In the music video to her song Ride, Lana Del Rey utilizes many film and spacing techniques to tell her story. The video aims to explain an imaginary 3 year period of her life where she was searching for fulfillment. During this time, it is evident that Lana struggled with maintaining healthy romantic relationships and with her own mental stability. She rhythm, montage, and tone to communicate the emotion in this part of her life. Lana incorporates iconography by borrowing many Americana symbols like the open road, motorcycle gangs, the American flag, denim, and the American West. These objects are reminiscent of “The Good Old Days” and a time of pioneering and grit and most importantly freedom. The latter being what Lana is ultimately chasing after in the video. Freedom from herself, her past, and her present state.
The entire video is driven by the use of montage. Lana’s story is told through her interactions with men and her career as an aspiring singer. The different situations Lana found herself in are strung together with differing lengths and detail. The sequence and rhythm of these scenes add to the depth and sincerity of the video. All the experiences she undergoes are directly referenced in the lyrics of the song which is ultimately what directs the video. This could be considered a type of linear sequencing since the images shown are more or less matched with what she is saying. Overall, the various scenes are explored separately, but are still similar enough in their nature to create the overarching theme of searching for one’s self in another person. Some of the clips of her and the different men are oriented with a fairly quick rhythm to express the desperation and loneliness that she felt at that time. The clips with shorter rhythm also seem to focus primarily on her and her image whereas the longer ones focus on the relationship and their various actions. Overall, the clips paint a very tragic picture. However, when the individual clips are expanded to include more context the viewer sees that, although her behavior is unhealthy, she is happy.
Lana singing career is also central in the video. There are multiple clips of her onstage performing and of her name on box offices. These scenes directly incorporate the lyrics from the present about this imaginary period of her life. As mentioned above, the lyrics direct the video and the shots of her performing allow that to happen. The transitions between her onstage and her living the situation are woven in with each other by way of color blending and association. Consecutive scenes have similar color schemes or share a common object. For example, Lana’s feet are used throughout the video to transition between scenes. Going back to her performances, the scenes of her singing incorporate tone. When she is alone on stage the tone is very dark, but once she starts singing the tone becomes much brighter making her look empowered. The use of tone as juxtaposition is seen with other clips too. When Lana is shown by herself, for example, at the convenience store and gas station, she is in the shadows and looks physically uncomfortable. The scenes are very dark and mysterious, but when she is with the company of men and her “people” the tone completely changes to be much warmer and cheerful. This technique is used to show the loneliness Lana felt during this time and how she used other people to help fill that void. Lana is acting as a damsel in distress, but the evil she is running from is herself. She is ultimately using the men in her life to make her happy.
There is a curious feminist message within the video as well. In the post-feminist world there is a certain discrepancy when it comes to the role of women in power and how they are able to attain power. In many ways a women can use her body and beauty to attain relevance. However, sexuality has come to be a double edged sword in the sense that women have fought against being solely defined as a sex object, but women who take charge of their sex life are seen as powerful and strong. In the video, Lana is definitely taking charge of her sexuality and reveling in her beauty and using it to her advantage. As the viewer can infer that she has seduced all the men so was involved with. The images of her with the men themselves walk the line between “sexual liberation and self-exploitation”. However, her behavior in these moment can be characterized as very submissive and dependent to the point of neuroticism. It is hard to identify the person in control of the relationship. But the warm tone and montage of symbols of freedom seems to convey that Lana is satisfied with this lifestyle.
Citations:
Vigier, Catherine. "The Meaning of Lana Del Rey." Zeteo: The Journal of Interdisciplinary Writing (2012): 1-16.
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