Story Details Kind of Confirmed for Michel Gondry's 'The We & The I'

Source: The Playlist

by Ethan Anderton

We've been hearing about Michel Gondry's gestating project The We & The I since March of 2010, and now The Playlist has learned the project is already shooting and they've confirmed the story details. Previously, Gondry had said the project would follow a group of kids on a school bus and would be about "the group effect, how people in groups transform when the group is dislocated."At the time, Gondry said the project wouldn't really bend any genres like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and would use real kids from the Bronx. However, the  story details seem to contradict one of those points.

Talking to Gondry's representatives, it has been revealed that the story actually deals with a group of school kids who travel into the future by mistake and discover a machine that keeps people younger. Interestingly enough, this same information was revealed when Gondry talked about a project with Ellen Page last year. At the time Gondry said she would play Nancy, a young woman who participates in the discovery and changes the world. It's not clear if Page is involved, or if that character is still part of the story, but there's a catch with the confirmed details anyway. Gondry's reps say the details are accurate "for now."

Knowing Gondry I wouldn't be surprised if the story is changing all the time or being made up as they go along, and that just has me more interested in the project. Honestly, since Gondry said this project was born out of development on his book You'll Like This Film Because You're In It. Gondry explained "When I wrote this book, I always wrote 'I did this,' or 'we did that,' and my publisher said 'we have to do something for the we and the I.'" So I wouldn't be surprised if the group of people working on this project are developing the story as they go along. All I know is a low key project like this with a sci-fi angle is right up Gondry's alley and I can't wait to see what he brings to the table and likely the film festival circuit next year.