View source for La Isla Bonita (song)

{{Stub}}
{{Infobox song
| Name          = La Isla Bonita
| Type          = Single
| Artist        = [[Madonna]]
| Album         = [[True Blue (Madonna album)|True Blue]]
| Language      = Spanish, English
| English_title = "The Beautiful Island"
| Cover         = Madonna - La Isla Bonita.png
| Released      = February 10, 1987
| Genre         = Latin pop
| Length        = 4:02
| Label         = [[Sire Records|Sire]], [[Warner Records|Warner]]
| Writer        = Madonna, [[Patrick Leonard]], [[Bruce Gaitsch]]
| Producer      = Madonna, Patrick Leonard
| Chronology    = [[Madonna]] singles
| Last song     = "[[Open Your Heart (Madonna song)|Open Your Heart]]"<br/><small>(1986)</small>
| This song     = "'''La Isla Bonita'''"<br/><small>(1987)</small>
| Next song     = "[[Who's That Girl (Madonna song)|Who's That Girl]]"<br/><small>(1987)</small>
| Misc          = {{External music video|{{YouTube|zpzdgmqIHOQ|"La Isla Bonita"}}}}
|Recorded=1986}}
{{OtherUses|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 (Madonna album)|True Blue]]''.


==Music video==
===Background and synopsis===
[[File:La Isla Bonits screenshot.jpg|thumb|One of the two characters Madonna plays in the music video is that of a "flamboyant" [[flamenco]] dancer, as noted by author Mark Bego.<ref name="Bego">{{harvnb|Bego|2000|p=189}}</ref> |alt=A blonde woman, decked out in a red ruffled dress, lies on the floor.]]
The [[music video]] for "La Isla Bonita" was directed by [[Mary Lambert (director)|Mary Lambert]],   filmed in January 1987.  who had previously worked with Madonna in the videos for "[[Borderline (Madonna song)|Borderline]]" and "[[Like A Virgin (song)|Like a Virgin]]" (1984).<ref name="LATMary">{{cite web |last1=Yamato |first1=Jen |title=Original 'Pet Sematary' director Mary Lambert on her horror classic, Madonna videos and meetings with Stephen King at Denny's |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-pet-sematary-mary-lambert-director-stephen-king-madonna-20190404-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404120612/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-pet-sematary-mary-lambert-director-stephen-king-madonna-20190404-story.html |archive-date=April 4, 2019 |date=April 4, 2019}}</ref><ref name="TICVideo">{{cite video|people=Madonna|title=[[The Immaculate Collection (video)|The Immaculate Collection]]|medium=VHS|publisher=[[Warner Music Vision]]|year=1990|id=0-7599-38195-2}}</ref> Filming took place in downtown [[Los Angeles]] and lasted over three days.<ref name="Oreck">{{harvnb|Oreck|2010|p=142}}</ref> Over 500 [[Extra (acting)|extras]] of Hispanic descent participated in the visual; one of them was a then-unknown [[Benicio del Toro]], who received a payment of $150.<ref name="Oreck" /><ref>{{cite web |title=¿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'?)|url=https://los40.com/los40/2017/12/20/los40classic/1513776397_965822.html |publisher=Los 40 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |language=es |date=December 12, 2017 |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706154659/https://los40.com/los40/2017/12/20/los40classic/1513776397_965822.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[Sharon Oreck]], in her book ''Video Slut'' (2010), it was a very simple shooting.<ref name="Oreck" />

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.<ref name="SmoothRadio" /><ref name="RinalloScott">{{harvnb|Rinallo|Scott|Maclaran|2013|p=39}}</ref> Dressed in a white slip, she lights candles at a living room altar full of Catholic imagery.<ref name="RinalloScott">{{harvnb|Rinallo|Scott|Maclaran|2013|p=39}}</ref> She holds a [[rosary]] as she prays, and reminisces about the island San Pedro.<ref name="SmoothRadio" /><ref name="RinalloScott" /> 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.<ref name="Bego" /><ref name="People" /><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Sollosi |first1=Mary |title=Madonna's fashion evolution |url=https://ew.com/music/madonna-fashion-evolution/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=October 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816230134/https://ew.com/music/madonna-fashion-evolution/ |archive-date=August 16, 2018 |date=August 16, 2018}}</ref> 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]]''.<ref name="Hernandez">{{harvnb|Fouz-Hernández|Jarman-Ivens|2004|pp=145–146}}</ref> 

"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.<ref name="ElTelégrafo">{{cite web |title=Madonna celebró 30 años de 'La Isla Bonita' (Madonna celebrated 30 years of 'La Isla Bonita') |url=https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/espectaculos/22/madonna-celebro-30-anos-de-la-isla-bonita%20Esta%20noticia%20ha%20sido%20publicada%20originalmente%20por%20Diario%20EL%20TEL%C3%89GRAFO%20bajo%20la%20siguiente%20direcci%C3%B3n:%20https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/espectaculos/22/madonna-celebro-30-anos-de-la-isla-bonitaegrafo.com.ec |work=[[El Telégrafo (Ecuador)|El Telégrafo]] |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307045605/https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/espectaculos/22/madonna-celebro-30-anos-de-la-isla-bonita |archive-date=March 7, 2017 |language=es |date=March 3, 2017}}</ref> In Europe, it was the year's most heavily rotated clip on television.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Inglis |first1=Cathy |title=Euroclips 1987: Limelight & vivid rule the screens |journal=Music & Media |date=December 26, 1987 |volume=4 |issue=51/52 |page=7 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1987/M%26M-1987-12-26.pdf#page=4 |access-date=July 9, 2022 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308064410/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1987/M%26M-1987-12-26.pdf#page=4 |url-status=live }}</ref> It can be found on Madonna's video compilations ''[[The Immaculate Collection (video)|The Immaculate Collection]]'' (1990) and ''[[Celebration: The Video Collection]]'' (2009).<ref name="TICVideo" /><ref name="Celebration" />

===Analysis and reception===
Both author Victoria Chow and Juan Sanguino, from the Spanish edition of ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|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 ''[[Seville Fair|Feria de Abril]]'' than a [flamenco] dancer [...] but at least she had the decency to grow her eyebrows", Sanguino wrote.<ref>{{harvnb|Chow|2004|p=54}}</ref><ref name="cultural">{{cite magazine |last1=Sanguino |first1=Juan |title=Los vídeos de Madonna, ordenados de menor a mayor apropiación cultural (Madonna's videos, ranked from least to most cultural appropriation) |url=https://www.revistavanityfair.es/sociedad/celebrities/articulos/madonna-videos-apropiacion-cultural/32916 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair Spain]] |access-date=October 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012134937/https://www.revistavanityfair.es/sociedad/celebrities/articulos/madonna-videos-apropiacion-cultural/32916 |archive-date=October 12, 2018 |language=es |date=August 16, 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Kellner|1995|p=271}}</ref> [[Lucy O'Brien]] concluded that the image of Madonna in the red flamenco dress is "as iconic as the [[Like a Virgin (song)#1984 MTV Video Music Awards|boy toy]] or the [[Papa Don't Preach#Music video|black corseted siren]]".<ref>{{harvnb|O'Brien|2007|p=117}}</ref> This opinion was shared by  ''[[People (magazine)|People]]''{{'}}s  Cara Lynn Shultz and Aaron Parsley, who named the flamenco look one of the singer's "most unforgettable".<ref name="People">{{cite magazine |last1=Shultz |first1=Cara Lyn |last2=Parlsey |first2=Aaron |title=65 of Madonna's most unforgettable looks in honor of her birthday |url=https://people.com/madonna-best-style-moments-6221604 |magazine=People |access-date=October 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817001145/https://people.com/madonna-best-style-moments-6221604 |archive-date=August 17, 2023 |date=August 16, 2023}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Hernandez" /> 

The staff of ''Rolling Stone'' described it as one of the singer's most "theatrical" clips.<ref name="RS50" /> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Ryan |title=Madonna becomes Carmen Miranda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LlpWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA26 |access-date=July 4, 2022 |work=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |publisher=[[Knight Ridder]] |date=April 17, 1987 |page=2 |archive-date=September 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923092729/https://books.google.com/books?id=LlpWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA26 |url-status=live }}</ref> "La Isla Bonita" was named Madonna's 34th and 20th best music video by [[Louis Virtel]] and Sal Cinquemani, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Virtel |first1=Louis |author-link=Louis Virtel |date=August 16, 2013 |title=Madonna's 55 best videos, in honor of her 55th birthday |url=https://www.logotv.com/news/bdtywh/madonnas-55-best-videos-in-honor-of-her-55th-birthday |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723010010/https://www.logotv.com/news/bdtywh/madonnas-55-best-videos-in-honor-of-her-55th-birthday |archive-date=July 23, 2022 |access-date=October 3, 2022 |publisher=[[TheBacklot.com|The Backlot]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cinquemani |first1=Sal |title=Madonna's 25 greatest music videos |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/madonna-greatest-music-videos-ranked/ |work=Slant Magazine |access-date=October 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006153013/https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/madonna-greatest-music-videos-ranked/ |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |date=October 6, 2022}}</ref> As of 2024, it is her most viewed music video on [[YouTube]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Mele |first1=Sofia |title=Celebrate Madonna's 60th birthday with her 10 most-viewed YouTube videos |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/madonna-youtube-videos-most-popular-top-ten-8470400/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430014355/https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/madonna-youtube-videos-most-popular-top-ten-8470400/ |archive-date=April 30, 2022 |date=August 15, 2018}}</ref>








==Track listing==
{{Track listing
|title1=La Isla Bonita
|length1=4:01
|title2=La Isla Bonita
|note2=Instrumental Remix
|length2=4:20
}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Madonna - La Isla Bonita (Official Video)
</gallery>

[[Category:1987 singles]]
[[Category:1986 songs]]
[[Category:Madonna songs]]
[[Category:Sire Records singles]]
[[Category:Warner Records singles]]
[[Category:Spanish-language songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Madonna]]
[[Category:Songs written by Patrick Leonard]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Madonna]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Patrick Leonard]]

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