Search - Mylene Farmer: Music Videos on DVD

A masterpiece collection

Ivan Antunovic | 01/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The videos that in terms of stunningly ambitious production still fare ahead of their time - historical/fictional topics juxtaposed to the modern pop-beat are awesome. Especially for this collection remains the most expressive of her 'mini-movies' affairs. Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat's audiovisual complexity of innocence, romance, violence, the occult and death constantly provides a stunningly beautiful, shivering video pattern. If we take out promotional clumsiness of her early efforts ('Maman-a-tort') 'Music Videos' is a proudly owned item in both, your DVD and music collections.

Most song versions in these videos refer to Farmer's excellent 12" remixes, additionally filled with orchestral parts that give each story additional emotional depth. The scenes are worked out to their finest detail - whether colour and monochromatic, strongly affecting the viewer.

It is not at all greatful pointing out a specific moment among the lot, for each tells its own, unique story. Replays are truly recommended for there are just too many beautiful details, reflecting Farmer an artist of charm and talent beyond description."

Mon Dieu! Incroyable!!

Jonathan Ramlow | Midland, MI USA | 01/17/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I still cannot believe my good fortune--I bought this DVD for almost nothing in a thrift shop. For some reason, too few Americans have ever heard Mylene Farmer sing or watch her performances in "music videos" like these. I used the quotation marks in the previous sentence because so many of hers are only superficially comparable to more typical music videos created solely for advertising/marketing purposes. With her partner Laurent Boutonnat, Mlle. Farmer actually makes short films complete with coherent plots, gorgeous costuming and cinematography, and very good casts of characters. In this collection, two of the films actually constitute two halves of one story ("Libertine" and "Pourvu Qu'elles Soient Douces"). More remarkably yet, one of these films ("Desenchantee") ends with an existential plot twist that might leave you feeling sort of depressed after the exhilarating build-up and climax of the main story. I was so impressed, however, with Mlle. Farmer's and M. Boutonnat's respect for their audience's intelligence and willingness to present something very different from a "happy ending" that I found myself feeling exhilarated still, albeit in a different way. I've read here and there about Mlle. Farmer's popularity in France, other European countries, and Canada; about favorable comparisons of her with the incomparable Edith Piaf; and about her temporary self-exile from France after a deranged fan killed an office worker and himself in a desperate, failed attempt to get next to her. There is no excuse or rational explanation for such extreme adulation of a pop star, no matter how talented and charismatic she may be. But having seen and heard Mlle. Farmer's performances on stage and on film, I can certainly count myself as a devoted admirer (from an appropriate distance). One of my favorite things to do these days is to introduce my friends to Mlle. Farmer's music and video performances. Almost invariably they will wonder, as I did, how they could have been so totally unaware of her work. I suspect that she may never have been particularly interested in cultivating pop-stardom in the U.S. Whether or not that's the case, I will always count myself lucky for discovering her when I did--better late than never."

Genius

Norton833 | Austin, Tx United States | 01/17/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Part of a three-part comp of Mylene Farmer's extravagantly theatrical videos, spanning the mid-80's to roughly ten-odd years ago. MF does this stuff with a real sense of emotional investment. Wild, surprisingly sexy, over the top, brilliant. All three volumes highly recommended. US viewers Caveat Emptor: These DVDs are PAL, not NTSC, but can be watched on PAL-friendly DVD players, and, of course, computers."