Daft Punk's Electroma review

French dance music superstars Daft Punk have a history of bizarre and arresting images to go with their music: their first major British hit Da Funk had an accompanying video in which a perfectly ordinary man went about his business burdened by a canine rather than a human head. In recent year's the duo's notoriety has increased: not just as the hits continue, but as they have mysteriously taken on robot personas, with live shows consisting of the two of them encased in shiny steel helmets.

Having attracted some of the world's coolest filmmakers to direct their previous videos (Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry to name but two), Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have opted to control the reins for their first full-length feature, and they have made a mesmerising job of it. Daft Punk's Electroma may not make sense but it's certainly a lot of fun - in a very strange way.

The band's robot characters appear on earth and drive through an empty desert in opening scenes reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. They enter a town - also strangely populated by 'normal' robots who go about their daily routine encased in similar headgear. The two robots go to a lab where they attempt to mould human features on to their helmets, but after a small period of success, the sun melts their new prosthetics. Finally the duo leave the town for a long march through the desert. All of this happens without any dialogue.

Daft Punk's Electroma may not be for everyone. It may not even be for Daft Punk fans, given that very little if any of the band's original music is used. Instead they have selected a variety of composers from Brian Eno to Curtis Mayfield to create an ambient soundtrack. But those with a little patience and flair for something radically different could well find this absorbing, seminal and uplifting.

There is no denying the weirdness of the whole project, but it's a beautiful weirdness which has moments that strongly recall the films of Antonioni (notably Zabriskie Point and The Passenger). Possibly the year's most out-there release, but definitely one of the most memorable. The film is currently on tour at selected cinemas throughout the UK and will be released on DVD in September.

Paul Hurley