,000 records.

It shows
that there is an audience

for that kind of music
all around the world.

When I met them
in 1995,

between the Scottish label,
and their energy and talent,

Daft Punk were already
in demand

for a live set.

I would say that they were
recording their first album

and a live set
wasn't possible yet.

Technically, it was stunning.

That music
was made in a bedroom...

this big.

There were electric cords
all over this child's bedroom.

Child's. Not teenager's.

It was full of cables,
keyboards and stuff.

The two albums which changed the face
of electronic music were made there.

The specificity of our music
and our work is that

there is a real interaction
between music and technology.

In a way, we consider technology
to be a part of the band.

Thomas
is a genius with machines.

When he was working on
their debut album,

he read his instruction manuals
once a month.

He was one of the first
to have a Macintosh in France

so he had a very early approach
to computer-aided

music and images.

But artistically
there's more to him than that.

He creates wonderful melodies.

He has a real feeling
for what makes a hit.

Guy-Man is the mystical one.

There's just one thing
that works for him

and as long as he hasn't
found it, the rest is junk.

The contract we signed with
the label is 100% good for us

so we've avoided problems
that others artists have had

with their record companies.

The deal they signed with Virgin
was a break with the norm.

Artists usually signed for
4 or 5 albums for a percentage.

They said "no,
we own our recordings and

we'll give you the rights for 10 years."

This showed me something.

What I learnt was

that success
is built on solid foundations.

Guy-Man and Thomas
were already thinking

about an international deal.

They already had quite
a clear vision of their career.

Their album was almost ready,
they were finishing it off.

From the start, they already
understand the business.

The business model is in place.

They know they need complete
artistic freedom and control

of their image
and everything else.

They were able
to impose their own rules

because
they were OK financially.

They were not starving.

They even became an example
for hip-hop bands

who were influenced

by their business model

which was said to be
the greatest hold-up ever.

They invited us to listen
to the album in Thomas's flat.

We went with the London Virgin team
and some of the French team.

It was fantastic, a small studio,
with not much equipment.

We listened on a ghetto blaster,

which impressed us all.

It was a revelation.

We listened
to one hit after the other.

Spike Jonze's video
had a huge impact.

When Michel Gondry hears about
Daft Punk, he has the great idea

for the music video
of Around The World.

Where's
that stupid little black box?

I'm looking
for the remote control.

It's crazy.

Why would I have
put it somewhere else?

It has only one use.

That's the story of my life.

Alright.

I met them in a hotel room

in London.

I was sitting on the bed
and they were on chairs.

I don't like having an idea
before talking to the group.

I don't want to get on the wrong track.

I always talk to the band first

before I propose anything at all.

I think it was Guy-Manuel

who came up with the idea
of a choreography.

Choreo-

graphy.

I asked
my designer Florence Fontaine,

although
we did not have much money,

to make robots.

She used motorbike helmets.

She added two antennas.

Then we decided to cover

the visors
with semi-transparent tape.

I think it's the first time
they wore helmets.

Maybe it was their idea
and I just worked around it,

but I think I wanted them
to look like Robocop.

One question,

techno music is supposed to be
underground, anti-star system.

Yet you're becoming stars.

How do you feel about that?

I still believe
it's anti-star system.

We try not to expose
ourselves too much.

The music is the only thing
that really matters.

Then people
decide for themselves.

But we're not really trying
to show ourselves off.

The choice
not to show their faces anymore

was made when they decided

to go to the top
by signing with Virgin

with the aim to sell records
and to conquer pop culture.

Before that, they released EPs
with a small Scottish label.

The movement was underground

so there was no reason
to protect their identities.

Hiding one's face
is part of techno culture.

The founders of techno
like Underground Resistance did it.

When techno emerged,
it was a faceless music.

Back then, people even danced

backs turned to the DJ.

Americans had done it before.
Kraftwerk did it and Kiss.

All pop stars invent
and reinvent themselves.

They aren't born that way.

When I talk to David Bowie,

I'm talking
to one of his thousand avatars.

Not to the Bowie
born in London in 1947.

Those bands influenced them
by using make-up and costumes.

They did photoshoots

at the beginning
but they probably thought

they looked like kids.

What could be smarter?

That was
part of the process as well.

How to still make music
when you're 40?

When Homework is released,
they are what shakes up the 90s,

they bring a new energy
with their electronic music.

It soon becomes clear

that all the major pop stars
want to get in touch

to produce them
or to work with them.

People from all around the world
want to work with them.

Janet Jackson,
Madonna, George Michael...

They all tried
to collaborate with them.

Thomas and Guy-Man
always answered politely

but there was no collaboration.

I can't see a thing.

We have to walk slowly.

They would send me to buy masks
at the last minute like the time

they did the NME cover.

I would buy cheap masks
from joke shops.

It wasn't very well prepared.

Once in Japan,

they went to the shop an hour
before their meeting with EMl.

They bought crazy costumes
to disguise themselves.

They did not
want to play the game.

There's a good story about
meeting Virgin in New York.

We were all
going to a restaurant.

A huge limo was waiting for us.

Thomas and Guy-Man see that.

They don't like it at all.

So they decide to run away.

I'm left alone in this limo
with the people from Virgin.

Thomas and Guy-Man
took the subway

and I got there in the limo
with Virgin.

It's a rejection,
a philosophical position...

They don't partake
in the charade.

Do you use your anonymity
to get closer to your public?

We do live
a lot of exceptional things

but we still have
a very normal everyday life.

We live more like our audience
than the artists

who have
the same kind of fame as ours

but who are attached

to physical recognition
by the public.

The band, and especially Thomas,

had a fascination
for the Millennium bug.

How to explain that in 1999
these two guys wear masks

and on the 1st of January 2000,
they become robots?

That's the Millennium bug.

We told the journalists
that they were in the studio

and at midnight
something happened.

Thomas and Guy-Man
became robots.

WE ARE NOT DEAD

BUT WE'VE BECOME ROBOTS.

I remember very well
the first tests at Alterian.

We'd been driving a long time
to get to Los Angeles.

I was hoping
it would be worth the trip.

We arrive there
and meet Tony Gardner

who was
kind of a nerd, with glasses

surrounded
by monster heads and dolls.

From 2001on, they're
no longer two regular guys.

We're talking to robots.

Last time I interviewed them,
we talked for three hours

and Thomas
never used the word "I".

It's crazy. The first person
singular no longer exists.

It is totally erased.
They are Daft Punk.

It's still playful.
But they control everything.

They're still kids.

One More Time

is THE song that opens up
the USA for them.

It's crazy to think

that it took two French
white guys from Paris

for Americans to discover

house music when it was invented
by African-Americans.

They were lucky
because they started out

at the same time
as home studios.

Albums needn't be recorded
in a limited time anymore.

They can spend
four or five years on an album.

This album
is important for pop music.

It's one
of the first post-sample albums

which builds music
out of other sounds.

Sampling means

taking parts of a song,
looping it over and over

until it becomes music.

But they changed them so much
that samples became unrecognizable.

They had colossal ambitions

for their work.

They recorded their second album
while making Interstella 5555.

It was a silent anime

which came alive with music.

Their original idea
just took off.

The music video
turned into a feature film.

They got into debt
because they were the producers.

No record company
would have produced it.

Daft Punk is not
just about making music.

It means controlling a universe

and protecting it
from any outside intervention.

They answer to no one.
It's punk and rebellious.

Interstella was ten years
ahead of its time,

before the big TV shows
featuring lots of bands

who are then
tied to the network for life.

They made a wishlist of people

they wanted to work with.

Leiji Matsumoto was number 1.

He's the man
behind Captain Harlock.

People born
between 1975 and 1980

were fascinated by

Japanese animes.

Captain Harlock was
quite different from the others

that were childish and colorful.

Captain Harlock
has a huge scar on his face.

He's a pirate.

If not a rebel,
he's definitely marginal.

The way I see it,

the robot has a human heart.

He is
a calm and non-violent being.

If necessary,

he protects people.

He becomes their shield

in order to do so.

This vision come from the traditional

representation of ghosts

and other supernatural beings.

In the Japanese tradition,

they are not evil monsters

but beings who have hearts

and a free spirit.

My hero

Captain Harlock often says

"I live freely under my banner!

But I also accept
all my responsabilities."

All creativity should be
based on this principle.

There was
a kind of reaction after

the huge ambition
of the Discovery album.

We wanted to go back
to something raw.

Since we are Human After All
we'll record it in two weeks.

This is the music
we want to make.

When this album came out,

it disconcerted a lot of people.

Even the media

and people from the label.

It was more difficult
for us to promote

this album.

There was no single to play

on the radio
so we had to find ways

for people
to talk about the album.

I think
the public did not understand.

People are used to saying

debut albums are underground,
the second's a success,

and the third one
even more successful.

But they were not
running after success.

I think
they just wanted to express

what they had inside.

People tend to say

this album is not as good.

People expected
something else from them.

In any case, that's what you hear.

It's interesting to see that
years later, those same critics

reevaluate the album...

and realise the impact it had.

It attracted
a wave of French producers,

the French Touch 2.0,

inspired by Daft Punk's energy

and a return
to the raw energy of techno.

Bands such as Justice

and the new generation
come out of Human After All.

The robots dress up as humans
and eventually kill themselves.

Maybe they were trying
to tell us something.

Is Daft Punk over?

That crossed my mind.

I figured they were done with
the masks and had a new idea:

showing their faces.

They probably thought about it.

They had the great idea

of simplified robots
dressed in black leather.

It was Mad Max meets Tron.

300,000 dollars
for a Daft Punk concert.

I say the band is not touring

but it's a big offer,
so I'll talk to them.

Coachella 2006 was a big risk.

The band
is going through a rough patch.

People think they are
outdated and maybe uncool,

that they didn't reinvent themselves
with Human After All,

which is essential

when you are a major band
of the electronic scene.

They are almost over.

They call me back
a few hours or days later

to ask me to say
they might be interested.

I go to the rehearsal studio
ten days before Coachella.

I see everything, the set-up,
the pyramid, the LEDs...

Now everyone uses LEDs,
even nightclubs.

But back then,

to cover the pyramid with LEDs,
we had to go through

all the suppliers in the USA.
It was no easy task.

Thomas and Guy-Man

ask me to sit down while
they play me what they have prepared.

It was just the audio part.

They don't let me see
the pyramid yet.

It's a mix of their three albums
and it's amazing.

It's Daft Punk's turn to go on
and we're backstage with them.

We're dressing the duo,
checking the last details.

The tent gets so packed
it's overflowing with people.

We realise
Daft Punk's return is awaited.

We start to get the numbers.

There's 40,000 people
when the tent can only host 10,000.

Everyone took out their phones.

It was the time people started
filming with cell phones

and the beginning of YouTube.

It was crazy.

Everybody was so stunned
by the power of the show

that they filmed it
and posted it on YouTube.

I'm not ashamed
to admit I cried.

I was moved by the show
and people's incredible reaction.

It was completely unreal.

A spaceship had landed
in the middle of the desert

and there's 40,000 of us happy,
stunned by the light and sound.

The pyramid was
the start of a gigantic tour

and of a movement
in the United States

called Electronic Dance Music.

The starting point
was the pyramid at Coachella.

A whole generation of musicians
was in the audience.

They discovered it
and they were blown away.

Bass players, drummers,

all those musicians are
part of the history of music.

They are the rhythm sections

of Quincy Jones,
George Benson, Michael Jackson.

It's not easy to sum up
as just a studio musician's thing.

The dream of house music was

to revive the spirit
of dance and disco

which no longer existed.

I think that with Tron,

they got to be students again,
people who wanted to learn.

And God knows how hard
it was for them.

They'd built Daft Punk not to have
to answer to anyone and yet

they're ready to take orders from
one of the largest corporations.

It was like
walking into the lion's den.

When I met Thomas,
I was 12 or 13.

Phantom of the Paradise was
the film that covered it all.

It was like a Warhol trip,

not just the music,
but the film, the cover design.

This film had it all.

I wanted a mix of the two
to forget that they are robots.

I think that works well.

They didn't take their helmets off,
not for a second.

That obviously created
a surrealist atmosphere.

We expected them to take
their helmets off between shots.

But they didn't.
That was very powerful.

I imagine it hasn't always been
easy for them to work together.

There are a lot of pitfalls
in a career like that.

Some people may even
have issues with their ego.

But those two always tried
to stay on the right path,

almost like
a model of human behaviour.

That's very rare.

I've been working
in music for 30 years

and less successful people
don't even say hello.

But not them. They pay
the same attention

whether talking
to a nightclub bouncer

or to the boss
of a record company.

To keep these qualities
throughout your life,

you have
to win battles with yourself.

Subtitles: Manon Typret