EJ's Thoughts: Lady Gaga Premieres Born This Way Short Film

Friday, January 21, 2011

Lady Gaga Premieres Born This Way Short Film

Film, starring 'Zombie Boy,' features remixed song and footage from Thierry Mugler fashion show.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga (file)
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/ Getty Images

The world may at last have a first glimpse of what Gaga has up her sleeve for Born This Way, thanks to a short film made for designer Thierry Mugler. The film, directed by fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco, is set to the remixed song that Gaga debuted at the Mugler menswear show in Paris on Wednesday.

The black-and-white video, which premiered on Stylist.com and Mugler.com on Thursday (January 20), features Canadian model Rick Genest, also known as Zombie Boy, whose body and face are tattooed to look like a skeleton. It opens with voiceover of Gaga saying, "I don't speak German, but I can if you like," as the camera focuses on Zombie Boy, rocking a studded helmet. Footage of Zombie Boy is edited together with models walking the catwalk in Mugler designs.

Zombie Boy mugs for the camera wearing a leather jacket and pearls while Gaga sings in German, "I'm absolutely clear/ As long as I'm a monster/ I wish we all could be blind/ It would be easier out there." She repeats the phrase and the beat plays low under her anthem.

There is very little pop in the dark, subversive club jam, reminiscent of a '90s club track. The vibe of the video is an extension of her equally fashionable clip for "Alejandro," which was styled by Nicola Formichetti, who happens to be the creative director of Thierry Mugler.

Zombie Boy is later seen walking in a city, wearing street clothes, as Gaga sings in English, "I'll take you out tonight/ Say whatever you like," accompanied by a pulsing beat. The video closes with a model walking down the runway as the song fades out.

Gaga remixed the song herself for the show. "I love him, my friend the genius, my collaborator, more more than any piece of clothing or closet I possess," she said of Formichetti in a statement about the show. "But don't tell him I said that, he'll die. He picked them all out."

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