What, you thought Rihanna was going to give “Russian Roulette” a video full of sunshine and rainbows and peppy choreography? Her first single from Rated R is a song about violence. The video, which 20/20 premiered last night, is about the darkest piece of promotional material I’ve ever seen from a pop star.
The requisite shots of Rihanna and a man playing with a pistol aren’t the half of it. The video also features Rihanna writhing on the floor of a prison cell while menacing guards look on; staring down a speeding car on a dark highway; and twisting and turning underwater as bullets fly past. Director Anthony Mandler gives the clip an arty feel with creative camera angles and speed-up/slow-down effects. It’s the logical extension of previous Mandler-Rihanna collabs like “Disturbia” — which, like this clip, owed a heavy debt to the work of “Closer”/“99 Problems” auteur Mark Romanek. Perhaps needless to say, “Russian Roulette” is also an infinitely more worthwhile production than the pandering schlock that Rihanna’s abusive ex is putting out these days.
Of course, good art isn’t always good business. This is an extremely creepy video. I’m not sure how much MTV play it’ll get (during the few hours they still play videos), and more importantly, I wonder how many potential Rated R buyers will find this imagery to be a turn-off. Watch the video below, then you tell me: Do you think this is too dark for a pop video? And do you like this clip as much as I do?
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More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Rihanna’s dark, daring new single: “Russian Roulette”
Chris Brown’s “Crawl” video: He feels remorseful about a lost love. Do you care?
‘Glee: The Music, Vol. 2′ track listing revealed!
Solange covers the Dirty Projectors, delivers a little bit of awesome
Timbaland on Miley Cyrus: She’s the next Justin Timberlake
Comments (1-30) of 38 Add your comment
Beautiful and artistic. I would watch it again and again
It’s alright. I don’t think it’s too dark…but perhaps Mark Romanek should have been the director. The vid wasn’t as dark, or as impressive as i thought it would be. It’s alright. Bad Romance is better. and so is Closer/ The Perfect Drug. I like it, don’t love it. I’m glad she’s going in a darker direction.
I really like the end bit. But none of the video really sticks in my mind after i watch it.
Saw the whole video early this morning. It is dark and chilling!! I started to get goose bumps with the thought of “pulling the trigga”. This is definitely a “grown up” video and should be labeled accordingly. I understand the purpose of the song and video but I won’t be watching it again!!
I saw this video on another player, not a mtv one and i noticed that in this mtv version, the gunshot at the end isn’t in there. in the other version, the last shot of rihanna features a gun shot, so, makes you think the guy just shot himself. that was scary, but, it kinda was cool at the same time.
i think it’s a great video, goes right along with the song, which i realy realy like1
great video.
Disturbing imagery, especially if Rihanna considers her fan base among teenagers. The thing that bothers me is that “Russian Roulette” isn’t a great song. Rihanna can do ballad-y songs (“Unfaithful,” “Rehab”), but this one is plodding and kind of boring. Her songs can be darker, but their quality should still remain.
Simon, I know I’ve come for you many times, but I got your back with all these CAR-RAY-ZEE Chris Breezy female fans givin’ you a hard time for telling it like it is. Who knew it would take an admitted abuser to make us get along!? =)
Anyways…I knew from the get go that this video was going to be dark & disturbing. Its probably the WORST first single in the history of releases EVER, and I am surprised that Def Jam got the song to rocket to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week (ahh digital sales!!). I love Rihanna. I’m glad she is getting to share her vision after the darkness she experienced earlier this year. And the few times I’ve met her, she has always been a clasa act. I really wanna hang with her again NOW & see how much this entire situation has changed her. Not so sure what the shelf life for this video will be, it all depends on how big an urban hit “Hard” becomes, and how quickly mainstream programmers jump on that in lieu of this darker single.
The song is definitely haunting. It’s going to be interesting to watch her career from now on. And on a completely superficial note, Dr Hotness Monster’s eyes look hazel in that one. To quote the EW Grey’s recapper, what color are those things!
I’m with you. As shoot as I saw the first shot I was like “McHOtness Monster!!!” It kinda killed the creepy note.
I knew it! I knew it was Dr Hotness Monster! Best part of the video. Love his face.
Did anyone else get a Holocaust-type feeling with the gas chamber and the police officers? Cuz that kinda creeped me out. It’s a beautiful and powerful video but geesh, I don’t think I want to download this song anymore. Everytime I listen to this song I’m gonna think of this video.
I’m not a huge fan, but I respect her work here. The video is beautiful, and a total work of art. Unlike Britney’s “3″, it isn’t superficial and can be analyzed. I think the video is appropriate for the song and album. It’s not a video for kids, but then again, the album is titled “Rated R”.
Isn’t MJ’s Thriller frightening and creepy?? It’s also GREAT!!! Who wants more of the same…not me!
Great video. Better than Chris Brown’s crawl. Rihanna is def going deep and a lot of critics like it when singers tackle dark topics in their music. I see some awards coming for the next cd. I don’t think its two dark for MTV but if it is who cares. Most people watch music videos online these days ne way. Her music is better than that sappy s#it Chris has been putting out. I don’t dislike Chris Brown but I kind of wish he would go away for a while and stop apologizing for his mistakes all the time. If your sorry prove it and stop bringing it up all the time.
I wouldn’t call it creepy, but it’s definitely dark and heavy material. The parts in the prison remind me of Madonna’s “Die Another Day” a bit, which is a good thing in my opinion! I think the vid represents song well.
No. She dies. Scary. I don’t like the director. Rihanna deserves a director who fetishizes beautiful women.
I thought it was great. Maybe it says something about how desensitized we are the the glamorization of violence that I was not bothered by it at all! I actually like the song!!
The video is okay (that ending and those water scenes are particularly disturbing) but that song gets reaaaaly boring after 3rd hearing.
BTW is that Jackson from Greys Anatomy at the table with her? I´m not sure, but he looks hot!
It’s a great video and song. Creepy in a good way, are you sure you aren’t just trying to make a something out of nothing.
The underwater scenes are incredible.
EW PLEASE FIRE THIS GUY WHO WRITES THESE ARTICLES..HE IS NOT A MUSIC CRITIC…HE DOESNT KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good video. Not that it means much these days since the internet is the only place you can watch them.
Never cared for Rihanna’s ballads before. I find them very poppy/cheesy. (Singers who mostly release dance songs tend to have cheesy slow songs). But I actually really enjoy this song. Though I do think it’s not going to fair well on the charts being it’s not very radio friendly. Since most of the people who listen to the radio like the cheesy/poppy stuff.
Is NIN’s “Closer” dark and creepy? Is Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” dark and creepy? Is any video by Marilyn Manson dark and creepy? My point is, dark and creepy has been around in music way before Rihanna’s existence on this earth. Take heavy metal music for example. Ever since its existence, people who didn’t take the time to see the music as art treated it as “the devil’s music” because of the dark lyrics. As a matter of fact, there have been many cases over the years where some teenager commits suicide/kills someone else, and when it is discovered they listened to heavy metal music, the media automatically blamed the music. Ozzy Osbourne came under fire after a teenager shot himself while listening to “Suicide Solution”. The boy’s parents took Ozzy to court over this, never mind the fact that the kid was already depressed to begin with. And of course, the most famous case, the Columbine shooting. When it was discovered that the shooters listened to Marilyn Manson, EVERYBODY jumped on his back. Again, never mind the fact that the shooters had severe psychological and personal troubles that had nothing to do with the music. Point is, music is art, and it’s subjective and always open to interpretation. Of course, you will have some mentally unstable numbskulls do something stupid, and then have it blamed on the music. I listen to a lot of dark and heavy music, I have no desire to hurt myself or anyone else, because I’m mentally and emotionally ok. Sure, I can relate to some of the lyrics, but I feel no need to carry out what the lyrics say. Someone listening to “Russian Roulette” who goes and kills themselves afterwards is someone who was in dire need of help in the first place and would’ve killed or harmed themselves at some point anyway. Neither Rihanna nor her music should blamed, if God forbid such a thing should ever happen. Same for violent movies and video games. And as for Rihanna or any other celebrity being a role model, please, they are just entertainers, not pillars of morality. They are human and they make mistakes like you and me. The difference is, their mistakes are magnified for the whole world to see and scrutinize. They are accountable for no one’s actions but their own. Parents need to step up to the plate and be their children’s role models. It’s actually bad parenting to teach your kids to make decisions based on what their TV/movie/music idols do instead of teaching them to think for themselves. We should only look to celebrities for their talents, nothing more. Otherwise that’s how we get stuck with Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers. People want “role models” instead of focusing on actual talent.
the only creepy thing about this video is her hairstyle
The song? Bland and forgettable. The imagery?Absolutely irresponsible. This woman loves exploiting her own trauma for monetary gain, and it disgusts me.
Hello, Mountain. My, how quickly you’ve grown from Mole Hill!
Seems like another video that’s more of a fashion showcase than anything coherent or particularly artistic.
The Lou, we’re not talking about dark and creepy in the entire existence of music. We’re talking about dark and creepy from a huge mainstream pop star and how well that’s going to go over. Rihanna and NIN don’t exactly have the same fan base. I’m thinking the fans of NIN might eschew those who blindly follow mainstream pop.
On that note, bad song, good video. If this were the 90’s, the video might save the song. I think any success it has is a result of it being Rihanna, not so much of its own merits. Kelly Clarkson’s My December didn’t do well, but she didn’t have a gruesome, public dark and twisty thing happen to her so the interest in her dark and twisty record wasn’t there. I think the public response to this new material (especially if it all sucks…) will be interesting.
the song is really dull. everytime i hear it i keep wondering when it’s going to end. that said, the video was decent. much better than the overwrought “bad romance”.
Did you critique this video just so you could continue to talk ish about Chris Brown…..AGAIN?? Seriously…we get it already…you can’t stand him. You think he’s a deplorable human being unworthy of a second chance or breathing the same air as you. Or exisiting on the same planet as you! OK!! So put your $$ where your mouth is and STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM. Stop giving him the time of day in your articles. Don’t you think we could’ve survived without a review of a Chris Brown video?? Or another reference to said video and song in this review?? You’re not gonna single handedly take the man down, so can you please start reviewing stuff that people actually give a crap about? And NO, I’m not condoning Chris Brown’s behavior…but I’m not condoning yours either.
I, for one, think it’s perfectly fine for people to be regularly reminded that Chris Brown is an a-hole, especially in the midst of a publicity tour where he’s trying to disabuse people of that notion. His behavior earlier this year was deplorable and indefensible and he hasn’t come close to atoning for it. I think it’s perfectly appropriate for Simon to keep calling that out.
Then I guess it’s also perfectly appropriate for you to not buy Chris Brown’s music and perfectly appropriate for me to never read or comment on another one of these “reviews”.
That’s nowhere near extremely creepy or too dark.
Over-dramatic much?