The revelation came from actress Elodie Bouchez, wife of Thomas Bangalter, in March, in Le Monde: "We mustn't forget that he got into music because he was rejected from l’Ecole Louis-Lumière." For someone whose ambitions as a filmmaker seemed to have been thwarted, Bangalter has done pretty well. In 2011, he directed S/S 2012, a short advertising film for clothing brand Co, starring his then-girlfriend. One has to conclude his time as one half of Daft Punk, an entity of both sound and images, had a hand in his success in this sphere.

"Daft Punk is a global project, and we see ourselves more as producers than musicians," said Bangalter, again in Le Monde, in March 2001. Of the duo's four studio albums, Random Access Memories is the one that most closely resembles a film project: a musical blockbuster with a mostly American but diverse cast, with Daft Punk tasked with the script, direction and editing.

Their longterm strategy of concealing themselves from the public eye is reflected in the fact that they took back seat when it came to acting in the project. The lead roles went to Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams, also associated as guitarist and singer. There were two 1970s throwbacks: composer Paul Williams and Italian disco producer Giorgio Moroder. The more contemporary figures of Julian Casablancas, the voice of the Strokes, and Panda Bear (Animal Collective) embodied the revival of punk-rock and psychedelia. Daft Punk did not cut itself off from its electronic roots either, as two house DJs, Todd Edwards and Frenchman Falcon, completed the line-up.

When they met in 1986, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Bangalter were 12 and 11 years old respectively. Their friendship was forged by a period of initiation. These insatiable film and record consumers would meet up in the cinemas of the Quartier Latin, in the library of the Centre Pompidou or at home in front of a VCR. Bangalter revered two filmmakers who composed the music for their films, which is rare: Charlie Chaplin and John Carpenter, one lyrical, the other terrifying. His fascination turned to North American creators – Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg and Gus Van Sant. Towards the directors of New Hollywood, the underground aesthetics of Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey, or the low-budget erotic films of Russ Meyer. Towards the fantastic and the strange.

"I remember discussing music more with Guy-Manuel and cinema with Thomas," said guitarist Laurent Brancowitz, who played with them in Darlin' before joining Phoenix. "They were the same as today: Thomas was already obsessed with the idea of creative independence, with the conviction that the mainstream world was out to destroy us; Guy-Manuel was less rational and more shy, sensitive and very visual." This description seems to be confirmed by their orientation after graduation: Bangalter studied linguistics, sociology and ethnology at Nanterre, while Homem-Christo turned to the visual arts. He designed the Daft Punk logo, whose jagged lettering was inspired by the poster for Michael Mann's first film, Thief (1981).

You have 83.25% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.