Music Video Analysis: Frozen
Hello people! This is my second Music Video Analysis, and today I’m analyzing the “Frozen” video, as requested by monica-ciccone. I hope you like it!
The music video for “Frozen” was directed by Chris Cunningham. Madonna came to know his work when she saw the video he did for Aphex Twin, “Come to Daddy”, in 1997. The original idea of her video was to have her in Iceland, reflecting the song’s title. However, Madonna didn’t want to be cold, so why not turn California’s Mojave Desert into a frozen desert through color grading?
Madonna’s current stylist, Arianne Phillips, started working with her on this video. She wears a Olivier Theyskens black dress and performs choreography inspired by Martha Graham’s work. Madonna is a huge fan of hers.
The video begins with Madonna coming up from the desert ground as a mystical female creature. She has said for MTV in 1998 at the video’s location that she represents the embodiment of female angst.
Throughout the video she turns into a few things…
Dark birds are usually associated to vultures, large birds that eat dead flesh, coming from animals or humans. Greyhounds are perceived as bad dogs for being large and thin and associated to competition.These two concepts together could mean that “you only see what your eyes want to see”. There’s not all that bad about them.
Throughout the video, Madonna appears with several tattoos in her hand. Those tattoos are Indian techniques called mehndis, that are usually applied when a bride is on her wedding day. It’s a form of skin decoration very popular in the Orient. It differs from real tattoo for not being permanent, it is temporary instead.
One of them is the symbolic representation of “Om”, a very popular Sanskrit mantra from Hindu origin and sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It means ‘to speak out loud’. Now put it to the context of the song.
Towards the end, there’s a close-up of Madonna’s necklace, and it is a caged onyx. The onyx gem stone can be found in India and means “clutch” in Greek. Madonna in this particular part sings “You hold the key”.
One of the last scenes shows Madonna digging into the ground, to return to her original form, a mystical force of nature that is women.
Even though she’s wearing a black wig and a black dress, Madonna and Chris Cunningham wanted to depart from the gothic look. They main goal was to portrait her as a mystical force from the desert. Madonna sees it as a magical and powerful place to be. And it is, right?
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