Kanye West & Jay-Z - No Church in the Wild (Dir. Romain Gravas)
really comes together around the 4 minute mark.
If there isn't going to be any story or theme or anything, what's the difference between this and just cutting together a bunch of existing random revolution footage?
Outside of the elephant, very ho-hum.
wish there were more elephants.
visually amazing but conceptually yawning. We've seen riot videos before.
Romain's best work has really unique concepts with excellent execution.
also @ vimeo.com
reminded me of this and that. not my favourite from him but awesome job all the same.
Amazed by the cinematography and the stage.
- is it the DoP who worked on the Born to die music video ? > the moving shadows of the status.
Just one CON : Did SOMESUCH & CO directors watch to much national geographic documentaries or Disney movies ? Yoann Lemoine used animals. And now, Romain Gravas start using animals. I like metaphors and allegories but the elephant is useless here. (except to say we have enough money to use one). The baroque Statue are more eloquent. But BRILLIANT VIDEO !
Sound and fury, signifying nothing? It could have been very effective with an actual message, but instead it's just as substantial as your average hollywood action sequence. The only message I could take away was that human conflict is never ending (As seen by the statues, who are frozen in time / have seen much..) Nevertheless, it's a good video.
Riot Porn.
Dope track, trademark Gavras intensity. Storyline meh. Surprised NOT to see Kanye in his own video.
Best Gavras video yet to me.
found it boring
went to rallies myself, yet nobody would riot in slow motion its so vain and vapid and useless and dishonest, like urban outfitters using riot footage to sell you shoes. but what can one expect from a rich kid making videos for super rich pop stars
ps shot in eastern europe, id venture a guess thats either bucharest or prague
^ i'm not comparing it, this just reminded me of it. i prefer false flags and that faithless one too
Pretty cool, anyone know what camera it was shot on?
Tisk! Tisk! Looks like Gravas raided my mate John Harris' portfolio for his treatment
I concur with legion, been in a few meself
@robodrug - whose streets/ our streets (obviously, not gavras')
Some of the criticism here is a bit overboard... I think this is a mature Gavras video. I thought the first 4 minutes were a bit okay seen this, seen that, but somehow the last minute just lifted off and took the whole piece to a different level and all of the aesthetic and style just made sense and came together very nicely... Great pacing/cinematography/direction/choreography.
Nice cinematography, but it's just 4 straight minutes of b-roll footage. No direction, no pacing, no dynamics. It was like a doc-style version of Run This Town, minus performance.
Well maybe it's just me, but I'm glad there's no story or morality to it. To me, the video is a well executed allegory and the pacing works just fine even tho I'm usually turned off by too much slow motion.
its the animal farm with a 2k12 aesthetic, but its soulless. portrays rioting as fashionable and it lacks the grit, the grip on you
I've loved Gavras' work before (Stress, his Adidas campaign), but this felt so insulting to me. Great comments above, describing the soulless experience of watching it. Sure, great production, stunts, photography, etc... but the reason we're watching it and the intentions behind it are a little too 'iRevolution'.
You guys are dense. The story is obvious to the point of hitting you over the head and you can't get it. A bunch of random shots? Really? Maybe you haven't read a newspaper in three years.
fungy, the video feels "random" to me like it's just a bunch of stock riot shots (albeit, nicely photographed) thrown together in a big montage. There's no progression, no arc, no dynamics. i'm not even asking for a proper "story" or anything, just give me a reason to care. it's as if the video is saying, "look- riot footage! that must mean something, right?"
@budget I feel a clear progression in the video, day > night, fire > flares > fireworks > lasers... the locations, street > main historical square, dog > horse > elephant, etc.. There is a very strong visual progression, and it feels satisfactory to me. Yes it's a more minimalistic approach than the hypothetical story of a guy getting ready in the morning to join up with his riot buddies, get into a fight with the police, and get arrested, etc.. but there's still a very deliberate and measured pacing in the video that to me works perfectly fine. I'd like to compare this to Yoann LeMoine's videos which also have great cinematography and visual allegories but which for the most part lack the punch, guts, and strong subject matters that Gavras explores.
^ strong subject matters that gavras exploits, you mean. pretty sure gavras has experienced "the revolution" via twitter and youtube, hence the lack of empathy and real-feel
and i wouldnt use the word minimalistic when discussing this elepha a mmmmmean mammoth of a video
My main emotion when watching this was 'ooh, doesn't that look lovely', but hey I'd still chew off my right arm to execute something as goddam gangsta as this though. Balls-out loveliness.
@fungi Don't get carried away reading current political turmoil into what isn't there! This is an adept 'n proficient commodity, packaged for the bourgeois mass market ' think it's highly dubious that Gavras, could or would have the ability to tear himself away from his budget backers to make an outright political statement! That's not to doubt his portrayal extrudes no sympathy or his skill are deficient in making such pastiches of urban strife! His hodgepodge of Irish republican resistance in Born Free is a prime example of skill! However, allegorically reading the "Occupy Movement" or the Greek and Romanian experience into this, does no one any favours!
gavras' revolution serves for decoration purposes only. the revolution seen through the eyes of a merchant
"The job of the artist is to make revolution seem like the attractive option."
gavras does lemoine, jumps shark elephant.
the revolution will not be youtubed.
Mus' say brigs I like Miller's link to those Hackney riot shots :)
Well we're all talking about the video. So whether you like it or not, he struck a cord. I don't think anyone should think this is a realistic portrayal of a riot, or whatever statement he's trying to make.. It's just a great looking video with a strong theme. Just like it says on his wiki "His films and music videos often portray a gritty and realistic setting juxtaposed with flashy high energy content."
Agree with other comment: video starts really rolling at 4 mins.
The video did get going at 4, but overall this one's a dud.
I liked that vice article.
nice shots, great production, a solid clip...but in comparison to his other videos not that exciting.
"Well, this feels very weird. The video was shot in Prague on Narodni trida, which is the birthplace of the Velvet Revolution which got rid of the communist regime. This a a place where, in 1989 s line of similarly tough secret police unit stood against protesting students. There is one major difference - the protesting students held candles and flowers, not Molotov cocktails. This very place is our national symbol of non-violent protest. This juxtaposition does feel like a bit of an insult. freemanka 20 minutes ago 10 "
le: have to admit, killer track
Wrote this about Gavras' MIA Born Free video. It applies word for word here. If he's not careful Gavras will quickly become the Michael Bay of music videos:
This is well shot and directed but aspires to be more than it is. Don't get me wrong, it's a bold attempt to lift the genre and the technical skills on display are impressive. The problem I have is that the narrative touches on so much and yet it has no argument, stance, or even meaning.
It's just empty daringness for the YouTube crowd to glom onto and that's unfortunate because, in this, Gavras skimmed brilliance. This hurts more than watching all the mundane efforts of half-talents because this could have been something special. Instead, "it is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
"Coke on her black skin, make a stripe like a zebra I call that jungle fever" "So never fuck nobody without telling me Sunglasses and Advil, last night was mad real Sun coming up, 5 a.m., I wonder if they got cabs still? Thinking 'bout the girl in all leopard Who was rubbing the wood like Kiki Shepherd"
To me, the argument FOR this video's relevance ends with the fact that these lyrics play over it. There's no ironic connection to the lyrics in any way (cleverly vapid lyrics juxtaposed against violence and human suffering), it all just feels like a YouTube mashup of the song and a bunch of riot footage.
Riot porn is a super relevant term. I love this song, too.
Think this killer track belongs here!
Pity I wasn't familiar with it three weeks ago!
We keep on coming while we running for your jewels Steady gunning, keep on busting at them fools You know the rules Quick to snatch your ugly ass off the streets So fuck peace!
wiz nailed it 10 years ago
for future reference:
matias montero dped this?
i've heard many rumors about matias montero, the randomest/best probably being that he pulled a gun on a dude outside a bar over a dispute about a girl. but emmm, dunno if he dp'ed this
yes, he dped this : artofficialagency.com
Some of the greatest footage in a music video. Queue this to George Michael's "Freedom" and it's the greatest video ever.
And Ironically, it's the song that I thought was phony, not the subtext of the visual assembly.
