I’m thinking of a scene in Ghostbusters: Mos Def plays Peter Venkman and Jack Black plays everyone else. Some ghosts haunt a library and they go to investigate. Books float, cards shoot out of their drawers and Mos Def is slimed. No, this isn’t Ghostbusters 3. It happens to be a “sweded” version of the original Ghostbusters. In Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind, buffoons Mike and Jerry (Played by Mos Def and Black respectively) manage to erase the entire VHS collection of Mr. Fletcher’s (Danny Glover) video rental store. Before he returns they decide to remake all the movies equipped with only a VHS camera and Michel Gondry’s whimsy. Be Kind Rewind is a love letter to classic Hollywood filmmaking. It celebrates the magnetism of movies and their ability to draw people and their imaginations together.
In a typical Gondry flourish, the camera transports us through a series of sweded classics such as King Kong, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Men in Black in one Rube Goldberg-esque take. None of their versions resemble the original in any way. That’s OK though because Gondry was careful to choose iconic scenes that trigger the nostalgia neurons.
It is only a matter of time before modern Hollywood rears its capitalist head. (Played by Sigourney Weaver.) And after some legal jargon and hollow empathy, she flattens our nostalgia trip. The business forgets that cinema is more than just making a quick buck. It’s about inventing a 3D space and framing it in such a way that it is appealing or mysterious. It’s about the actor and the director working harmoniously. The amount of light you capture. Happy accidents. And the audience. None of these elements are lost like tears in rain. They are encapsulated in our culture – immortalized – and passed on through the generations. That’s the draw of this film. That cinematic nostalgia serves as an anchor to the film’s “tradition vs. modernism” themes.
Proof of this is apparent in the third act when Mike and Jerry decide to fire back at Hollywood with their own original movie. This time, the entire Passaic community is part of the film production. They choose to make a imaginative documentary about Fats Waller, a famous Jazz pianist who is a source of pride. Gondry turns cinema into literal nostalgia. It’s a movie lover’s movie.
The Rec Room 