Ride (2012 film)

Ride is an American short music film written by and starring Lana Del Rey. The film was directed by Anthony Mandler and is over 10 minutes long. It premiered onto VEVO on October 12, 2012. The film received mixed to positive reviews, mainly due to it portraying controversial subjects including prostitution, adultery, rape and revenge, and gun violence.

Ride
Title card used in the video's opening
Directed byAnthony Mandler
Produced byHeather Heller
Written byLana Del Rey
StarringLana Del Rey
Distributed byBlack Hand Cinema
Release date
October 10, 2012 (theatrical)
October 12, 2012 (VEVO)
Running time
10:10
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Music video
"Ride" on YouTube

Plot

The film opens to Artist (played by Del Rey) in a cowboy-influenced outfit while swinging on a tire swing in the middle of the desert. It then cuts to show her grazing the streets in streetwalker attire while attempting to hitch hike, as a monologue about why she started prostituting plays in the background. Artist reveals that all her family and friends disapprove of her lifestyle, but urges that they are simply unaware of what it feels like to have "your home be where you lay your head". Artist proceeds to perform in a dazzled dive bar, revealing that she was a performer, but "not a very popular one". In her closing moments in the bar, she insists that she's always been different, and was "born to be the other woman". As Del Rey says this, a montage of clips showing her and her biker gang play as the titular track, "Ride", begins to play shortly after.

Artist has multiple returning clients, or "lovers" (played by Ian Seeberg, Scott The Wall, and Kevin Peterson, respectively), that she eventually runs away from her home with. After a series of excursions, Artist says she "finally found her home" as she continues to enjoy her new lifestyle moving motel-to-motel.

During their last night, Artist and her biker gang enjoy some wild times in the empty desert, driving bikes through flames, drinking excessively, and howling at the moon. This scene is where the infamous "Indian headress" shot with Del Rey is featured. In a monologue at the end of the film, during which scenes are shown of Del Rey sneaking away with the bikers, Artist declares, "I am fucking crazy. But I am free" as she proceeds to swing on her free-range tire swing.[1]

Cast and crew

Background and release
Wearing a Native American war bonnet (pictured), Del Rey aims a revolver at her temple while singing "I've got a war in my mind" in the video for "Ride".[2][3][4]

"National Anthem" director Anthony Mandler teamed up with Del Rey to produce the video for "Ride."[5][6] The video was a 10-minute-long short film and gathered an audience of 400.[6] On October 10, Del Rey premiered the music video for "Ride" at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, California.[7]

Critical reception

NME journalist Lucy Jones compared Del Rey's role in "Ride" to Blanche DuBois' role in A Streetcar Named Desire, calling it a "neurasthenic wreckage." Further reflecting on the Lolita persona, Jones says, "Del Rey's character atrophies into prostitution, seeking safety in other people" throughout the video, which she labels dis-empowering for women, while Del Rey's "suggested acceptance of a young woman selling sex for a roof over her head" might be seen as antifeminist,[2] a word attributed to Del Rey's work since "Video Games."[8][9] OK! and Vibe also noted the prostitution themes,[10] the latter saying, "Never has the art of prostitution ever looked so, cinematic."[11]

Jones also noted similarities between "Ride" and the video for "Born to Die", specifically Del Rey's scarlet talons, red Converse, crucifix earrings, Stars and Stripes flags, tattoos, and guns.[2] Jones speculated that the monologue was not autobiographical, so much as a jab at her critics.[2] Pitchfork considered the metaphor-festooned monologue "moving."[3] Writers for the New York Observer commented: "As a statement of purpose, it’s absolutely, refreshingly meaningless, not purporting to make any statement beyond provocation; as a creation myth for whoever Lana Del Rey is, it’s tremendously watchable. She strives for little more than that."[12] Amanda Dobbins of New York concluded that the final scene belonged in Del Rey's hall of fame, stating, "it is really something."[13] MTV Buzzworthy's David Greenwald contrasted "Ride" with films such as Easy Rider, mentioning that while it contained traditional American themes, it manages to retain credibility as a pop song on par with Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga.[14]

Critics took positively to Del Rey's acting in the film. Lucy Jones of NME stated "She’s a good actress; you can see the desire for oblivion and escape in her eyes."[15]

Controversy
"After years of staying true to my own artistic visions, I met Anthony Mandler, who shared my love of all things dark and beautiful and understood my passion and revery for the country that America used to be. He’s helped me to bring the visions of my imagination to life and tell my different life stories through film..."

Lana Del Rey, Rolling Stone

Controversy arose shortly after the release of the film due to its glamorization of prostitution, violence, affairs, and its featuring of religious symbols. The scene in which Del Rey holds a gun to her head and declares she is tired of feeling "fucking crazy" gained controversy due to the feature of Del Rey wearing a Native American headdress before holding a gun suggestively to her temple. Though criticized by some, the scene spawned one of her most famous quotes, and stills from it are prominent within modern-day pop culture, appearing on a variety of merchandise. Molly Lambert of Grantland dismissed Del Rey's use of the headdress, stating how "maybe it’s supposed to be a comment on the rampant fetishization of native imagery by bikers here... but [she] can't support it".[16]

The film has been dubbed by some as "romanticizing" or "fetishizing" its topics, particularly its protagonist's relationship with "her men". Lambert of Grantland claimed the film was "peddling a fantasy of tender degradation and commercialized self-objectification as [a] road to freedom from personal demons" stating this 'fantasty' was "dark and strange". In a more positive review, Jenn Pelly of Pitchfork praised the film as "a ten-minute (Walt Whitman) tribute to discovering true liberation on the open road".

Legacy

Following the release of Ride in 2012, numerous works of the time were influenced by it. Rolling Stone drew comparisons between the film and Mandler's music video for Taylor Swift's song "I Knew You Were Trouble", primarily due to the use of a "confessional monologue" which is seen as a signature feature in Del Rey's video.[17][18] In recent years, the film has been cited as having obtained a "cult following". In a review of a Father John Misty performance, Michael Love Michael of PAPER referenced the film stating how he saw it as "iconic" and praised its plot, joking at being where "[Del Rey] rocked a curly weave perm situation and hung out with biker daddies at arcades".[19]

Accolades

Awards
List of awards and nominations
Organizations Year Category Recipient Result
MTV Video Music Awards 2013 Best Cinematography "Ride" Nominated

Year-end lists
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Rolling Stone The Top 10 Best Music Videos of the 2000s & 2010s 6 [20]

References
  1. Boone, John (2012-10-11). "Lana Del Rey Premieres New Music Video at a Movie Theater, Leaves Fans Sobbing With Joy". E!. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  2. Jones, Lucy (October 12, 2012). "Lana Del Rey Channels Blanche DuBois In Music Video For 'Ride'". NME. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  3. Pelly, Jenn. "Watch Lana Del Rey Find "True Freedom" in Her "Ride" Video: Motorcycles, Guns, Art, Men, Liberation". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  4. Rosen, Christopher (12 October 2012). "Lana Del Rey's 'Ride' Video: 'I Believe In The Country America Used To Be'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  5. Idolator Staff (2012-10-11). "Lana Del Rey Revs Up For Her "Ride" Video Premiere". Idolator. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  6. Martins, Chris (2012-10-11). "Born to 'Ride': Lana Del Rey Longs for Leather Daddies in New 10-Minute Short Film". Spin. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  7. "Lana Del Rey premieres her new Ride music video in Santa Monica". Glamour. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  8. Savage, Mark (27 January 2012). "Love, the law, and Lana Del Rey". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  9. Rice, Paul. "Lana Del Rey's Feminist Problem". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  10. "Lana Del Rey plays a prostitute in new 'Ride' video, has some old truckers for customers". OK!. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  11. Higgins, Keenan (2012-10-12). "New Videos: Lana Del Rey, Gucci Mane x Birdman, Daz Dillinger, Ace Hood, Project Pat x Nasty Mane x Juicy J". Vibe. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  12. D'Addario, Daniel (2012-10-12). "Lana Del Rey Debuts Ten-Minute Music Video". New York Observer. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  13. Dobbins, Amanda. "'Ride' Video: Lana Del Rey Has a Gun, a Tire Swing, Curly Hair". Vulture. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  14. Greenwald, David. "New Video: Lana Del Rey, 'Ride'". MTV. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  15. https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/lana-del-rey-channels-blanche-dubois-in-music-video-for-ride-26454
  16. Lambert, Molly (15 October 2012). "Lana Del Rey Adds 'Biker Gang Prostitute' to Her Collection of Personas in 'Ride'".
  17. Martins, Chris (December 13, 2012). "Taylor Swift's 'I Knew You Were Trouble' Video Is Lana Del Rey's 'Ride' All Over Again | Spin| SPIN Mix | Videos". Spin. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  18. Dobbins, Amanda. "Watch T-Swift's 'I Knew You Were Trouble' Video". Vulture. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  19. "Enjoy This Lovely Father John Misty Cover Of Lana Del Rey's 'Ride'". 25 April 2018.
  20. Spanos, Brittany (31 August 2016). "Readers' Poll: 10 Best Music Videos of 2000s".
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