The new full length short film (almost 6 minutes) for Guerlain Shalimar, shot on location in India and inspired by the story of Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal. You may remember that Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahal built in her memory.
Brief partial nudity, and some bathing and some writhing. Also, elephants and horses.
With Natalia Vodianova (she was also in the NSFW 2011 ad for Shalimar Parfum Initial) and Willy Cartier. Directed by Bruno Aveillan (you can see more of his work here). When I posted the teaser, someone noted the resemblance to the Cartier Odyssey promo — yes, he directed that also. Music by Hans Zimmer.
While beautifully made, this short film is also a mild disappointment: I found some scenes quite ridiculous (taking a bath in a metal wire outfit??!?) and the overall toneon the rhetoric side…
Great landscapes, great lights and photography, but I preferred the Cartier movie by far….
Besides, the soundtrack sent me straight to the final scene of the da Vinci code…I kept wondering when would Tom Hanks pop up!
It’s an impressive ad, but the Cartier film has a sense of wonder and playfulness (and creativity) that is missing here. Also thought the male lead was, well, not that great.
*boring*
the guy, that is:D
I also liked Winter Tale by Cartier.
This music is from the Da Vinci code soundtrack, by Hans Zimmer *checking the back of her DaVinci code copy*. Yep, I would have known this piece of music anywhere, since it is one of my favorite movie music pieces that has come out in a long time. I wonder if they went thru the proper channels to use this piece. Does that happen often, perfume companies using existing music for their promos?
Also, agreed with someone below, not crazy about lead actor. Kinda meh.
Oops, that was Robin I agreed with re: lead actor!
Yes, taking a bath in a metal outfit did seem odd to me, too. I was like, “But it’ll get all rusty!” Totally the kind of thing I get stuck on. lol
I tend to avoid a lot of ads just cause they are too sensual for my tastes..making it tacky imo. Even though, I do get attraction is part of scent..why so much sex/skin? It’s not innovative to me. This was Lord of the Rings meets Sports Illustrated/Playboy..not a fan.
I prefer Cartier’s kitties, just imo.
I don’t always mind sex/skin in perfume ads, but it’s rarely convincing.
I got a Lord of the Rings vibe from it, too. And a little Pirates of the Caribbean: Worlds End from the music (same composer.) I too preferred the Cartier film but elephants are always nice.
Can’t beat elephants.
Especially elephants trudging through the snow??! The guy is supposed to be the boyfriend of the singer Frank Ocean. I think he’s sexy.
I liked it. I was checking out the preview clips just last week. Was it necessary? No, but I liked it just the same. Better than the Cartier film. I also liked following another of your older posts of Aveillan ads — I guess he’s a major ad director in France (maybe elsewhere too).
One of my favorite “perfume films” is still the one for Amouage Epic.
I liked your warning tag including “some writhing.” Heh.
So far, the commentary online seem to be overwhelmingly positive.
I’ll have to see if I can find the video for Epic, don’t think I remember it. Or I’ve never seen it.
I love seeing these (never see them anywhere else!) and I love that they devoted this much time and money to Shalimar. The piece itself is extremely annoying. They lost me when the princess turned out to be a blonde white chick. Who bathes in her body jewelry?? What???
I feel like they felt that the original story of Shalimar just isn’t “exotic” enough these days, so they made a fairy tale out of it, but kind of a stupid fairy tale where the woman is walking around naked under nylon veils (what????) and the guy has a horse who can’t swim. Or he just doesn’t want to get his clothes wet.
As I said, so far, the commentary I’ve seen was overwhelmingly positive, but I agree — I did not find it all that convincing or compelling.
I do take it that her leaving on the boat is supposed to represent her death, which is why he built the Taj Mahal in the first place? But it doesn’t really quite come across.
Yes, taking a bath in a metal outfit did seem odd to me, too. I was like, “But it’ll get all rusty!” Totally the kind of thing I get stuck on. lol