Miller time
Word reaches us from Slashfilm that “Gucci has released a trailer for their new television commercial/short film directed by comic artist/creator turned director Frank Miller (Sin City, The Spirit), starring Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans, and featuring the music of Friendly Fires. The ad to promote Gucci Guilty — the new fragrance for her, will premiere during the MTV Video Music Awards on September 12th.”
Even as one of Frank Miller’s most ardent fans I’m quick to concede that his solo directing efforts have been disastrous. I can’t remember ever giving up on a film quite as quickly as I did for The Spirit, a film constituting evidence enough that Mr Miller should not be left to direct major features without the steadying hand of Zack Snyder (300), Robert Rodrigez (Sin City) or similar there to guide him.
At the same time he being the writer and artist behind my favourite comic of all time, The Dark Knight Returns, means that I can only worship him as a god, and have an instinctive interest in whatever creative bounty he cares to toss down from the blackened ramparts of his Olympian pleasure-dome.
Miller’s apparent limitations as a director in his own right make him the perfect choice for an art-as-advertising piece of hybrid brand-funded short film-making like this. For a brand like Gucci, Miller’s trademark film-noir style, modernised as it is by a distinctly twenty-first century narrative sensibility, should be perfect. They’ve even given him some proper actors to play with.
In this binary digital life where an increasing premium on brevity increasingly permits us to lapse into cultural laziness and rhetorical sensationalism, I’m sure many people have already decided that they either love this or hate it, and are busy tweeting to that effect.
For my part, I’m actually pretty curious to see the output, and I’m keeping an open mind. I’d sooner see the fashion industry spenind its marketing dollars patronising an artist like Miller than persisting with the kind of turgid advertising they’ve traditionally used to patronise me.
Brands – especially otherwise insubstantial lifestyle and fashion brands – have a huge interest in finding ways to drive community and active participation around their products characterised by the same fanaticism that permeates the film industry.
A recent example of this was Spike Jonze’s excellent short I’m Here, which was funded by Absolut Vodka and made freely available to watch online. The film itself appeared completely artistically unaffected by the brand association, to which it owed the very circumstances of its existence. I’m not saying we should expect the same kind of fare from ‘Gucci Guilty’ – just that the same principles are at work, and that this is my kind of product placement.
October 12th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
[...] while back I posted about a Gucci commercial being directed by Frank Miller. As it turned out the final spot was ok, [...]