She Will Be Loved

 

2004

Artist: Maroon 5

Director: Sophie Muller

A quick Googling revealed Sophie Muller has directed several of my favorite music videos: “She Will Be Loved,” “Cool,” “Mr. Brightside,” and “Born To Die,” among others. *Future profile piece to come*

“She Will Be Loved” is a luscious creation: drenched in sepia, Fitzgerald-like in its grandeur and melodrama.

Bonus: there’s a defined storyline (by Johanna Bautista) that works with the song’s lyrics.

The plot follows Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, who’s caught in a love triangle with Girlfriend (Corinne Carrey) and Gf’s Mother (Kelly Preston). It’s The Graduate with a different ending.

Preston’s performance as a fraying cougar sells the video. Her sultry gaze and languid movements, dramatized by well-timed slow-mo and flowing hair and wardrobe, captivate viewers and echo “she will be loved.”

Carrey, an Avril Lavigne double, does well with her limited role. She shines at the end, when Daughter puts the pieces together (more on that below).

Levine, however, maintains the same sulky expression throughout his ample screen time.

The sepia filter saturation dates the video (2000s MVs paved the way for Instagram’s success), but the overall color scheme is lovely. Red accents stand out against a palette of warm beiges and greens.

Preston stealing the show; note the “white” robe #sepiacity

The editing is perfect here too. The play of slow- and fast-mo from 1:00 – 1:28 adds dramatic tension. The contrasting cuts intensify the physical violence suffered by Gf’s Mother at the hands of her husband and paint Levine and Gf’s Mother’s tryst as passionate and ravenous.

Muller masterfully cross-cuts the dance sequence (2:25 – 2:34), switching back and forth between shots of Levine dancing with Girlfriend and Gf’s Mother and mirroring Levine’s vacillating affections.

Levine’s emotions are not the only erratic element of this video. The inconsistent frame shapes, in particular the circular-frame shots (:27, 2:25, 2:42, 4:02, 4:05, 4:14, 4:16, 4:20), serve no purpose.

Nor do the cabaret dancers behind Gf’s Mother (2:55), who don’t match the video’s aesthetic. However, the large painting (2:45) of two women (or mermaids?) fawning over a bare-chested man sprawled on a boat does.

Cropped corners and relevant painting

As is often the case, the lead singer (Levine here) gets the spotlight while his band mates share awkward reactionary shots (:48 – :54, 3:51) and performance shots (1:53 – 3:00). It makes sense to have the lead singer portray the protagonist in videos. Logically, one would think the person vocalizing a first-person story is the protagonist, but it’s a team effort you know?

The ending is a cliff hanger, or isn’t it? A series of flashbacks in rapid-fire succession lays out the truth and provides an overwhelming effect like crashing waves of emotion. The cuts slow to alternating closeups of Levine’s, Gf’s Mother’s, and Girlfriend’s eyes, where recognition is dawning. The scene brings the video, which opened with the same shots, full circle.

Muller nudges our subconscious into the final coupling with color (Levine and Gf’s Mother in black i.e. “we’re a pair” and Girlfriend in white) and shooting technique (Levine and Gf’s Mother share a frame, Girlfriend is given her own).

Nice, symmetrical shot of my dream terrace