Music Video
Madonna traveled to the Indian Wells Valley of the Mojave Desert in California to shoot the music video for "Frozen" from January 7–10, 1998. It was directed by Chris Cunningham, and was inspired by the movies The English Patient and The Sheltering Sky. The video won an MTV Video Music Award for "Best Special Effects" in 1998. The cinematography was done by Darius Khondji, who also shot Madonna's 1993 music video "Fever", and the 1996 film Evita. With a monochromatic bluish appearance throughout, the video shows Madonna playing The Morrígan, an ethereal Gothic witch-like (though often hailed as a goddess or personification of nature), melancholy persona, with long black hair, black gowns designed by Olivier Theyskens (at that time a young and emerging talent), and mehndi on her hand showing the Hindu word Om on her palm. She shapeshifts into a flock of crows and a Doberman, and like the legend of the Morrígan, presents herself as a trinity of sisters representing aspects of the same being.
In the video, Madonna wearing a black dress from the Jean Paul Gaultier collection spring summer 1998. The collection was inspired by the costumes and the image of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
The video premiered on February 12, 1998 in Europe and on MTV four days later. There were also two remix videos of "Frozen" released that same year by Dan-O-Rama titled "Stereo MC's Mix" and "Calderone Club Mix".
The video was parodied by Australian comedienne Gina Riley in an episode of the short-lived sketch show Something Stupid.
- Director: Chris Cunningham
- Producer: Nick Wrathall
- Director of Photography: Darius Khondji
- Editor: Gary Knight
- Production company: Black Dog Films
Read more about this topic: Frozen (song)
Famous quotes containing the words music and/or video:
“If this be love, to clothe me with dark thoughts,
Haunting untrodden paths to wail apart;
My pleasures horror, music tragic notes,
Tears in mine eyes and sorrow at my heart.
If this be love, to live a living death,
Then do I love and draw this weary breath.”
—Samuel Daniel (1562–1619)
“We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)