With every new Lady Gaga video I realise the reason why I love her is not quite her music. Her videos, on the other hand, and Nicola Formichetti's styling for them do really appeal to me. And I think, in terms of the clothes, the Judas video is the best one yet. Yes, even better than Bad Romance. Sorry, Lee.
I was fascinated by the contemporary take of the religious references. Because I grew up in a Catholic environment and it was easy for me to identify symbols such as the blue veil of the Inmaculate Conception and the Sacred Heart. Contrary to a lot of opinions online I thought Formichetti's work (especially the blue hood with the bandana) were edgy, controversial and full of life.
Jesus' look was extremely well achieved. It seems like Riccardo Tisci only designed his Givenchy version of the crown of thorns to be on this video. It also fit perfect well with the video's aesthetic that mixed the old and the new and very much reminded me of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. There are a lot of rock and roll and gritty elements, which were sort of contradictory yet not incongruent at all.
[Vevo]
The only reference I didn't quite understand was Gaga in white, as a sort of Mary Magdalene dressed like a gipsy bride. I simply don't get why she dies. But I guess not everything is supposed to be straight-forward.
I also really enjoyed the more scarce 18th century notes of ruffled sleeves and golden ringlets on her hair. Those bits really reminded me of 'Interview with the Vampire' and help increase the contrast between new and old fashion elements in the video.
And finally, the 'Birth of Venus'. It totally escapes me why this little scene was included in the video or how it adds to the story line but I can't say I don't like the nod to Botticelli.
To make sense of all my blabbering click here to watch the video, which would be a shame not to watch in the highest HD.
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