Formats
Released on VHS only, the packaging in North America was a plain black slip cover with a sticker around it, so that it resembled a "seedy video". In Europe, it was given the full cover artwork treatment, and they also included a bonus video of Madonna's performance of "Vogue" at the 1990 MTV Music Video Awards, which was ironic as MTV had banned the title track. In the UK, the video was given an "18" certificate by the BBFC, meaning no one under that age could legally buy or see the release.
The video was filmed primarily on Laserdisc in grainy black and white in the style of a 1960s European art film. The action takes place in an elegant hotel that apparently caters to alternate-lifestyle couples. Madonna (or her character) enters looking tired and distressed as she walks down the hallway toward her room. There, she has a romantic fling with a mysterious man (played by Tony Ward). Some of the doors to the other rooms are ajar, and we catch glimpses of various couples cavorting in BDSM fetish outfits (leather, latex bodysuits, and corsets).
In a dream-like sequence, Madonna rolls around in bed wearing skimpy-lace underwear while various figures come and go. The only nudity (which led to the video being banned) occurs when a topless dominatrix-type woman (suspenders partly covering her breasts) appears and roughly grabs a bound man (the same man who is with Madonna) by the hair. Her outfit, which includes a peaked leather hat and black gloves, copies the iconic ensemble worn by Charlotte Rampling in the controversial film The Night Porter. (Both the film and the video share elements of sadomasochism.) The theme of androgyny is also briefly alluded to when a woman who closely resembles Madonna's lover is seen in men's clothing with a drawn-on pencil mustache.
The overall presentation is surreal and deliberately ambiguous. The retinue of strange characters may be real or simply fantasies from Madonna's imagination. In the end, a rejuvenated Madonna rushes out of the hotel room smiling and laughing. The video then fades to a black screening with a written phrase shown in white on the top left-hand corner, "poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another," which later fades out.
The music video was released on DVD for the first time on the greatest hits package Celebration: The Video Collection in 2009. This version of the video was censored with black bars in a scene that contains female nudity.
Read more about this topic: Justify My Love (video)