As the trailer for the Lust for Life album already indicated, Lana Del Rey’s continued obsession–or rather, muse–remains the 60s and Los Angeles. And now, in her collaboration with director Clark Jackson (who built the Hollywood sign out of papier mache in his garage) for the “Lust for Life” video, Del Rey does what she does best: intermixes the past with a touch of her own breed of wistfulness.
Opening with what we briefly assume is going to be another planetary motif (as often shown in the video for “Love“), the camera zooms out to show us the iris of Lana’s eye as she sings front and center against a white backdrop with two singers behind her, conjuring that doo-wop feel visually in addition to its auditory presence in the song. A bit of the old requisite “bunny ears” TV static occurs as Del Rey runs out to climb the ladder of that “H” she keeps referring to, where The Weeknd awaits to take her hand (perhaps much to Selena Gomez’s dismay). Admittedly, however, the chemistry between the duo is a bit flaccid, as Del Rey turns her head away and plays it “coy.” What is this, a Bollywood movie? You’d think with a song that iterated “take off your clothes,” there’d at least be some nudity. But no, Del Rey and The Weeknd are too “classy” for that.
There are those chastely early 60s playful moments, though. Like when Del Rey takes The Weeknd’s sunglasses off, which look way more John Lennon-esque on her. And while I’m all for not being too literal, it’s a bit surprising when she doesn’t dance on the H of the Hollywood sign till she runs out of breath, as she describes in the lyrics. Instead they kind of just sit there, in much the same way as they do in the audio format of the video.
A flourish of the Michel Gondry aesthetic shines through when The Weeknd unties Del Rey’s bow (the closest we’ll get to seeing any disrobing) and sends it out into the air to watch it turn into a ship, floating out there in the nothingness. Growing bored at one point, Del Rey gets a burst of energy and prances over to the “D” (symbolism, eh?), only to stop in her tracks when she sees how far down it is. But with her lust for life, she finds a way to get to the bottom, The Weeknd following along and the shot zooming out to show that otherworldly perspective of earth from afar, its landmasses forming to create a peace sign. Once again, Del Rey affirms she’s the queen of the 60s in the 10s.
