Runaway

I must admit. I am a big Kanye West fan. The Chicago rap artist makes unique music that often ranges in it's subject matters while others in his profession can become vaguely repetitive. The same can be said for their music videos. But in Runaway Kanye attempts to do something new with his music genre and creativity.

After discovering a beautiful phoenix/woman as he drives in the woods, Kanye begins to fall in love as he introduces her to his world, our world. But Phoenix, however, can't continue in this new strange place and has to return to her world by burning. Throughout the short, we are faced with a Scottish bands and a large Michael Jackson like figure, ballet dancers, an acting debut from Kanye and a host of other fantastical elements. Though I admire his film for it's creativity and effort, I have to admit that I thought, at times, that it was doing too much that unfortunately distracted it's viewers from some of his music. His songs were all good and entertaining in their individual way but once he puts them together to tell the story of the George Bush infamous criticizer and a beautiful leading lady, we felt a little lost and drug along as this unnecessarily long music video took 34 minutes of my life.

I will note that their were some impressive things that caught my eye throughout the film as well. One was the way in which the director, Kanye with the help of fair Spike Jonze, used a red filter in the sky in the beginning. The graphics were fairly nice as the Phoenix came to earth and a stream of fire. The costumes and set designs all work perfectly with each scene. For instant, the part in which Kanye takes his new found love to a dinner party, we she a garage like area, with a large dingy painted teal door, white ceiling, a long white table with delicious foods scattered among it and his guest all wearing white. When he enters with the Phoenix, who is basically naked with skin tone feathers on her breast and private areas and a collection of them on her back, she stands out from her surroundings creating a picture perfect scenery. The cinematography was the most important element of this film but its ability to properly tell a story and its attempt to mix its ideas into a music video seemed to be its biggest conflict.

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2010/10/25/review-of-kanye-wests-runaway/