Short Film Series: Runaway

Overview:

Runaway is a 35 minute short film directed by Kanye West and written by Hype Williams. This film is about a Phoenix that crash lands on earth and is saved by Griffin, played by West, and attempts to become accustomed to human civilization before she ascends back to the skies.

Initial Thoughts:

Right off the bat let me say that this review is gonna be written differently. The way West and Williams use the songs in this film make them feel like characters on their own, so every song used in this film will be treated as such. Runaway’s soundtrack are songs used from Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Every song that’s used has its own dedicated section, feeling like its own mini music video. Detail, continuity, and cohesiveness, are all apparent in any scenes featuring music from West. This film is pretty, so much so that you can watch this on mute and still be memorized. Kanye’s music is always a bonus in anything outside of his albums so watching him act and knowing he directed this plays in favor for this film. Having objectively, his greatest album of all time and, ONE of the greatest albums of all time be the background music to this film not only carries it but enhances it. West’s creative process is very collaborative. All of his work has major influences from his peers. MBDTF feels like Kanye influences himself on this album and the in this film. With songs like Dark Fantasy sounding like backpack rapper Ye and Hell of a Life being a peek into the upcoming album Yeezus. Alright I’ve done enough talking, lets look at the songs.

Dark Fantasy:

Our film opens with the track Dark Fantasy. Dude…this will always be a hell of an opening song for an album. Nicki Minaj does a short narration in an English accent which doesn’t really feel needed in the context of this album on its own, but it makes sense to have it in the film though. Anyways, “CAN WE GET MUCH HIGHER?” that always gets me, it has such a spectacular and grand feeling to it. Naturally we see something grand and spectacular while this song plays as this is the part where the phoenix crashes down to earth. While that is happening we see Griffin driving a MTX Tatra V8 (in case you don’t feel like looking it up just know its a nice car…come on dude its Kanye. What did you expect?) down a forrest road. The phoenix crashes and causes Griffin crashes his car. I feel like Griffin crashing his car is kind of a reference to Kanye’s actual car crash that broke his jaw. Also side note shout out to Kanye for the bar:

“Fresh air, rollin’ down the window

Too many Urkels on your team, thats why your wins low”

If you need that explained click here.

Gorgeous:

Gorgeous plays as the phoenix is interacting with things from the human world. She is seen trying to figure out how a TV works and playing with animals in Griffin’s backyard. I don’t really have much to say about this scene because Gorgeous is kind of just filler music for this establishing shot. Shoutout to Kid Cudi for one of the best hooks of his career.

Power:

When I first saw this part I was like…”Kanye is a musical genius and nothing is ever going to change my mind” and then Jesus is King came out. In the film Kanye is playing a remixed version of this song on a MPC2000XL (fancy name for a drum machine) and the phoenix dances to it. Kanye is going crazy on this beat, every time I watch it I have a newfound appreciation for the song. You guys have to watch it, seriously. Click here.

All of the Lights:

Griffin takes the phoenix to see different sights, including a carnival with fireworks and a marching band in the dessert. This scene just establishes that Griffin and the phoenix are falling in love. All of the Lights is the perfect song to have a marching band play but I’m going to need an explanation of the giant papier-mâché bust of Michael Jackson.

Devil in a New Dress:

Griffin and the phoenix attend a formal dinner party. During this scene, Devil in a New Dress is used the same way that Gorgeous is, to set the tone for whats to come. I feel like this scene works better because during the dinner we see guests dressed in all white, the first course is bread and wine like holy communion, and the overall setup up looks Biblical. The track samples Smokey Robinson’s Will You Love Me Tomorrow and the vocals sound kind of angelic and choir-like. Overall, great song and great establishing shot. Rick Ross gives the greatest verse of his life on this song.

Runaway:

Okay y’all…we made it. The title track and the best part of the film. The party-goers start to make negative comments about the phoenix to Griffin. An upset Griffin responds by walking to a piano and preforming Runaway, with ballerinas in black tutus. Kanye is at his peak with this song. This part of the film also served as the music video. The ballerinas are fluid with their motions and they feel like they just belong. One of the covers of MBDTF is a painting of a ballerina in a black tutu and this scene feels like the album cover has come to life. The song itself feels like art for your ears, everything meshes together so well. Every instrument blends in and stands out at the same time. Kanye’s singing is hit or miss to me sometimes but here it works. In the context of the film, Griffin uses this song to vent his anger and sadness. The chorus has lines like “lets have a toast for the douche bags, lets have a toast for the assholes”, eventually, the party-goers toast their glasses as this part is sung. The outro of this track is beautiful. Kanye alters his voice using a distortion box and is singing the chorus over and over again, while we watch the ballerinas preform an interpretive dance sequence.

Hell of a Life:

Once the main course is served the phoenix is horrified to see that it is a large turkey and cries out. Hell of a Life is one of the weaker tracks on the album in my opinion and, this scene just uses its rough sounding synths to add to the intensity of the moment.

Blame Game:

Blame Game is a ballad featuring John Legend. In this scene Griffin and the phoenix are sitting in a garden looking up at the clouds. This song implies that they’re about to make up from the events of the dinner party. The phoenix explains to Griffin that she will be turned into stone and she must burst into flames in order to avoid this fate and return to her home world. Griffin cannot accept this and begs her not to and they begin to make love.

Lost in the World:

The next morning, Griffin wakes up on the roof of his home and the phoenix is nowhere to be found. Its reveled that she’s flying across the sky and fulfilling her fate. The film ends with Griffin running through the forrest trying to find her. Lost in the World deals with well…loss, so its fitting to see and hear Griffin/Kanye deal with loss by desperately looking for a lover and also rapping about how much that person means to him. This ending in my opinion is powerful and emotional. We see the phoenix second guess her choice but she continues to fly away and roll credits.

Final Thoughts:

Runaway is peak Kanye. Period. Artistically, everything just aligns. If you want to compare the two, this works better than Clapping for the Wrong Reasons because this film was crafted around the album, whereas the album made with Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, Because the Internet, was made around the film which made it too dependent on the screenplay and the short film. This is just a well made film and could be enjoyed separately from the album.

Rate:

A+