The Smiths' "The Queen is Dead" gets a very artistic and almost surreal experience shot in avant-garde style by veteran filmmaker/artist Derek Jarman ("Caravaggio",
"Jubilee"), one of several videos he made for the group. The site's entry for the title without naming The Smiths gathers this clip plus "Ask" and "There is a Light that
Never Goes Out", of which I wrote some time ago since it's a great collage with the three videos. This here is a review just on this particular clip.
In it, Jarman uses of plenty of juxtaposition and fast imagery to presents his pictures, a couple of UK locations, people running around and many unusual editing
tricks that makes everything go on a rush with a couple of quiet, slow images in between, and the band is completely absent here except for the hard song with
Morrissey's raw lyrics, the great beat by Joyce, the rhythmic bass from Rourke and the unforgettable riffs by Marr.
A very intriguing project of which we have to use the power of imagination or maybe have some poetical of the world to make a positive and relevant connection between
the images presented by Jarman and the way the music connects them both, which I think makes the experience a thousand times more rewarding than the usual clips of the
period consisting in just presenting a performance from the artist/group. This one makes audiences admire the visual, the abstraction and find ways to connect with
reality, to find some relevance to life even though the images are all rushed, mysterious, frantic, chaos and confusion merging together - that's life. Along with the
sound of The Smiths, which is unmistakable and perfect to hear. It's pretty interesting all the way. 9/10.