Kanye West has cemented his reputation as an artist who is interested in publishing unique music and videos. After West’s video featuring Rihanna and Kid Cudi dropped five days ago, we thought we’d take a closer look at the influences behind the vertigo inducing ‘All of The Lights’ short film directed by veteran music video director Hype Williams.
Two important French artists made West’s and Williams’ video happen: Gaspar Noe and Jean-Luc Goddard.
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These auteurs have both changed how we cosume film and introduced new narrative techniques.
Noe, born in Argentina, is best known for ‘Irreversible,’ the revenge-gone-wrong rape film that stunned audiences in 2002. If you have a Netfix account, we highly suggest you watch this film, despite its disturbing nature. West’s ‘Lights’ has elements of ‘Irreversible.’ However, it is really ‘Enter The Void,’ Noe’s druggie Tokyo epic released in 2009, from which West and Williams draw their influence.
Noe is also references, borrows and runs with ideas created by French-Swiss Jean-Luc Goddard, often identified with French New Wave of cinema.
Godard is best known for ‘Breathless,’ the archetype for Quentin Tarantino’s shoot-em ups. Noe’s ‘Enter The Void’ borrows its title sequence from ‘A Woman is A Woman’ (‘Un Femme C’est Un Femme’ in French), an absurdist French New Wave film about a couple.
Take a look at some samples of work from Noe and Godard. And get a Netfix account!
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