Tropico, the Home of Gods, Legends, Creations, America, Love and Music
Mother Mary, Jesus, Marilyn, unicorn, you name it. It’s all in Tropico, a short film from 2013, directed by Anthony Mandler and written by Lana Del Rey. Tropico is a short film that features three songs from Lana Del Rey’s studio album, Born to Die Paradise Edition which comes out in 2012.
Tropico is made from three songs from Lana’s EP along with an emotional storytelling of every single life in the world. The film begins biblically with the Garden of Eden, starring Lana as Eve and Shaun Ross as Adam, walking into the garden to meet their creator. In the garden, there stands Jesus, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, John Wayne which represents Genesis and old Hollywood stars of America in the good old days. The first bit of the film features Body Electric from Paradise Edition.The song starts with, ‘Elvis is my daddy, Marilyn’s my mother, Jesus is my bestest friend’, which causes a dramatic sense of goose bumps and frequently haunting. Although Body Electric doesn’t really contain any subject from Genesis, the tune of the song is just overwhelming. It can’t help but release the vibe of excitement, dark innocence of Eve as she and her lover are about to break from their innocent mind and start exploring the fantasies, dreams and adventures out there. The chorus repeats, ‘I sing a body electric’, unleashing the dark holiness and the haunting melody with Adam and Eve dancing in the garden. The music seems to let us taste the sweetness once more while we can.
Later on, Adam and Eve are seen in Los Angeles, living as a shopkeeper/mob member and a stripper. Gods and Monster has received great critics and reviews since it’s released from the short film and also the album. The music plays us the sad tone that tells us life can ravage you in whichever way it can, while Eve is dancing in a strip club with cash in the air and in her underwear. The middle of the film shows how hopeless and helpless life can be out there in the big cities, compromising while dancing around a pole to stay alive. The lyrics are meaningful, dark, authentic and down, sung in a hopeless tune yet genuine from the inside out. In this piece of music, no happiness can be seen, no liveliness can be heard, not even a tiny light can be felt. The singer even quotes Oscar Wilde’s phrase, ‘Life imitates arts’ that life may not be perfect but still it is beautiful as a piece of art. Adam, hanging out with the gang and firing guns to the sky for the life that comes with no bright future yet living without worries which leave us some clear pictures of contradictions in life. Robbing businessmen with guns and snorting cocaine under the dark dome reflect the youth feeling the corruption of life and the thrill of the journey. The soulful music with the soulless voice just dissolves right through our veins, convincing us to give up and give in. In conclusion, Tropico is made for Gods and Monsters, Gods and Monster is meant for Tropico.
Lastly, the couple rides on their convertible old automobile, driving to the golden hill under the warmth of the sunset. The tree, field and the breeze have never felt so calm, guarding them while they are getting changed in their car. Walking towards the golden field, they start to dance and rest their soul in peace under the light of the sunset when the piano melody comes in. Bel Air starts with an intro of piano solo, surrounding the couple with great peacefulness and heavenly settle down. The angelic vocal, the violin and piano bring such a huge embrace on us, reminding us the nostalgia we miss and how heaven would feel like. Seeing the young doves dancing in the air, the music ends to watch them heading back to where they come from, the heaven that’s surrounded by love. Bel Air just works like the sunset of the scene, shining the worries and fear away and filling with love and calmness around them. It makes us feel like saying goodbye to everything behind, running into the music and dance carefreely.
Tropico is a perfect well-blended musical remedy for everyone. It defines, describes and portrays the life of everyone, from the moment you are created to searching for hope and security in devastations until you find peace. From those three different phases and plots, the music has gone up and down along with the story. The entire film tells a story of a life built up from a roller coaster of emotions that everybody encounters. Every piece of the music stands for something. Happy or sad, Tropico is completed, blessed by the music.
Furthermore, the singer and writer features some of the highlights of some fine artwork from the past such as ‘I Sing the Body Electric’, a poetry by Walt Whitman, Howl by Allen Ginsberg and Burning Love by Elvis Presley which bring back the golden old inspiring memories back to life again.
Lana Del Rey has been considered as an artistic musician. Her fine art and unique style of music and singing gain her the honorable Trailblazer award by Billboard: Women in Music in 2015 for her contribution to the music industry. Del Rey has mentioned that Tropico is made as a sort of farewell to the previous phase of her music career before she kicks start with her next album. I can't emphasize more on how Bel Air really gives the film a sense of farewell and rounds up the story, the lives of the couple in the film. The feeling is just too brilliant. The music she has written truly makes Tropico complete. Tropico is life, no life is complete without music. Life, can’t be lived without music.
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