Be Kind Rewind
Directed by Michel Gondry
- drama
- comedy
The story
A man whose brain becomes magnetized unintentionally destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, the two men set out to remake the lost films.
What it’s like
Warm, scruffy and handmade, with the look of a shabby New Jersey neighbourhood in summer: sun-faded storefronts, cluttered shop interiors lit by soft daylight and the cool blue glow of old TVs, and a loving, low-budget texture that embraces its own homemade seams. Gondry's camera drifts through fluorescent aisles of VHS boxes and then cuts to the cheap, inventive remakes, with paper sets, cardboard props, and rough hand-cranked effects that feel like a kid's backyard movie made with grown-up tenderness. The score is bouncy and percussive, lightly funky, with a few sincere pauses where the room goes quiet. The vibe is cosy, goofy and bittersweet, the sort of afternoon you'd spend on the couch with a bowl of popcorn on a lazy weekend. Pacing is loose and playful, and the emotional arc follows two unlikely friends who discover pride and purpose in a community they nearly lost. Violence is absent; the mishaps are slapstick and mild, with no gore, no sexual content, and no real menace. It suits people who want gentle, funny, big-hearted comfort, and anyone who loves film, neighbourhood stories, and the messy charm of creative fumbling.
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