Mai, the Psychic Girl is an abandoned Tim Burton project that doesn’t have much legs in terms of cultural memory. For fans of the band Sparks, however, the film marks the beginning of the peculiar pop duo’s almost tragic relationship with cinema. Both this manga adaptation with Burton — and a film with the legendary Jacques Tati — would never be completed. The Mael Brothers (who front the band) have not been quiet in their desire to create a film. Their passion for the medium was assured further in 2009 with the release of their radio play The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, which centres around a fictional visit to Hollywood by the iconic auteur in the mid-1950s. They reaffirm this passion for cinema in Edgar Wright’s new documentary on the pair, The Sparks Brothers. And so finally, in 2021, Sparks have had their hand in not just one but two films. As well as featuring in a documentary for Wright, the pair are hot off of the red carpet in Cannes where their role in the writing of another feature this year mamahed to pick up the award for best direction. And so despite all of the heartache and reluctant patience, the director they chose to make their first film with to be the perfect match for their talents.
Leos Carax’s Annette, which recently premiered at the Cannes film festival, is a reworked version of an abandoned Sparks album. Starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, the film focuses on the relationship between a stand-up comedian and a popstar, whose strange daughter will have an unbelievable destiny. Sparks reworked the songs from the lost album into a musical, after a suggestion from Carax, who acted as their key collaborator.
Carax is no stranger to the festival, and is a director who is esteemed for creating wildly energetic films that are often abstract in their plot yet with recognisable social commentary in their message. Sparks themselves are no stranger to abstraction in both their lyricism and musical style — which has evolved as their career has progressed. The band, who formed in early 1970s, have produced 25 studio albums working with such disparate figures as Giorgio Moroder and Faith No More. The band pride themselves on writing narrative yet slightly wacky songs, some so narratively inclined they have a hint of the show tune about them. Aside from their radio play, the album that appears to be the closest to the style of song we have heard from the Annette soundtrack is their 2002 release Lil’ Beethoven.
Lil’ Beethoven was somewhat of a departure for the band. Throughout the two decades before the album, they had been defined by an electronic sound very much inspired by their time working with Moroder. Lil’ Beethoven saw them move away from synthesisers, delivering a new orchestral sound that – paired with the use of choir-like choruses — evoked the sound of a show tune. Songs such as “The Rhythm Thief” and “Your Call Is Very Important To Us” particularly feel close in style to the first single released from the Annette soundtrack — “So May We Start?” with its repetitive phrasing and harmonies. However, songs such as “Suburban Homeboy” and “Ugly Guys and Beautiful Girls” bring to light a different side to Sparks’ show tune-esque writing, with the lyrics threading through a clear sense of narrative and character — something they bring to the majority of their pop singles — yet with this new orchestral sound we cannot help but be reminded of classic musical numbers.
Lil’ Beethoven is an essential listen as a primer for Annette, nevertheless this seemingly perfect pairing is of two halves. Carax has proven to be excellent in his use of both pop music and pop stars in the past. His 2012 film Holy Motors surprisingly featured the dazzlingly brilliant Kylie Minogue as one of the guests in Denis Lavant’s crazy taxi. Minogue played the role with subtlety and melodrama, she is of course no stranger to the small screen. However Carax manages to make her presence on the big screen feel huge — almost like a classic Hollywood star. In his second feature film Mauvais Sang, he famously evokes a remarkable physical performance from (again) Lavant to David Bowie’s “Modern Love”. The film, believed to be an allegory for the treatment of AIDS sufferers in Ronald Reagan’s America seems to climax at this moment, with Lavant’s powerful release of energy seeming to channel the pop music directly into his soul. Though the film is not a musical, this moment feels straight out of one, a moment in which music embodies a character and takes over their being — their actions defined by song and nothing else. Carax’s work is also defined by its over the top nature, something Sparks are no stranger to. Much was made of Lavant’s crazed performance in Holy Motors, a role that seemed to fit into some narratives from the film, and burst out of others creating chaos from a seemingly naturalistic scene, similarly to the way in which Sparks often contort their songs giving their melodramatic narratives a dark or twisted edge. Carax clearly understands the narrative power of pop music, and knows how to channel its energy into his characters in order to blend surreality into his work.
Thanks to Carax, we finally get to see what a Sparks movie will look like on the big screen, and it is hard to imagine a better match for them. Both defined by their reluctance to be pinned down to a specific style, and their commitment to the strange and unexpected, one thing we know is that Annette will be a journey, one that I cannot wait to take.
