belle de jour. factory mov here. (via promo)
         

Cheers Prog mov's much better compression than the asf file i got in my mailing

Juxtapositioning apart, the further intricateness ov the storyline make me scratch my 'ead Still its cool

         

Usually Sophie Muller's stuff seems so original and with an identity all of its own. Strange and a bit disappointing to see her slavishly referencing a film - a trick that's the mainstay of many lesser directors. The Belle de Jour copying, from the close up tracking shot of feet on stairs, the YSL black coats and dresses, even the Pierre Clémenti look-a-like casting is a bit lame for her.

         

www.factoryfilms.net for the direct link.

         

Sorry oyster mate I venture to suggest most punters ain't neva heard a'Belle de jour, have little more than a hazy notion ov Catherine Deneuve's acting abilities or are aware Luis Buñuel is a Spanish director (they'd probably confuse him with the 19th century engineer Isambard Kingdom) Even less likely is it that they would be aware that the film is based on the 1928 novel of Joseph Kessel But u can bet such info is now like a rash all over the net because ov this clip! In fact precisely where I got mine n how is that a bad thing?

         

Ohh - I didn't get the Buñuel reference till you mention it, just made the video so much better. Surely great directors have done great rip offs of great films before, a list anyone?

         

referencing a feature film is a good way of communicating an idea to a large group of people quickly which is pretty much essential in the fast moving world of music video though anything obscure can fly over band/labels heads

not the first time ms muller has gone down this route as she did a video for sophie ellis-bextor that referenced nick roeg's classic 'don't look now' at the end of last year and wasn't their something for gwen stephanie last year that had her play both leads that reminded me of something kitcsh and wonderful like doris day?

i really like this: a cool, sexy video that makes the artist look more desirable than i've seen her before as well as having a charmingly off key vibe.

good work all round

         

"referencing a feature film is a good way of communicating an idea to a large group of people quickly"

What idea? It's plundering a respected film for it's imagery.

And in answer to robodrug "I venture to suggest most punters ain't neva heard a'Belle de jour", I'm sure that's true but it makes the practise all the more pernicious. By choosing a 40yr old art movie - known and loved by cinéastes but unfamiliar to MTV viewers - directors somehow feel licence to plagiarise scenes, shots and styling in a wholesale fashion.

Pastiche is one thing, 'homage' is another again. This video is an example of lazy theft.

I say this as a fan of Sophie Muller's work and as I said originally it's particularly disappointing that she should do this when she's capable of authoring very original and irreducible imagery and narratives.

         

Or you could kick the film in the throat.

Okay, maybe not.

         

Opps! ’ seem to have got caught on two fronts
Chuh! What the hell woz I thinking walking into Poland!

prairie I tolerate it with less question but u certainly argue with passion n u've half convinced me, but will I be watching this voraciously in four week's time? Probably not Nice bit ov bowling there Kev!

         

If I may venture on that road I'd just say that rip off or not (and it is more than obviously one) it's one of the lamest Garbage video to date... not to mention the song.

         

Yeah as a first video it's kind of anticlimactic, if nicely done. It'd be nice to get Shadforth or Sednaoui out of hiding to lens a Garbage vid.

         

agreed, or even Don Cameron.

         

"Or you could kick the film in the throat"

Mmmm... I'm not sure what point you're making there kev'. There's thousands of examples of films being shamelessly copied shot for shot by music video makers. It doesn't change my view that it's a tedious and reprehensible practise. Generally speaking the bigger the artist and budget the more obvious the choice of films that get ripped off - invariably with ridiculous consequences.
Try these for size; <a href=uk.youtube.com>clicky 1, <a href=uk.youtube.com>clicky 2

         

Previously on U2b: Stephan Würnitzer's remake of Nicholas Ray's "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) for Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush" (1991) starring Keanu Reeves.

         

praire_oysters - "referencing a feature film is a good way of communicating an idea to a large group of people quickly" - i was referring to the amount of people at a record company that needs to ok a video before it gets made ie referencing a feature film and cutting a load of images together to the track is an easy way to get a lot of busy people to 'get' the idea for the video and therefore make it easy to commission.

i still think this looks great and its not a shot for shot copy - where is the crazy japanese guy with the insects in a box? - and the chicken ripping is lifted from Repulsion not Belle De Jour.

         

"japanese guy with the insects in a box"

Considering the viewer never sees what's in his box I think that says more about you ;-)

Ms Muller is fairly notorious for never writing treatments so I think what we have here is a cut & dried exercise in counterfeiting.

         

prairie_oysters - good point well made as i lead a louche and despicable lifestyle.

did the box inspire tarantino in pulp fiction?

you are right about sophie and treatments but they do need to jot something down for the contracts and when you've been doing it as long as she has freestyling on a simple concept can really work

time for bed...