Daft Punk Romance Mannequins In “Instant Crush” Video

Daft Punk uploaded a picture of what appeared to be a wax figure of Julian Casablancas wearing an old French soldier uniform onto their Facebook. The uploaded picture came with no explanation as to why. The motivation behind this? It was a teaser for Daft Punk’s newest video: Instant Crush. The song is a cut off of their highly successful and critically acclaimed album, Random Access Memories. Both the song and video feature the lead member of The Strokes, Julian Casablancas. The video does a great job at grabbing your attention from the start. The first thing to notice is that the video is shown in a 4:3 aspect ratio (as opposed to the 16:9 ratio which has been the standard aspect ratio for music videos since the 90’s) and appears to be shot on film. The video tells a tragic love story between two museum mannequins. A French soldier mannequin is modeled after Julian’s facial features. Toward the video’s emotional end the two mannequins are separated only to be reunited and melt into each other as a storage warehouse facility burns to the ground.

Daft Punk Helmets Make A Cameo

The video echoes Daft Punk’s recurring thematic concept of an odyssey through nostalgia which was introduced on Random Access Memories. Julian’s mannequin, as well as his mannequin lover, get asked to make way for tomorrow as their museum moves in more astronaut exhibits.  Memory is the only way to keep things alive once they’ve been lost forever – a pretty emotional subject for a video starring two mannequins. Instant Crush was directed by Warren Fu and produced by Daft Arts. It was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” and the TV show “The Twilight Zone.” Casablancas’ face was designed by Tony Gardner, who also designed the famous Daft Punk helmets.