Taking notes from cult films like Man Bites Dog, La Haine and A Clockwork Orange, the new Justice video is a viceral and violent opus. The track is pretty ''...mehhh'' but teamed with the great visuals and clever sound design from Director Romain Gavras, the Justice juggernaut continues on its crusade of cool. It's provocative and brimming with a cocky 'ban me now, see if I care' attitude. Download it here or stream below. Justice - Stress
Dir: Romain Gavras
I could'nt mention Gavras without posting the first video of his that I saw. No matter where you grew up in Europe, your bound to have come around the guys that feature in this Dj Mehdi video.
DJ Mehdi - Signatune (Bangalter Edit)
Dir: Romain Gavras
6 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Sorry but that video is as lackluster as the tune, style over substance, near on seven minutes of self indulgence. Interesting visuals but with no real punch line or intelligence within any sort of narrative...style over substance. a great summing up of Justice's music really.
Agree, lackluster tune. But the video makes up for it in droves. Self indulgent, how so? I thought the punch lines were pretty clear and happened every 15 seconds as the gangs behavior becomes increasingly viscous and depraved. ''No real... narrative'' I disagree completely. The cinematic points of reference alone lend it a narrative arc. It is here that I think you got confused. The narrative, all be it a simple one is clear. Hoodlums on the rampage turn on everyone/everything even film crew. It’s a music video about something complex, violence. But the sort of violence that can’t be justified in real life, let alone on screen. Mindless violence. Another point hammered home is that of the police and their failings in thwarting the gang, here Gravas is blatantly critiquing the tactics employed by the French police in dealing with youth crime and the problems we associate with the banlieue. It’s a case in point for the old adage of violence breeds more violence. If all the police are going to do is come down heavy, the gangs will just step up, it’s a self-perpetuating cycle. Thus the video is stressing that the focus needs to be on the route causes and not on punitive measures that ultimately fail. But yeah the track is pretty shitty.
lol...shot dowwwwwwwwwwwwn! How can I possibly battle with a film studies genius?
Maybe you are right and there are a few sequences which would lead me to agree with you, like when the thugs are attacking the photographers and bystanders do nothing. etc etc etc
However I feel that this interesting political point was not stressed implicitly, or interestingly enough, it was more of a passing thought and what we are really seeing is more about scoring cool points and looking "edgey" then making a political statement... and for seven fucking minutes...thats self indulgence.
I hate the way that so much trendy fashion latches onto interesting and poignant cultural references and then does them absolutely no "Justice" by scratching the surface in such a shallow way. They are exploiting it rather then commenting on it... the whole "we don't care if its banned coz we got the internet" thing.
I think visually the video is great but its too loose not enough interesting happens and after about 3 minutes I get bored, partly because of the music but also because it seems that the director has run out of cool ideas, what works well about the Mehdi vid is that its short and sharp and builds up to a great ending, I just don't think the Justice one works as well, even if the shots look nicer (those jackets are sick!) I dont think what we see in the video really justifies seven minutes.
anyway, im crap at arguing my point intelligently, Im allways more of a success in arguments/debates face to face when i can just dominate and shout down people who aren't as loud as me!
Long of the short is, I think its a nice looking video, but I dont think it goes anywhere interesting, is Gavras suffering from music video director syndrome like so many other great directors (chris cunningham etc) who can't make anything good if its longer then 5 minutes... maybe the radio edit will be better.x
Interesting comments... I on the other hand have a different perspective. I grew up in France, and have witnessed this kind of mindless violent behavior first hand. What struck me about this video was its amazing resemblance to reality. The style and generic frame in which it is filmed deserves respect. Look back at some of the footage broadcast during the riots 2 years ago and you will find a STRIKING resemblance. I was walking through the streets in the North of Paris one night and had to duck into a Café/bar because a gang of 30-40 kids ran out of an alleyway and started tearing up the block. If anything, this video is toned down. As a side note, the North African terminology for this is "razzia", a form of pillage, (clearly “mis en scene” in this video)... Everything that I saw in this video refers to images that I have etched in my memory bank. The bitter taste that this leaves in the mouth of the onlooker is there for a reason! There is also a serious racial issue at hand that should not be ignored... Is this film social commentary? Criticism? Or is it just for BS shock effect? I personally see it as "commentary" pertaining to the issues surrounding social integration in France... The epitome of the clash of civilizations. When discussing Justice and their choice to use such images to illustrate their song (which is the worst I have heard from them yet), I would ask you all to look back over their first two videos and find a common thread of communication. What has Justice been trying to say all along (if anything) and how might this fit in line with that? I think you will be surprised. Art my friends is in the eye of the beholder…
This film was not self-indulgent, nor was its ambiguities disturbing to me. One could see it as a psychological portrait of what makes being in a gang so attractive. Their vicious beauty compels the viewer to watch, despite the terror. You want them to destroy everything. And they do.
6 comments:
Sorry but that video is as lackluster as the tune, style over substance, near on seven minutes of self indulgence. Interesting visuals but with no real punch line or intelligence within any sort of narrative...style over substance. a great summing up of Justice's music really.
sorry :(
Agree, lackluster tune. But the video makes up for it in droves. Self indulgent, how so?
I thought the punch lines were pretty clear and happened every 15 seconds as the gangs behavior becomes increasingly viscous and depraved. ''No real... narrative'' I disagree completely. The cinematic points of reference alone lend it a narrative arc. It is here that I think you got confused. The narrative, all be it a simple one is clear. Hoodlums on the rampage turn on everyone/everything even film crew. It’s a music video about something complex, violence. But the sort of violence that can’t be justified in real life, let alone on screen. Mindless violence.
Another point hammered home is that of the police and their failings in thwarting the gang, here Gravas is blatantly critiquing the tactics employed by the French police in dealing with youth crime and the problems we associate with the banlieue. It’s a case in point for the old adage of violence breeds more violence. If all the police are going to do is come down heavy, the gangs will just step up, it’s a self-perpetuating cycle. Thus the video is stressing that the focus needs to be on the route causes and not on punitive measures that ultimately fail.
But yeah the track is pretty shitty.
lol...shot dowwwwwwwwwwwwn!
How can I possibly battle with a film studies genius?
Maybe you are right and there are a few sequences which would lead me to agree with you, like when the thugs are attacking the photographers and bystanders do nothing. etc etc etc
However I feel that this interesting political point was not stressed implicitly, or interestingly enough, it was more of a passing thought and what we are really seeing is more about scoring cool points and looking "edgey" then making a political statement... and for seven fucking minutes...thats self indulgence.
I hate the way that so much trendy fashion latches onto interesting and poignant cultural references and then does them absolutely no "Justice" by scratching the surface in such a shallow way. They are exploiting it rather then commenting on it...
the whole "we don't care if its banned coz we got the internet" thing.
I think visually the video is great but its too loose not enough interesting happens and after about 3 minutes I get bored, partly because of the music but also because it seems that the director has run out of cool ideas, what works well about the Mehdi vid is that its short and sharp and builds up to a great ending, I just don't think the Justice one works as well, even if the shots look nicer (those jackets are sick!) I dont think what we see in the video really justifies seven minutes.
anyway, im crap at arguing my point intelligently, Im allways more of a success in arguments/debates face to face when i can just dominate and shout down people who aren't as loud as me!
Long of the short is, I think its a nice looking video, but I dont think it goes anywhere interesting, is Gavras suffering from music video director syndrome like so many other great directors (chris cunningham etc) who can't make anything good if its longer then 5 minutes... maybe the radio edit will be better.x
Interesting comments... I on the other hand have a different perspective. I grew up in France, and have witnessed this kind of mindless violent behavior first hand. What struck me about this video was its amazing resemblance to reality. The style and generic frame in which it is filmed deserves respect.
Look back at some of the footage broadcast during the riots 2 years ago and you will find a STRIKING resemblance.
I was walking through the streets in the North of Paris one night and had to duck into a Café/bar because a gang of 30-40 kids ran out of an alleyway and started tearing up the block. If anything, this video is toned down.
As a side note, the North African terminology for this is "razzia", a form of pillage, (clearly “mis en scene” in this video)...
Everything that I saw in this video refers to images that I have etched in my memory bank.
The bitter taste that this leaves in the mouth of the onlooker is there for a reason!
There is also a serious racial issue at hand that should not be ignored...
Is this film social commentary? Criticism? Or is it just for BS shock effect?
I personally see it as "commentary" pertaining to the issues surrounding social integration in France... The epitome of the clash of civilizations.
When discussing Justice and their choice to use such images to illustrate their song (which is the worst I have heard from them yet), I would ask you all to look back over their first two videos and find a common thread of communication. What has Justice been trying to say all along (if anything) and how might this fit in line with that? I think you will be surprised.
Art my friends is in the eye of the beholder…
What a scandal to see this violence, racist, offensive video!
I'm writing to the webmasters and the police (acts of violence suggested) right now
This film was not self-indulgent, nor was its ambiguities disturbing to me. One could see it as a psychological portrait of what makes being in a gang so attractive. Their vicious beauty compels the viewer to watch, despite the terror. You want them to destroy everything. And they do.
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