So, I finally got around to watching all of "Runaway," the film compliment to Kanye West's
The phoenix (played by Selita Ebanks... I see ya girl! Getcha bird on) falling to Earth is supposedly to represent the huge media blowup after the whole Taylor Swift/MTV Awards scandal, and also 'Ye's return to the spotlight following that incident. Kanye's nurturing of the bird is representative of him regaining his creative prowess throughout that whole ordeal.
'Ye takes the fallen phoenix under his creative wing, so to speak, and nurses her back to health—but not before taking her out to a high society banquet first. I found the dinner scene most hilarious.
"You know she's a bird, right?" whispers one of the party-goers to Kanye.
LMAO. Total Amber Rose reference.
Shortly before dinner is served, the scene segues into its eponymous title track. Ballerinas dressed in black fill the floor; this scene is one of the very few that focus solely on Kanye as opposed to him and the phoenix. As he tinkles away on a piano, you really get the feeling that it's just 'Ye and the music, totally representative of the creative process. The song "Runaway" is quite meditative itself, and the scene captures that emotion well.
After the performance, a turkey dinner is served. This offends the phoenix, who breaks out into a loud screech, scaring the other guests away. In this scene, Kanye struggles to keep his creative self under control without offending people, not unlike the situation with Taylor Swift, notes Jezebel.
Following dinner, the phoenix takes comfort in nature, chillin' out in the green expanse of Kanye's courtyard, petting sheep and whatnot. In the next scene, 'Ye and the phoenix discuss statues. The phoenix says statues are phoenixes turned to stone. This whole scene is poorly acted but you get the gist of it: basically, that to stifle yourself creatively is a kind of death. The phoenix tells Kanye she must burn in order to go on living (from the ashes of a former phoenix, new phoenixes are born... Greek Mythology 101
). He then proceeds to bone the phoenix.Yes, he bones it.
Now that might seem a little strange or maybe even sort of predictable to you... HELLO, the bird is a Victoria's Secret model! Of course he bones it. But like the rest of the film, this seemingly random progression of events is metaphorical, too. As we all know, Kanye's an egotistical bastid. How he relates to his creativity is no different than how he'd relate to any other thing: he'd tell you he's the best at it, master it, think he's The Don because of it, etc. etc. This scene could also be representative of his creativity screwing him over, tortured genius that he is.
Shortly afterward, the phoenix makes a dramatic, fiery ascension into the heavens, leaving Kanye all alone on his terrace. Don't you just hate one night stands? Kanye runs frantically into the forest looking for the phoenix, but she's already risen. The film ends where it began, in the woods. The final scenes I find representative of being true to oneself; Kanye begs the phoenix not to leave but in the end, she is compelled to do what comes naturally to her.
Overall, I found "Runaway" to be a very ambitious film. I see where Kanye wants it to be this epic, "Thriller"-like piece, but that's a mighty feat to take on, especially for a first time director. I feel the metaphors could have been executed more clearly, which would really drive the poignancy of the piece home for a lot of viewers. I get the feeling Kanye made this film more for himself than for his fans, though, so perhaps a level of ambiguity was what he sought.
The cinematography was excellent; one could take a stillshot of any of the scenes in this film and have it look like it came from a high fashion spread. Kanye tapped visual artist Vanessa Beecroft as the art director for "Runaway," and her influence definitely shows. Beecroft's work also deals a lot with identity, which meshes perfectly with the themes in both the album and the film.
Speaking of meshing perfectly, the way the soundtrack compliments the film is astounding. In that sense, "Runaway" is more like an extended music video than a full out movie, which is not an unlikely comparison considering it was written by Hype Williams. Not to mention "Runaway" the film is great promotion for the ...Fantasy album, which itself is pretty epic.
I definitely wrote "Runaway" off at first, but there's no denying Mr. West's talent. There's no denying his creative growth over the past year, either. "Runaway" isn't the best film of its kind, but it's certainly promising and worthy of at least a couple viewings.
