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La Isla Bonita | |||||
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Single by Madonna | |||||
Album | True Blue | ||||
Language | Spanish, English | ||||
English title | "The Beautiful Island" | ||||
Released | February 10, 1987 | ||||
Recorded | 1986 | ||||
Genre(s) | Latin pop | ||||
Length | 4:02 | ||||
Label(s) | Sire, Warner | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Madonna, Patrick Leonard, Bruce Gaitsch | ||||
Producer(s) | Madonna, Patrick Leonard | ||||
Madonna singles chronology | |||||
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Music video | |||||
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- For other uses, see La Isla Bonita
"La Isla Bonita" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on February 10, 1987 by Sire Records, as the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue.
Music video[]
Background and synopsis[]
One of the two characters Madonna plays in the music video is that of a "flamboyant" flamenco dancer, as noted by author Mark Bego.[1]
The music video for "La Isla Bonita" was directed by Mary Lambert, filmed in January 1987. who had previously worked with Madonna in the videos for "Borderline" and "Like a Virgin" (1984).[2][3] Filming took place in downtown Los Angeles and lasted over three days.[4] Over 500 extras of Hispanic descent participated in the visual; one of them was a then-unknown Benicio del Toro, who received a payment of $150.[4][5] According to Sharon Oreck, in her book Video Slut (2010), it was a very simple shooting.[4]
The visual shows the singer in two different sequences, playing different characters. In one sequence, she plays a short-haired Catholic woman in a New York City apartment.[6][7] Dressed in a white slip, she lights candles at a living room altar full of Catholic imagery.[7] She holds a rosary as she prays, and reminisces about the island San Pedro.[6][7] In the memory sequence, she's seen in an apartment filled with lit candles; she plays a flamenco dancer, who dons a bright ruffled red dress and flowers in her hair.[1][8][9] The video ends with Madonna, still in the flamenco dress, leaving the apartment and joining a group of people dancing on the streets of a Spanish barrio.[10]
"La Isla Bonita" had its world premiere on MTV on March 6, 1987, and became the most requested video in the channel's history for a record-breaking 20 consecutive weeks.[11] In Europe, it was the year's most heavily rotated clip on television.[12] It can be found on Madonna's video compilations The Immaculate Collection (1990) and Celebration: The Video Collection (2009).[3][13]
Analysis and reception[]
Both author Victoria Chow and Juan Sanguino, from the Spanish edition of Vanity Fair, pointed out that the video for "La Isla Bonita" marked the moment Madonna began borrowing elements from other cultures, but the latter also accused her of cultural appropriation; "[she] looks more like a drunk tart at the Feria de Abril than a [flamenco] dancer [...] but at least she had the decency to grow her eyebrows", Sanguino wrote.[14][15] In his book Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern, Douglas Kellner noted that Madonna's use of "fantasy images of Hispanic fashion as an icon of beauty and romanticism", helped her successfully appeal to a larger, more varied audience.[16] Lucy O'Brien concluded that the image of Madonna in the red flamenco dress is "as iconic as the boy toy or the black corseted siren".[17] This opinion was shared by People 's Cara Lynn Shultz and Aaron Parsley, who named the flamenco look one of the singer's "most unforgettable".[8] Santiago Fouz-Hernández and Freya Jarman-Ivens, authors of Madonna's Drowned Worlds, noted a contrast between the singer's characters: the "austerity and the passivity" of the Catholic character, and the "passion and activity" of the flamenco dancer.[10]
The staff of Rolling Stone described it as one of the singer's most "theatrical" clips.[18] By contrast Ryan Murphy, writing for The Spokesman-Review, panned it for being "lame, overdone, [and] almost absurd". He went on to compare it negatively to the previous True Blue videos, further noticing a "pervading sense of humor [that's] not supposed to be there", specifically in the scene when Madonna dances out in the street.[19] "La Isla Bonita" was named Madonna's 34th and 20th best music video by Louis Virtel and Sal Cinquemani, respectively.[20][21] As of 2024, it is her most viewed music video on YouTube.[22]
Track listing[]
No. | Title | Length | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "La Isla Bonita" | 4:01 | |
2. | "La Isla Bonita" (Instrumental Remix) | 4:20 |
Gallery[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Harvnb
- ↑ Original 'Pet Sematary' director Mary Lambert on her horror classic, Madonna videos and meetings with Stephen King at Denny's. Los Angeles Times (April 4, 2019).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:Cite video
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Template:Harvnb
- ↑ ¿Qué reconocido actor de Hollywood hizo un cameo en 'La Isla Bonita' de Madonna? (What renowned Hollywood actor had a cameo on Madonna's 'La Isla Bonita'?) (es). Los 40 (December 12, 2017).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Template:Harvnb
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:Cite magazine
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- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Template:Harvnb
- ↑ Madonna celebró 30 años de 'La Isla Bonita' (Madonna celebrated 30 years of 'La Isla Bonita') (es). El Telégrafo (March 3, 2017).
- ↑ Inglis, Cathy (December 26, 1987). "Euroclips 1987: Limelight & vivid rule the screens". Music & Media 4 (51/52): 7. https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1987/M%26M-1987-12-26.pdf#page=4.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Murphy, Ryan (April 17, 1987). "Madonna becomes Carmen Miranda". The Spokesman-Review (Knight Ridder): p. 2. https://books.google.com/books?id=LlpWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA26.
- ↑ Madonna's 55 best videos, in honor of her 55th birthday. The Backlot (August 16, 2013).
- ↑ Madonna's 25 greatest music videos. Slant Magazine (October 6, 2022).
- ↑ Template:Cite magazine