Actress Mélanie Thierry dances* for the new Yves Saint Laurent Belle d'Opium.
Update: you can see a longer (1 minute) version here.
*From the Mélanie Thierry fan website:
The dance is a sensual creation to bring alive today the mythic and fatal dance of Salomé. It features the woman as the source of addiction, showing what the viewer rarely sees: the texture of the skin, the breath, the tension. The film is directed by Romain Gavras. His incisive camera transcends the troubling femininity of the actress, oscillating constantly between childlike fragility and immense determination, control and abandon. Music for the new work is composed by Nitin Sawhney. Photography by Mert & Marcus.
Lol! Actually, I really like this commercial but there’s one point in the dance where the model points to the crook of her other arm that just made me bark a laugh. I know any kind of dance is supposed to tell a story but that move says in a none to subtle way “I sprayed my perfume HERE!”
I don’t like or hate it — it mostly just left me cold.
Nope I will pass.This just doesn’t seem interesting.
I will try anything whether I like the commercial or not…
That is the way I am but for me its not the commercial its the idea of a flanker for Opium.First the change the bottle of Opium and I am not crazy about the new bottle at all.But, I find Opium in the new bottle to be watered down.Then this Opium flanker really bugs me.I am simply not interested in trying an Opium flanker.Opium used to be one of my favorite perfumes.So this new version just seems like it will be very dissappointing in terms of quality.I could care less about a commercial but speaking of the commerical it just didn’t draw me in so no I will pass.
Successful or not, I love the fact that YSL is exploring a largely uncharted territory – dance and fragrance. The choreographer for the commercial is Akram Khan, the new darling of the modern dance scene…..he is known for combining the gestures of Kathak Indian classical dance with contemporary modern dance athleticism.
Personally, I think the commercial is a bit too short (and flashy) to really bring any authenticity to the dancing itself…..but I love the fact that YSL had the integrity to bring such a great choreographer onboard for the project.
Ah, thank you for that bit of info, Marko. The gestures did look a bit like some Indian dancing I read up on a long while ago. I rather like it as it is used in the choreography here. Going to go google Akram Khan when I have time later today. Aside from that, the only thing that bothers me about the commercial is that she’s wearing white – pure ice-cold white. I miss the jewel tones normally associated with Opium. But maybe that white is a reference to that “troubled femininity” that bewildered me in the ad copy. This must be a new Generation Y or Z complex that I’m wholly unfamiliar with.
Hey LAMAROC –
Check this out :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/video/2008/mar/07/bahok
That was stunning! Thank you for the link, Marko. I think I’ve found a new obsession. lol
Marko, not sure I think Khan was put to good use here, but can’t argue with the sentiment.
No doubt…..but I’ll take the “sentiment” if that’s all they are going to give!
Mostly, I’m just thrilled that dance and perfume are featured together…..it’s a modest start, but a start none-the-less.
I do appreciate the bit of insight into the choreographer. But the problem with any kind of filmed dance spectacle, is the stupid directors want to WAY over edit. Example: (Sorry while I geek out a moment) Early Baz Luhrmann–Strictly Ballroom–fantastic. Yes they edit, yes they crop, but they leave enough there so that you get a sense of the movement, of the arc. Later Baz Luhrmann–Moulin Rouge–horrid. (*Ducks from the tomatoes being thrown*) You have a movie about spectacle, but all the great “numbers” are so over edited, that you have actually no experience of the spectacle, of the dance of the flow of who is where and how it all comes together.
This felt like a mini-spectacle that isn’t spectacle to me. Too edited for me to “see” the choreography. And very un-Salomé like I must add.
I like the idea of perfume and dance going together, BUT this is so choppy, that my image of what the perfume would smell like, if it smelled like this dance, is rushed, spastic, and in no way erotic.
I can think of a number of dances, or dance styles that one could scent from Swan Lake, to the Ballet Russe, to Martha Graham, to Merce Cunningham, to Mark Morris, to Alvin Ailey, but this? this smells like something being squirted up my nose like Afrin. No thank you.
Meh.. nothing exciting about it. She looks more like a child playing around than a sensual dancer, especially with her cute smile at the end.
And “I am your obsession” makes me think of Calvin Klein Obsession.
I am really really curious about what this will smell like. I love opium (the original) and though I hope its younger (?) sibling will not deny the family resemblance, I am careful in my expectations
The ad is…well, neutral I’d say.
Well at least for once the people in the ads are not walking in slow motion lookin either anorexic, sex starved, undead, stoned, walkin down the champs elysees or a combination of all of the above! heheheheehehe
I liked it,