A new campaign from production company The Devil You Know to promote the Paris Opera reminds us that there’s a reason everyone’s favorite ’80s afternoon dramas were called soap operas. This contemporary take on Figaro includes pretty much every sort of R-rated debauchery under the Tuscan sun.
The most interesting thing about the four-minute film from a pop culture perspective may be that it was directed by Bret Easton Ellis of “American Psycho” and oversharing on Twitter fame.
Bit of an orgy-like effort there, no? It’s like the guy is an ad agency thought leader or something.
Some context for people who don’t even feign an appreciation of opera via the press release: France’s Troisième Scene or Third Scene has been curating a number of short films by various directors to promote its programs “as part of the new Ballet direction of Benjamin Millepied.”
This feels a bit awkward given that Millepied, who is best known as Natalie Portman’s husband, quit his job in February to move back to Los Angeles.
That was after the organization reached out to Ellis, who just recently joined The Devil You Know’s directorial roster. He writes:
“I was very flattered to be approached by the Paris Opera and surprised that they gave me so much freedom. I wanted to do something slightly humorous and to play with the film medium against an opera track. I don’t think it’s very dissimilar thematically from what I’m usually attracted to – there’s a bit of decadence at play here but the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. There was an energy on the set that was infectious and funny and hopefully you can get that from watching Figaro.”
The release tells us that Ellis also directed a movie for Italian eyewear client Persol while taking a break from his podcasting duties, but that one has yet to appear on his IMDB page.
As fun as this “ad” was, we will continue to believe that the only version of Figaro anyone really needs to see came to us more than 65 years ago by way of one Bugs Bunny.