Customer Reviews

Director's Series Vol. 5 - Work of Director Jonathan Glazer

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This DVD contains almost all of Jonathan Glazer's eye-popping videos.

I guess he's not directed more than a dozen, but who needs more with a portafolio like his.

Now venturing into feature film, directing Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast and NIcole Kidman in Birth, Jonathan Glazer's DVD showcases his best videos and extensively doucments his other work in commercials and feature film.

THE WORK OF DIRECTOR JONATHAN GLAZER
Music Videos
Radiohead - Street Spirit
Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity
Richard Ashcroft - A Song for the Lovers
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Into My Arms
UNKLE - Rabbit in Your Headlights
Blur - The Universal
Radiohead - Karma Police
Massive Attack - Karmacoma

Commercials
Wrangler - Ride
Guinness - Surfer (extended)
Guinness - Swim Black
Guinness - Dreamer
Volkswagen - Protection
Stella Artois - Last Orders
Stella Artois - Whip Round
Levis - Kung Fu
Levis - Odyssey
Barclays - Bull (with Samuel L. Jackson)
Barclays - Chicken (with Samuel L. Jackson)

Interviews and Commentaries
Including Nick Cave, Richard Ashcroft, Jamiroquai, Denis Lavant, 3D, Blur and James Lavelle.

Films
Sexy Beast (excerpt) - You're the Problem
Interviews with Ray Winstone and Sir Ben Kingsley
Birth (excerpt) - Central Park
Interviews with Nicole Kidman, Danny Huston, Harris Savides, Milo Addica and Jean Claude Carriere.

Tramp: Paul Kaye

52 Page Book
Includes photographs, sketches, storyboards and interviews.

At first glance, I was disappointed by the material provided on this DVD. This is supposed to be a music video compilation, and how many videos are we provided here: 7 or 8? In comparison to the Romanek and Corbijn DVDs, this disc seems to fall short. After a run though, this turned out to be a quality disc of Glazer's "best" material.

Pretty much all the videos (even if there's only a few here) are spectacular. The Karma Police and Street Spirit videos rival Michel Gooooondry for the king of Radiohead directors. The multiple speeds of the subjects in Street Spirit confused me, really confused me, when I first saw the video on MTV, and I still didn't know how he did it until it was explained here. His famous Jamiroquai video is always fun to watch again, and although the floor trick isn't nearly as cool after the first few viewings, you have to admit that it's original. Oh, and I definitely can't leave out the video for "Rabbit in the Headlights," one of my favorites, straight genius.

Although you get gypped with the number of videos, it almost evens out with the film clips, extras, and commercials included here. Glazer has pretty much proven his talents in all three areas, so getting a chance to watch his clever Guinness Commercials or his hilarious dark comedy Sexy Beast is a nice treat (I hope everyone has seen this movie by now). I still haven't seen Birth, though, so I've prevented myself from watching the excerpts here.

The only thing this disc lacks is quality commentary, especially in the music video section. I almost never trade the music for the commentaries, and the extras are pretty weak, too. However, this is a solid introduction to a very unique and talented director, and definitely worth having in your collection.

I've been a fan of Palm Pictures since they came out with a Mocean Worker dvd single and Sound & Motion Vol. 1 which is what started my interest in non-MTV music videos. While Jonathan Glazer's videos don't have the obscurity of Chris Cunningham's, they don't have the mass marketability as Anton Corbijn, hence why the dvd starts with U.N.K.L.E.'s 'Rabbit in your Headlights' video. The band never allowed pictures or videos of themselves in their early days, but can be seen driving the car where the music cuts out in the first video. Jonathan Glazer's videos have what I like most about seeing a music video - They tell their own story, based on the story the song tells by itself. I'd say Glazer's videos are a cross between Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry, right in the middle.

I give it five stars because of the complexity each video has in capturing the right mood of the song, which is why you'll find Radiohead, Massive Attack, U.N.K.L.E., and the simply fantastic Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity video. I love the Director's Label series with the booklets that have notes about each of the videos by the director. Michel Gondry's is particularly great. Out of the Label series this is my favorite director, followed by a tie between Michel Gondry, Spike Jonez, and Chris Cunningham. I feel all four of these directors are equally creative and ingenious that really emphasize the high points of the artists they film with. If you came over to my party and if I didn't have Underworld's Everything Everything Live playing, this would be on. Buy it, says my 2 year old son :)