9) Ultraviolence Has A Cinematic Vision
After Del Rey released a twenty-seven minute long film called Tropico to close the book on the Paradise release, it’s no surprise that her cinematic leanings continued into the Ultraviolence era. Three of the singles released so far have been accompanied by highly stylized promos that bring Del Rey’s cinematic vision to life.
West Coast opens with stunning shots of the ocean which are inter-cut with scenes of Del Rey and a lover walking along the beach. The majority of the video is shot in black and white, until Del Rey suddenly bursts into flames at the end, filling the screen with shades of red and orange that match her bright crimson dress.
In contrast, the promo for Shades of Cool celebrates coloor from the outset, superimposing Del Rey over luscious flowers and exploding fireworks. Towards the end of the video, a shot of Del Rey pulling herself out of a swimming pool references Marilyn Monroe’s performance in Something’s Got To Give, paying homage to the cinematic inspiration that pervades every aspect of her style.
While the first two videos were cinematic in a traditional sense, Del Rey experimented more with the promo for the title track Ultraviolence, filming the entire video on an iPhone. The promo follows Del Rey as she wanders outside in a wedding dress and finally enters a church to find no one is waiting for her at the altar.
Ultraviolence was directed by Francesco Carrozzini, who also created a video for the Beyonce track Jealous. Ironically, the cinematic styling of the Ultraviolence set would have lent itself perfectly to a visual album concept and would arguably have created a far more unified vision than Beyonce achieved with her experimental release.
