Kanye WestKanye West teamed up with Oscar-nominated director Spike Jonze this summer to create a unique, mind-bending and often confusing short film. We Were Once a Fairytale was shown at the LA film festival in August, and was intended for A September 8th iTunes release, but it made its international debut on Monday, Oct.19.

The release comes less than a week after the premier of Spike Jonze’s fantastical big-screen rendition of Where the Wild Things Are. This may alleviate some confusion over the video’s bizarreness.

The short film parallels the tone of West’s 808s and Heartbreak album. It’s strange and even boring at first, but when you understand its direction, you understand its art. It’s dark but ultimately moving…not to mention catchy as hell.

The first half of the video contains a drunken Kanye West in a nightclub, singing and dancing along to his 808s and Heartbreak hit, See You In My Nightmares – which is playing in the background throughout. The video was reportedly intended to be the track’s music video, but instead set the stage for a 10 minute short film.

The second half includes Kanye fooling around with a girl in his drunken haze and then passing out. After waking up in a pile of pillows he then heads to the club’s washroom and projectile vomits a bed of flowers. When there are no more flowers to spew he slashes his stomach open with a blade and pulls out a furry mouse-like creature.

The video may be a reflection of an artist’s loss of self, or it could mean something completely different. Like most of Kanye’s music, there is no absolute definition. Whether you dig this video or not, you have to commend its originality, or at least remember that your dislike won’t even scratch the surface of West’s bulletproof ego.






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