Pitchfork

Most pop stars make the transition from music to motion pictures by scoring a flashy supporting role in a semi-reputable film, or a headlining spot in a goofy direct-to-video with Gary Busey. Daft Punk, however, are pulling a run-around by directing and acting in their own movie (although given that the familiar "Daft Punk robots" are the stars of the film, it could just as well be anybody under those helmets instead of Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter.)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film, Daft Punk's Electroma, is "a psychedelic musical and visual odyssey that follows the fate of two robots in their quest to become human." It's the pair's debut as directors, though they did collaborate with Japanese director Leiji Matsumoto on the 2003 animated film Interstella 5555.

Electroma is screening as part of the Directors Fortnight, a "sidebar" to the Cannes Film Festival, and runs through May 28. Though the Director's Fortnight is not an official screening series at Cannes, it is respectfully acknowledged by the festival and is widely regarded as having the most radical selections. Hence their showing of a movie containing two French pop stars playing robots with Pinocchio complexes.

Daft Punk's MySpace page has posted a few stills from the production, and many more alleging to be from the movie have started appearing on numerous websites. The film's aesthetic seems to combine sterile THX-1138 imagery with desolate highway shots for an overall vibe that looks like The Man Who Fell to Earth-meets-Robotron.

In another step towards their goal of becoming the French disco version of Kiss (everyone remembers 1978's Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, right?), Daft Punk recently became immortalized as action figures. The figures, produced in the 12" G.I. Joe scale and adorned in highly detailed faux-leather outfits, are manufactured in limited edition quantities by Medicom of Japan. Medicom is a relatively "high end," collector-friendly company which has previously manufactured pint-sized versions of Andy Warhol, Sid Vicious, and Johnny Rotten for the Japanese market. There are no plans for a domestic release of the foot-tall wonder twins, so importing the Daft dolls runs about $250 for the pair. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. Costlier.

Those who prefer their music made by humans and not toys have only a handful of festival dates to look forward to from the robots-in-disguise, and, alas, they're all in Europe. Daft Punk's recent Coachella appearance, their first U.S. date in eight years, seems to have been so awesome, people in attendance saw God. We're still crying about missing it. See, you robots? Being human isn't that great after all.

Tears are for suckers:

06-30 Belfort, France - Les Eurockeennes de Belfort
07-14 Barcelona, Spain - Summercase Festival
07-15 Madrid, Spain - Summercase Festival
07-28 Stratford, England - Global Gathering
08-12 Tokyo, Japan - Summer Sonic
08-13 Osaka, Japan - Summer Sonic
08-19 Hasselt-Kiewit, Belgium - Pukkelpop