Michel Gondry’s American Airlines Commercials

gondry spacey

Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) recently directed a series of television commercials for American Airlines starring Kevin Spacey. The spots which are promoting the airline’s business class service feature actual planes instead of the expected cardboard and masking tape created sets.

Actually, all three spots are surprisingly generic. And by generic, I mean, like normal advertisements for an airline, and not something you’d expect from Gondry. Which says more about the business of making commercials than anything else. Check out all three commercials after the jump. And of course, I’m kidding — I didn’t actually expect sets made out of cardboard.




  • It's all about the piano...
  • Boxoffice Marco
    Awesome!
  • jason B
    very unremarkable, and a missed opportunity to do something different. in fact, i love spacey & gondry but these come off as slightly pompous.
  • Brian
    What the hell man it's a commercial for crying out loud it's a 20 or 40 second spot for TV...since when are TV spots supposed to be life-changing iconic masterpieces?
  • Infrafan
    I know. Everyone thinks they're Orson Wells. Guy's gotta eat.
  • Sho'Nuff
    and eat a lot before he's Orson Wells...
  • You haven't heard of Joe Sedelmaier, have you?
  • Mike73
    I have heard that there is another upcoming hollywodd director producing for an european airline...seems to be a trend...its all about the finance crisis...
  • Meh, they were decent. They could have been a 1000 times better if they ended with Spacey saying, "I am Kaiser Soshei!"
  • spike jonze would've insisted on cardboard sets! :D
  • boring.....talk about doing it for the $
  • This may finance something great from Gondry, and is Spacey doing work at the Old Vic?
  • Infrafan
    Way to dumb down a great director, Peter. But of course, you were joking, right?
  • he did it for the money, not for art.
  • Infrafan
    You're comment isn't really a reply. More like you just walked in and said something. Regardless, how do you think he makes money making the kind of movies he does? All can't be Michael Bay.
  • oh right, YOU walked in and said something unrelevant, too. My bad.
  • Infrafan
    Never claimed it was a reply though.
  • So.
    Spacey has been Artistic Director at the Old Vic for several years now. This is his first on screen commercial. He probably just did this for his theater: AA is a sponsor of the Old Vic's "The Bridge Project", apart from having it also appear in one of the spots.
  • The Business Class Experience. Because our Coach class is hell.
  • kpong
    I found the first ad to have a little cut of Gondry's previous works to it. The framing as well as the using the human as more than a subject but as a segue shows this off a wee bit -- as well as telling a little bit of a story.

    The other two -- eh... not so much.
  • Booooooooooooooooooooooooooring. Gondry's done an amazing levi's commercial. So I know he can do it. Whatever to defenders, he can do better.
  • Nick
    I remember Gondry saying in an interview after doing the George Clooney coffee ad, that he was no longer going to put any kind of personal expression in his commercials because it wasn't worth it. He said something to the effect of people steal from him and his concepts don't get approval anyway, so now he just does them for money and nothing else.

    I think they definitely look like his work (specifically Eternal Sunshine), and it's shot and cut very well. A lot of what I love about that movie is the quieter scenes without many effects, and the gorgeuos cinematography by Ellen Kuras.
  • it make me wonder why companies like AA would waste the extra money to hire a director like Gondry if they aren't going to use his artistry. They might as well just hire a good DP and a cheap director and get the same result for less money.
  • freemachine
    The series of animated United Airlines commercials a few years back were really impressive, and blow this mediocre crap away.
    [youtube B9vWCKlseus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9vWCKlseus youtube]
  • Kevin Spacey bores me just looking at him....just saying. I cant say I like any movie that guy has done. KPAX? remember that. How is that guy a movie star...he looks like the dude down at any bowling alley you go too...the one behind the show counter....ya you know the guy.
  • Brian
    American Beauty?
    The Usual Suspects?
    Seven?

    You don't like any of those?
    He might look like the guy behind the counter at a bowling ally, but he's turned in some amazing performances.
  • Peter
    Well I mean he's definitely using this to fund something else. Even Gondry admitted that commercials are bad and he doesn't like them.
  • Didn't Gondry invent bullet time for a friggen GAP commercial? Who says commercial can't be artistic? I think they are more artistic than the shows between them nowadays.
  • fatface
    I wish Spacey did his bitchy gay an thing in these. Booooooooooring.
  • well at least some companies like having fun with their adds,
    his work for Motorola is as fun as can be!

    [youtube HIT90tk_71c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIT90tk_71c youtube]
  • frank vonier
    it is all about money....seems to be a trend famous directors for airlines...
  • pretty lame - just cashing a check, there
  • Simon
    what is the name of the song and who is the artist? 1st class commercial, awesome.
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