spreech, 19. January 2007, 20:42
Robbie Williams (produced by the pet shop boys) "She's Madonna" Dir: Johan Renck

YouTube
Windows or Real
         
dir. johan renck. (and with more than a nod to his own classic...)
         
wow, great song and video!!

whoda thought? I mean it's not some kind of masterpiece but the whole thing feels very original.

as the u2bers said, a US pop star would never do this....
         
that was an awesome video. the song is predictable stuff, but the video has "balls"
         
I haven't checked, but I'm guessing Downloading Nancy (his first feature) has long-since finished production. This is a great vid, I really think he does remarkable work. As usual, here's the Q&A I got to do.
         
I enjoy Renck's stuff but I'm kinda exhausted with this tendency of mixing drag queen themes with dark-green visuals. It's just boring. But yeah, Robbie with glitter nails, that's European.
         
I'm mixed as to how much this is a nod to Pass This On. The purpose for the drag, here, is to cover your real self up, while in Pass This On it's to express yourself. This seems to be a piss-take on Madonna and Robbie's superficiality, while Pass This On is more about self-acceptance and self-expression of something deeply personal.

The elements are quite similar, but the directorial reason for those elements is quite different.

And I agree, this isn't a masterpiece, but it's still a ballsy and nicely-crafted vid.
         
although it didn't grab me at first view, i am an incredibly huge fan of renck's work and quite enjoy the notion that he could be creating a loose trilogy of drag/trans-themed videos. he seems to make these interesting pockets of work that thread together and i'm curious to see what comes next.

the interview segments in this particular video remind of akerlund's fantastic metallica video. another loose thread among the work at RAF?

p.s. why doesn't that metallica video have an entry here?! locating a quicktime...
         
Right, good call. That's an Åkerlund classic.
         
Kev, re: Downloading Nancy...production has been postponed like three times and seems to finally be beginning on January 31st in Regina, Canada. Or so the IMDB boards tell me. I wish this damn thing would happen already!
         
Ack! That's awful! To have Johan just sitting there not making stuff - a feature, even - is sad.
         
Watched a bit of Turn the Page - Åkerlund should have been one of those recent four Directors Label DVDs, hands down. His mark on music video really has been quite large.
         
I totally agree.
         
I posted it cause I think it is a firework of popreference, an unillusionary piece of pop which I like. (I actually love rudebox even though I never was as close to Mr Williams)
If somebody has a mov please let us know ...
         
Robbie/Renck beam mov
         
Robbie/Renck is up at at RAF
         
raf.se
         
I can't tell you how much I love Johan Renck's videos. Pass This On is one of my top ten of all time without a doubt. It sounds wanky, but just dissecting the way he blocks the action he films and the selects in the edit... the rhythm of the cuts... he is just class, class, class. Of course it helps that the photography is always first rate. He has created a great film style.

This video is no exception. It's an inspiration. As for it's similarities to Pass This On? All great directors/auteurs have their own themes/obsessions.

It intrigues me when he works with Robbie Williams- an artist that has made two of my least favourite songs of all time- 'Rock DJ' and 'Rudebox'... I guess if anyone can make Robbie palatable for me...

Trippin' was obviously brilliant too. Apart from the talking baby which reminded me of those insurance ads.