Prior to May 2014 I was extremely ambivalent about Beyoncé. Yes, I respected her enormous ass talent but was never a Destiny’s Child fan and none of her solo work spoke to me until the Unfortunate Incident of the Sister in the Elevator, which had the happy result of exposing me to her most recent album – the top-secret “audio-visual medium” she dropped last December complete with 17 videos. One of the few things I’ve ever paid for on iTunes – and the fastest selling album in the history of the iTunes Store, both in the US and worldwide – it was worth every penny. But instead of choosing a favorite to highlight below, I’m going to discuss the On the Run tour teaser they conveniently released around the same time Solange was slapping Jay around. I won’t harp on about conspiracies (love them), their marriage (I’m pro-divorce, although I have a sneaking suspicion they gonna announce she’s pregnant again), or how their concert was an emotionally-manipulating PR stunt (cuz ’twas), but I want to draw attention to how they surround themselves with some of the most creative people in the business. I give them (mainly her) props for their choices, between the stylists (his and hers), video directors (Melina Matsoukas), and dancers (Les Twins!!!). It was Ms. Ambrose, after all, who found the leather-jacket-heard-around-the-pop-philosophy-world.
The below trailer for a movie that doesn’t exist resonated with me not because of the Bonnie and Clyde theme (since B+J initially hooked up over 10 years ago recording said song), but because of how heavily it borrows from the French New Wave school of film. You don’t get to fully appreciate it it in under four minutes, but the live show includes more footage reminiscent of Breathless, et al. with a combination of long tracking shots and jump cuts that bring the absurdity of life into sharp focus. Fun fact: both Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were originally slated to direct the 1967 film, Bonnie and Clyde.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNcJg5svv9A&w=560&h=315]
Conclusion: I crossed three rivers, two boroughs and one state line to get to Giants Stadium to see this concert and have zero regrets.
-Tanya Leet
