Videoclipul ca spațiu al autorului: construcția unui univers cinematografic în colaborarea Farmer–Boutonnat
The Music Video as an Authorial Space: The Construction of a Cinematic Universe in the Farmer–Boutonnat Collaboration

Summary/Abstract: The article starts from the premise that the music video is usually regarded as a derivative product of the music industry, primarily serving a promotional function, but argues that certain creations transcend this status and operate as autonomous audiovisual forms. One such case is the artistic universe associated with Mylène Farmer, particularly her collaboration with Laurent Boutonnat, in which music videos approach cinematic language through extended duration, coherent narration, dense symbolism, and a carefully controlled visual composition. The study proposes an exclusively cinematic analysis of these videos, considering them as “films of the length of a music video”, constructed with prologues and epilogues, sound atmosphere, dialogue, background music, and a form of editing that does not strictly follow the tempo of the song. The paper highlights a clear break with the conventional norms of the genre – hyper-fragmented editing, obsessive synchronization, and immediate spectacle – in favor of long takes, controlled composition, and a chiaroscuro aesthetic. Through examples such as Libertine, Pourvu qu’elles soient douces, Sans logique, and Tristana, the article emphasizes thematic and visual continuity, the loyalty of the creative team, and the cinematic ambition of these productions: expansive sets, period costumes, intense atmosphere, and narrative structures capable of incorporating cultural and pictorial references (such as Goyaesque echoes). Finally, it demonstrates that although Farmer has collaborated with other directors, the aesthetic core of the Farmer–Boutonnat period remains a landmark in the evolution of the music video as a major artistic form worthy of analysis within film studies.

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