Duranalysis: The Reflex

Back in the day, I didn’t have much use for Duran Duran’s video for “The Reflex.” After all, it consists entirely of concert footage, which, to my way of thinking, is the laziest and least interesting way of doing things. When it comes to music videos, I’m a big fan of strong narratives. Strong, weird, overblown, confusing, crazy, awesome narratives. Still, while I’d rather watch the boys fending off zombies or stumbling around bleak apocalyptic wastelands, I’ve since learned to relax and embrace “The Reflex.” It’s a concert video, yes, but it’s a pretty damn entertaining one.

Directed by the great Russell Mulcahy, “The Reflex” was filmed in 1984 during the band’s Sing Blue Silver world tour. While it may not be my all-time favorite Duran Duran video, there’s an awful lot to like about it. I like the gleeful synchronized hop Simon and Andy and John all take upon hitting the stage. I like Simon’s infectious enthusiasm. I like the preposterously high energy level. I like the shots of all those ecstatic, overwhelmed young audience members, particularly those two dudes who stand on their seats and bop around proudly as if to proclaim to the world, “Look, we’re guys, we’re at a Duran Duran concert, and we’re having ourselves a fantastic time, so all you haters out there can suck it.”

The video features a simple, uncluttered set, which gives Simon plenty of room in which to cavort madly about. At the back of the stage, there’s a row of stately Doric columns, like a Greek amphitheater, only, y’know, in chartreuse neon. For more detail, I’ll turn it over to Andy, who discusses the filming of this video in his memoir. Quoth Andy, “The set was based on something extravagant that Nick had sketched out while we were in Montserrat together the previous summer.” Now, there’s a sentence that somehow manages to encapsulate the entire Duran Duran mystique in a few simple words. Andy doesn’t elaborate further, but since we’re talking about Nick, let’s assume it was sketched with a Chanel eyeliner pencil on a damp cocktail napkin, which had been used to mop up a spilled bottle of Krug. Because that’s just how Nick rolls.

Reflex Duran Duran Sing Blue Silver tour

There’s an enormous screen at the top of the stage, which projects footage of the concert to the nosebleed seats. On occasion, the screen also displays silhouettes of people indulging in various energetic leisure-time activities, most of which involve nudity and chains. In the silhouette below, some nice young man appears to be giving a naked lady a pony ride. One of the things I admire most about Duran Duran, apart from their staggering good looks and their lively pop tunes, is the way they careen between wholesome and kinky without pausing for breath. It’s a delicate balance, and they maintain it well: They’re just a bunch of fun-loving English lads who are irresistible to pre-teen girls and who also might, on occasion, enjoy being ridden like ponies.

Reflex Duran Duran kinky silhouettes

At one point, a gigantic CGI wave appears to flood out of the screen and drench the audience below, which…. well, it’s a sad truth that special effects that looked totally cool in 1984 rarely rate very high by 2011 standards, so we’ll gloss over this part of the video and move right along.

Reflex Duran Duran tidal wave

Simon looks the best he’s ever looked. He’s always been an attractive bloke, but here, he vaults into the elite realm of the smoking-hot. Hair, makeup, wardrobe, all of it looks great. This is a concert video, and yet everyone looks consistently daisy-fresh and impeccably coiffed. Don’t bands always look wrecked during live concerts? Sweat-drenched clothes, smeared makeup, lank hair, lots of flying spittle? Not here. Not Duran Duran. They’re above such mundane human considerations as excessive perspiration.

Reflex Duran Duran Simon Le Bon

You know what might be the very best part of this video? The way Simon leaps and bounces and springs around the stage like a live-action version of a Dragon Ball character. I stand in awe of his energy and verve. I know I gave Simon a hard time earlier for his hilariously dramatic poses and gyrations throughout the “Careless Memories” video, but here, his instincts are bang on. He moves well, he covers the stage from end to end, and it all looks very natural and graceful.

Reflex Duran Duran Simon leaps

It probably goes without saying, but you know what I mentioned earlier about everyone being impeccably coiffed? Yeah, that doesn’t apply to Andy. There are only so many times I can grouse about Andy’s hair, and I feel like I’ve comprehensively addressed that subject in my earlier posts, so I’ll limit myself to pointing out that he looks pretty good here. At the least, he looks healthy and happy, which, for Andy, is not always a given. He’s not scowling from behind dark sunglasses, which is a step in the right direction. His color’s good, he grins a lot, and he seems to be having a fantastic time.

Reflex Duran Duran Andy Taylor

John looks beautiful. Yes, yes, John always looks beautiful, but, like Simon, he’s kicked it up a notch or two above his usual high standard. Hopefully the boys kept the hair and makeup people from this video on retainer, because somebody—presumably multiple somebodies—sure knew what they were doing.

Reflex Duran Duran 8 John Taylor

Look, it’s a concert video. John doesn’t do much other than play his bass while looking unfathomably lovely, and that’s enough. I don’t have a whole lot more to say on the matter. I just like looking at pretty photos of him.

Reflex Duran Duran 9 John Taylor

Of all the Durans, Roger gets the least amount of screen time, and that probably suited him just fine. Here’s how you keep Roger happy: Stick him in a shadowy area of the stage, keep the cameras mostly out of his face, and just let him bang on his drums in peace.

Reflex Duran Duran Roger Taylor

And then there’s Nick. Ah, Nick. Glowering from behind his barricade of synthesizers and monitors and sundry equipment, Nick looks gorgeous and terrifying and unearthly, like he’s the malevolent apprentice to David Bowie’s Goblin King from Labyrinth. Hair: fiery. Makeup: flawless. Demeanor: frosty. Mood: dangerous. In contrast to hyperactive Simon and happy-go-lucky John and revved-up Andy (and nigh-invisible Roger), Nick spends most of the video trying to shoot bolts of fire from his eyes at the audience. Nick is always gloriously, gorgeously weird (key quote from Simon about his first-ever meeting with his future bandmate: “I’d been told that Nick was a bit of a weirdo…”), but he’s never weirder than when he’s performing onstage. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Reflex Duran Duran Nick Rhodes

Interesting tidbit: In his memoir, Andy brings up the theory that “The Reflex” is all about Nick. Simon denies this, though if you look at the lyrics, it makes a certain amount of crazy sense. While Nick might raise an imperious eyebrow at being compared to a child waiting by the park, it’s true that every little thing he does leaves me answered with a question mark, starting with his fashion choices in this video. Take a look at that sweater: It’s made from bulky tweed, it has that strange leather cutout in front, it’s got puffy princess sleeves… It is, in short, the ugliest, most wretched sweater imaginable, and it’s probably miserably hot and itchy when worn under scorching stage lights… and yet Nick makes it look appropriate and stylish, as though wearing a bulky, scratchy tweed sweater was the perfect and most logical option under the circumstances. This is the magic of Nick.

Reflex Duran Duran Nick shoots fire from eyes

So, “The Reflex.” A perfectly decent video, a downright awesome concert video. Would it have been improved with the appearance of zombies, a la the “Night Boat” video? Hell, yes. But in terms of how it achieves what it sets out to do, I’ve got no complaints.