Review: Anton Corbijn’s Ouvre

Anton Corbijn became famous as a photographer, but it led to his work in music videos, which, in turn, led to his feature-film directorial debut, Control (2007).  I was going to review that film, but it seemed a little late, given that it’s been out on DVD for a bit now and it was in theatres when Agent M and I went on our first date (it is now known as the movie we did not see on our first date).

Still, reviewing anything of Corbijn’s ultimately comes down to a few style characteristics that run throughout his work.  And so, I present to you a review that can be applied to the majority of his works:

In Corbin’s cover photos for band/book of photography/music video for exciting, new band/music video for boring, old band/new film, he has once again reinforced his visual style through supersaturated color/grainy black and white.  In his images, we gain an impression of his subject as moody and serious, but, as ever, Corbijn provides contrast to these grave, even gloomy portrayals with sexy women/an incongruous affair with a sexy woman, juxtaposed with a dowdy wife/a nonsensical plotline involving farm animals/hooded figures who look like Jawa Klansmen/photos of Dava Gahan that highlight his package.

As a gender and sexualities scholar, I can’t help but notice the use of women as naked objects/absence of women in favor of farm animals/absence of women in favor of old men in diapers/facile contrast between Ian Curtis’s dowdy wife Deborah and his mistress Annik Honore/sexy women who would clearly be out of the band’s league, unless they noticed how Corbijn has highlighted Dave Gahan’s package.

The use of naked women/an old man in diapers/a lead singer in king’s mantle and crown/really poor plot pacing sets off the lack of a plot, but Corbijn is essentially a photographer.  Photographs stand still in time, giving only the suggestion of action; unless they are photojournalism, they do not force explanation.  And the lack of a plot is not nearly so problematic as in a music video/feature film.  In a music video, a narrative is not necessary, but appreciated/in a feature film, narrative provides a driving force, especially if one is attempting to portray another artist’s life.

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You can try this review technique yourself, inserting any band or series of videos you like.  The only time it does not work is Corbijn’s series of self-portraits, which have lots of issues in their own right.

This brings us to the conclusion of Anton Corbijn week!  I may not post again until Tuesday, when this week’s “Rock History, What I Leave Out” will feature disco, an entire genre of music!