For an upcoming article, I was doing a little research on director Romain Gavras — son of the legendary Greek director Costas-Gavras (“Z”). An up-and-coming filmmaker, the young Gavras has made a name for himself in the music video world, most recently with the banned-from-YouTube mini-film for M.I.A.’s “Born Free,” a stylish piece of violent R-rated politicized sci-fi, somewhere between Aldous Huxley and “Children of Men.” (It’s got a clever twist, but doesn’t know where to take it.) Either way, I’m writing this not because of the video, but the ironic advertising push that came along with viewing it. I realize not all video websites are as crass as Daily Motion, in this case, but this seems to me a test case for how NOT to monetize: While watching the video, imagine my surprise to see an ad for teenage zit cream (see below) pop up over Gavras’ haunting vision of racist-inspired slaughter.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
