IU "Love Wins All" MV analysis
Every once in a while one of my favourite artists releases something so good that gets me to the point of obsession, which means coming over here writing about all my thoughts.
And no one does that quite like IU (which is why she is my absolute favourite solo female artist, not in k-pop, just in Music).
Here's a short (LMAO, knowing me it will be super long) analysis of this MV!
The story begins with the two main characters in this story (interpreted by IU and V from BTS), running to escape from a flying box, the villain of this story set in a dystopic reality on the verge of apocalyptic doom.
The two characters run to hide inside a Mall, and from the first shots we can already notice few characteristics:
IU is mute, while V is blind from one eye.
the two are lovers.
Once they manage to hide from the flying cube, they get inside the Mall, where they notice a huge pile of clothes in the middle of it.
They keep exploring until they reach an old electronics shop, and they find an old camera: after trying it, they notice that while using that they can "imagine" an alternative reality, in which they both look healthy and clean.
A reality in which they can pretend to be happily in love, while enjoying moments in a world full of colors, which no longer exists...
...So they start to explore around the Mall while imagining their happy moments. They go through a restaurant, where everything is rotten and molded, but they sit at the table and look at each other through the camera, imagining how it would feel to share a meal together, taking solace in those simple moments of happiness, like having dessert together, wiping sugar from your lover's face, etc.
In this imagined reality they suddenly find themselves surrounded by people, but they all look anonymous, with black clothes and covered faces: this is because they do not matter, what counts in this shared fantasy is the happiness between the two main characters, the only focus they have is on each other and their love.
After playing around they run away from the crowd and find themselves in another shop, where they find wedding dresses. Full of love for each other they quickly change into those and play around, pretending to be a newly married couple celebrating their eternal love.
...But their reality is catching up, and in the middle of this happy fantasy, the cube finds them and forces them to resume their escape
While running away the two end up in front of an open gash in a wall, which shows to the viewer the bitter reality of the world in this story: these cubes are everywhere and are destroying the world.
The two keep running together and they end up in front of the huge pile of clothes, where they get cornered by that same cube.
The two stay together and try to fight it, but in front of the inevitable ending the two hold each other and face their destiny together.
We see from the dying camera on the floor that the two get taken by the cube to be vaporized, and after disappearing their wedding dresses fall on top of the existing pile of clothes.
There are many things I can discuss while reviewing this MV, but I want to focus on a few of them.
THE STORYTELLING - when it comes to the Art of Storytelling, setting up a whole world, characters, and narrative with a coherent arc NO ONE does it like IU and her team. This is not one isolated case, she made it a mission in her work to deliver intense stories, ever since her major successes after "Good Day" back in 2010 she slowly established her own sound and image while also experimenting with this focus on narration and "theatricality" that makes the viewer immersed in her stories. Go see: "Eight", "Celebrity", "Coin", "Above the Time", "Ending Scene", "The Red Shoes", "You&I", "Modern Times", "Good Day" and more to get a clear idea of this. You need talent, vision, hard work, effort, and creativity to constantly deliver this quality of work, and IU along with her team is just doing that.
THE ACTING - this ties in with the first point, but I'd say there is no great storytelling if the acting is mediocre. She is one of the most recognized Korean actresses in the industry AND internationally, and it is for a reason. Her acting is intense yet delicate, complex, and fragile, she always gives depth to her characters and develops their backstories to give us a 360° view of them, which makes them more relatable. No matter how involved you are in your work, and no matter how much money and effort your company and team put into it, in the end, if the artists do not make a personal effort to deliver their performative art to the viewer your work will never be 100% effective. IU goes all in each and every time. With her is always quality over quantity, and it shows. Shout out to V for delivering a solid performance: I could easily see parts of him in the "happy" scenes of the story! When he smiles his expressions always look genuine and innocent (if you are ARMY or even a casual BTS fan you will easily know what I'm talking about). He definitely improved a lot since his past experience in a K-Drama, and I can't wait to see more of him on screen once he gets back!
THE CUBE - this is the first important point I want to make in this analysis. Why the cube?! I am sure the jokes about the choice of using a flying cube as a villain are hundreds on the internet, but I haven't seen anyone pointing out a possible actual meaning, so here are two I personally thought of. - The cube immediately reminded me of bright screens: this might be an implied nod towards the online world, the media, and in general the hate that people (and idols especially) receive in the incessant scrutiny both professionally and personally, sometimes resulting in severe and dramatic consequences. If you are familiar with IU you know that her life has been exposed to the public since she was basically a child, and she is now where she is DESPITE all the criticism and invasions of privacy she had to face. You probably also know that she has lost more than one person very close to her, partially because of this online hate that people keep spreading, so it is not too wild to assume that she might have wanted to add that to the meaning of this work.
- ...But more than that, the meaning I personally picked up is more universal and relatable to EVERYONE watching this story. The cube, more than a cube, is a BOX. Which is a symbol for all those social constrictions, limits, labels, and expectations, that society forces on each and every one of us to "fit" inside a specific box. To blend in, to conform to specifics, to get in line and live your life within those metaphorical boxes, that determine whether your aspect, your personality, your career, your private life, etc. are all ENOUGH to the standards the society expects you to follow. It is not a random choice that the two main characters shown in the MV are both showing visible characteristics that make them "different" from the expected conformity. IU's character is deaf/mute (Not sure if it is both), and V's character is blind in one eye. They both have SOMETHING that makes them unable to conform and because of this, they will never be able to fit inside their specific boxes. Because of this, they cannot exist in this dystopic society, that starts to resemble our very reality more and more.
THE PILE OF CLOTHES - Tying the previous point regarding the cubes, I need to point out this last important element in the story. I am sure 99% of you already picked on the not-so-subtle nod to the "Spring Day" MV, which also shows a huge pile of clothes to represent the lives that were lost during the Sewol Ferry Tragedy that happened in 2014. This in turn is using the concept behind a work of Contemporary Visual Art by an artist called Christian Boltanski. With his work "Personnes", representing huge piles of clothes just like the ones shown in these two MVs, the artist talks about life, death, and memory.
He depicts the reality of groups of people that for several reasons (wars, poverty, etc...) have lost their lives. He urges the viewer to go beyond the random acknowledgment of this: he asks us to EMPATHISE, to actually understand that we are in front of the only symbol of lives that are no more. He demands our understanding by showing us something universal, like their clothes. We do not know their names, nationalities, aspects, or whether they were part of metaphorical boxes...
The same artists once said that used clothes, for him, are traces of lost identities, objects of a subject that is no more.
He leaves the clothes, forcing the viewer to focus on those details, to ask questions about those people, to imagine their stories.
He urges us to remember.
I think that the lyrics and the title itself are pretty explanatory of the intent of this song: IU wanted to deliver a powerful message of universal love, and she chose to do it through an MV that shows us how Love can shine bright even in the face of death and tragedy, and she did it in an original, dramatic, deeply moving way that leaves a deep impression on the viewer, perfectly on brand with her previous works.
She showed us that Love Wins All, and she reminded me yet again why she is my absolute favorite solo Korean singer.
