Yesterday I was putting together my latest LINKguide and felt like adding a video underneath. At first I searched for some sort of David Gandy fare since he and his biceps are featured in the accompanying image, but I couldn’t find any I liked. One of my other links has a VANITY FAIR story on Lana Del Rey, so I searched for the video of her rendition of “Blue Velvet” which I remembered loving from the H&M campaign that used it. And this is how I came across Lana’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous new 10-minute short film for “Ride”.
The short is directed by Anthony Mandler, who has directed videos for everyone from Bieber to Nicki Minaj to Rihanna to Jay-Z. Mandler (born April 18, 1973 in Los Angeles) has also directed ads for Motorola, Samsung, Nike and Ciroc; and has photographed several portraits for celebrities including Ryan Phillippe, Eva Mendes, Lebron James, Eminem, Colin Farrell, David Beckham, Heath Ledger, and Katie Holmes, among others. Mandler is now setting his eyes on feature films and is currently developing Allegra, a film project with Gregory David Roberts, the author of Shantaram. He is set to direct Die in a Gunfight for Media Rights Capital with Zac Efron attached to star, and Mandler is also signed on to direct for Summit Entertainment the vampire film Vlad, which is being produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner at Plan B.
Within seconds of pressing the play button on “Ride” I knew his guy has an intuition for beauty and the sublime unlike any other. The DNA and influence of Andy Warhol is present in every frame of “Ride”, and for the entirety of the short’s ten minute running time I was completely swept away to this dreamscape of raw beauty, decadence, and living on the edge. This is one of the most stunning works I have encountered in a very long time, and combined with Lana Del Rey’s equally exquisite vocals, lyrics, and arrangement I had goosebumps from beginning to end. Anthony Mandler is a master director, and deserves every ounce of the tidal wave of respect that is undoubtedly heading his way for decades to come, and for this reason Mandler’s brilliant “Ride” is officially a FEELguide Classic.
To see more of Anthony’s work be sure to visit BlackHandCinema.com, and follow him on Twitter. And for your own copy of the must-have Born To Die: Paradise Edition re-release of Lana Del Rey’s debut album simply head over to iTunes.
