The musician Beck claimed that his decision to collaborate with the director Michel Gondry (in 1997, on the music video “Deadweight”) was based on a brief taste of the French director’s work: a clever little amuse-bouche of a movie in which someone’s feet appear to follow a pair of empty shoes around the yard. Filmed in reverse and requiring nothing more than two lengths of fishing line, this charming illusion is a relatively easy one to pull off. It may be a stretch to call the clip an allegory (who’s following whom?) of the creative teamwork that has defined the 43-year-old filmmaker’s career, but it is certainly the perfect calling card for Mr. Gondry: witty, naïve, a few baby steps on the safe side of precious.