TROPICO ANALYSIS

[PinUpGaloreLana 1,397]

Tropico is the most intense thing i have watched in a while

Like wow

& Why does lana always have to make things i shouldnt do with my life look appealing

e.g. working the silver pole

[Guest Dot]

I see it like this:

 

The Garden of Eden = Paradise = L.A. (the way she expected it to be)

 

Lana said that The Garden of Eden turned into the Garden of Evil, which is the Land of Gods and Monsters, which is L.A.

Remember the line in "Radio" where she sings: "Now I'm in LA and it's Paradise"

I think the Garden of Eden represents the way Lana imagined it Hollywood/LA to be with Marilyn, Elvis, etc. all being part of it.

She looses her innocent and childish view of it as soon as she's confronted with the truth, she basically took a bite of the truth. Her eyes were opened.

[Mileena 2,691]

I see it like this:

 

The Garden of Eden = Paradise = L.A. (the way she expected it to be)

 

Lana said that The Garden of Eden turned into the Garden of Evil, which is the Land of Gods and Monsters, which is L.A.

Remember the line in "Radio" where she sings: "Now I'm in LA and it's Paradise"

I think the Garden of Eden represents the way Lana imagined it Hollywood/LA to be with Marilyn, Elvis, etc. all being part of it.

She looses her innocent and childish view of it as soon as she's confronted with the truth, she basically took a bite of the truth. Her eyes were opened.

 

YES. That's EXACTLY how I viewed it. High five, bro. 

[radiodasirius 637]

I think Shaun Ross ruined it for me. He can't act and he just disturbed me the entire time. I didn't understand a thing going on... I get that it's the Tale of Redemption, but I need to see how that applies to Lana. Otherwise it just seems like a badly acted, weird short movie. Is this about her time in Alabama? Idk I need to speculate. I think I should've watched in chunks.

 

The whole time I thought the two strippers with Jack's party.. I thought one of them was Lana even Perez Hilton commented on "Lana's" rack in the scene.. but I guess it's not her?

[National Anthem 9,896]

I see it like this:

 

The Garden of Eden = Paradise = L.A. (the way she expected it to be)

 

Lana said that The Garden of Eden turned into the Garden of Evil, which is the Land of Gods and Monsters, which is L.A.

Remember the line in "Radio" where she sings: "Now I'm in LA and it's Paradise"

I think the Garden of Eden represents the way Lana imagined it Hollywood/LA to be with Marilyn, Elvis, etc. all being part of it.

She looses her innocent and childish view of it as soon as she's confronted with the truth, she basically took a bite of the truth. Her eyes were opened.

YES

 

I also took the ending to be her cleansing herself and repenting from sins (maybe even dying/going to heaven ?)

[Trash Magic 26,847]

Yeah I think Born To Die + Blue Jeans, Ride are better. But I still liked it and was SO excited watching it. I would have loved if there were some real dialogue between them.

[YUNGATA 14,944]

okay here's what i think. Tropico was by no means a cinematic masterpiece. it lacked a cohesive plot line and seemed more like 3 very interesting concepts tied together. this isn't a bad thing though. I kind of liked that it relied so heavily on themes that we're all familiar with. they're the themes lana's constantly sung about through most of career: falling from grace, the concept of sin and hedonism, and redemption. In that sense, Tropico is great expression of the character lana del rey portrays.

 

Furthermore, if we look at Tropico less critically and enjoy it at face value, we have 27 minutes of visually striking material. The colour palette is just absolutely beautiful imo. Especially when we compare each three parts separately. Body Electric looks airy and soft, almost a fantasy world just beyond our grasp with the the blurred pinkish hues. G&M looks much more grungey with focus on that steel blue colour and the contrast of her red lingerie (probs symbolic but let's not go there). Finally we have Bel Air which focuses heavily on yellow/gold tones. idk it's just so pretty. i didn't sit down and watch Tropico expecting an instant classic, but i was entertained and enthralled and that's good enough for me.

[Rebel 3,176]

The only thing I didn't like was the aspect ratio. It works when you watch it in person, I guess, but it was ~too~ widescreen. God damn it Mandler.

[Viva 3,168]

I LOVED IT. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT: music, monologues, poetry, image...it's just beautiful

 

I knew that somehow she would address I believe in the country America used to be on this. If National Anthem and Ride was, imo, 2 videos that got us inside Lanas believes and true views Tropico just sums up everything. So good tbh. A lot more than I expected

 

OH! And America...if you didn't feel the slap , you clearly missunderstood the message

 

fucking brilliant

[niko.g514 41]

I Fucking Loved It. It's exactly what I think film should be now that it's grown up. Not just visual storytelling but an audiovisual experience. And yeah it May seem that it's halfway between a short film and an overlong music video but pay attention and you'll notice, if you've been following Lana's work, that it's just raw art ignoring conventions, pure expression.

[Tyler 840]

A few disjointed thoughts about the film, which on a whole, I enjoyed.

 

1. I enjoyed the way they danced during Body Electric. Watching them dance wasn't like watching people dance in the club or ballroom, but almost its own hybrid. It looked natural like they didn't care who watched, just what their bodies felt like doing. The way they moved showed how curious they were about the world and their bodies.

 

2. It seemed like John was the central figure on Eden. Was he supposed to be the "God" (and Jesus his son??? idk lol).

 

3. Adam and Eve seemed centered on one big sin for their story lines. Eve- lust and Adam- wrath. This seemed to make sense to me, because Marilyn was promoting sexuality and John violence (or rather more defense I suppose) and Adam and Eve sinned by blowing those two traits out f proportion.

 

4. The ending is the only part that confuses me. When they began floating were those things in the sky supposed to be UFOs? if so kinda wtf or were they thunder clouds?

 

5. Elvis' reactions to everything. it killed the mood for me.

[Hellish 488]

I see it like this:

 

The Garden of Eden = Paradise = L.A. (the way she expected it to be)

 

Lana said that The Garden of Eden turned into the Garden of Evil, which is the Land of Gods and Monsters, which is L.A.

Remember the line in "Radio" where she sings: "Now I'm in LA and it's Paradise"

I think the Garden of Eden represents the way Lana imagined it Hollywood/LA to be with Marilyn, Elvis, etc. all being part of it.

She looses her innocent and childish view of it as soon as she's confronted with the truth, she basically took a bite of the truth. Her eyes were opened.

Could not have said it better myself, my thoughts exactly.

 

:

[Lirazel 700]

It was rather average. The songs used weren't my favourite, and all the ass-touching scenes made me feel uncomfortable, because Lana didn't get to be objectified as much as the other girls - all she did was stand next to a pole with a face of a martyr, while the brown-skinned actresses had guys all over their asses. Idk, it just didn't sit right with me.

I think that I liked the Body Electric part the most. The colors were lovely.  Marilyn and Elvis were also pretty cool.

...Bel Air looked like commercial of cornflakes.

[Guest Dot]

Shout outs to  @ for mentioning Whitman's "The Children of Adam" as possible inspiration for the plot.

 

Walt Whitman's "Children of Adam" - Analysis

 

A group of fifteen poems in the 1860 version of Leaves of Grass was entitled Enfans d'Adam. In 1867, these poems, after a few changes, were retitled Children of Adam. In the 1892 edition, the group consists of sixteen poems.

The major themes of Children of Adam are procreation and physical love between man and woman. The themes are dealt with through imagery rich in Christian tradition. Whitman uses many Christian concepts in his own unique way to express his individual precepts for mankind.

Fundamental to Christian belief is the story of the Fall of Man, interpreted either literally or symbolically. Adam and Eve, falling prey to Satan's temptation, disobeyed the divine command and ate the forbidden fruit of knowledge. This act of disobedience resulted in Original Sin, the inheritance of humanity. Man is therefore a born sinner, and his only hope of salvation lies in the grace of God, attained through Jesus Christ.

Whitman reverses this traditional Christian tenet. He asserts that it is not Adam but Adam's children who have really lost the Garden of Eden. Adam's children can regain this lost paradise not by denying the flesh, which had been a Puritan belief, but by accepting it. Man will then be reborn through this glorification of his body, for the human body is as sacred as the spirit. Thus, man is not born debased as a result of Original Sin. He should be proud of his heritage and of the "Adamic" in him.

The theme of procreation in these poems was revolutionary at the time of their first publication. Whitman thinks that procreation is a creative act, an act of spiritual regeneration. Man finds fulfillment in sex and should thus rejoice in it, for it is only through physical love that man can take his place in the cycle of life. And it is only through spiritual regeneration that man can complete his quest — and the full, uninhibited experience of sex is seen as the first step to spiritual regeneration.

 

Everything. Makes. So. Much. Sense. NOW!

[FirstSpider 317]

The way I saw it was that the garden of eden represented her early childhood, everything was beautiful, she was surrounded by the icons that would go on to shape her life, then by a decision she consciously made, she left all that behind with the man she loved, she cast herself into chaos and did what she had to in order to survive. the ending scene is when she finally arrived at the point where she wanted to be. She cast off the black lingerie and reached paradise, but not the same paradise as her childhood, this one is different, she knows more, she's not as innocent, she's learned from her mistakes and she's found her place in life.

[PrettyBaby 2,213]

Shout outs to  @ for mentioning Whitman's "The Children of Adam" as possible inspiration for the plot.

 

Walt Whitman's "Children of Adam" - Analysis

 

...

Everything. Makes. So. Much. Sense. NOW!

 

OH! Thank you for this insight, it does help

[lmdr 9,894]

I get the whole plot of TROPICO but... WHAT THE FUCK ARE ALIENS DOING THERE?! Look extremely fake.

[Poison Ivy 1,588]

 

5. Elvis' reactions to everything. it killed the mood for me.

 

Hahaha I think those are the parts I found the most hilarious, right there with the slow-mo dancing. I love the idea behind the video though (thanks people in this topic for making it even clearer!) I'm sure it must've been beautiful in Lana's mind. The video doesn't really do it justice to me but I guess that's hard. One scene I enjoyed (well, split bits of the scene that were sadly too few) was the one in the trailer (?) drinking cola and living the simple life, it was sweet but again I couldn't focus because it was really all over the place. You'd think in 27 mins they'd have had time

 

o this isn't the favourite scene thread carry on 

Edited December 6, 2013 by Poison Ivy

[prettydrugs 456]

i finally saw it. BEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN. Really cant understand how can be boring or disappointing. Bullshit.

I love the whole video but the beginning + Body Electric and Bel Air were my favourite parts. Really a piece of art, so proud of Lana. Must have been an amazing experience making this. I love her sooo much Im so happy 

[Trinity 1,219]

TROPICO, to me, made perfect sense. I completely got the subtle story line that was shown. I thought the transitions between songs were really smooth and I liked it a lot. I wish there would have been a bit more dialogue like that "You know it's not always gonna be this way, right?" part and less pointless yet beautiful scenes (like the bubble ones). The cinematography was really beautiful and I think it fits Lana perfectly. Surprisingly, Bel Air was my favorite part which is shocking because honestly I don't like Bel Air as a song. I can't wait to re-watch it a few more times and really delve deep into the different scenes. I was most disappointed with Gods & Monsters. Although Lana looked stunning as hell, I felt like during G&M a larger, more significant variety of scenes could have been produced other than just strippers shaking their asses. I absolutely adored the Walt Whitman readings since I've been reading Leaves of Grass since I was a little girl. I thought the snake scenes in Body Electric were amazing. As for Shaun Ross, I can definitely tell you he is not my favorite actor. I thought he just stuck out like a sore thumb throughout the whole film (which was probably done on purpose) and it's not just because of his skin color. I just felt like he didn't really fit the part he was meant to play. Overall, I'm generally pleased with TROPICO and can't wait to dive deeper into the meaning of it!