Besides the rap section of Madonna's Vogue music video, a litany of Hollywood stars, or her imitation of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in MAterial Girl, she is a pop artist who has repeatedly co-opted or appropriated filmic history and iconography. In addition to her evelopment of star personas such as Maryiln Monroe and Jean Harlow, her music videos, especially during the 1990s, show case an impressive film literacy from herself and the directors with whom she worked.
Perhaps these music videos by Madonna can shed light on the movements of German Expressionism and Soviet Montage.
David Fincher's EXPRESS YOURSELF video draws heavily from Metropolis (the canoical german expressionist film. Urban paranoira, repressed sexuality, industrial malaise all dominate the narrative. Its visuals are heightened similar to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and shows a modern use of the expressionistic mode.
In this second video to Madonna's RAY OF LIGHT, Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund, used sped up images from various cities including Los Angeles, New York, London, Vegas, and Stockholm. The disparate images of single days in the city and their editing recall Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera. Åkerlund is also referencing Godfrey Reggio's 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance, which features time-lapse photography.
Åkerlund and Madonna were later accused of plagarism by Stefano Salvati. The Italian director claimed that he had sent Maverick, Madonna's record company, a copy of his video for Biagio Antonacci's song "Non è Mai Stato Subito" prior to the filming of Ray of Light.
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