The highly anticipated music video for IU’s single Love Wins All, featuring BTS’s V (Kim Taehyung), was released on January 24 at midnight KST, giving viewers an emotional “cinematic” experience.
Directed by Concrete Utopia filmmaker Um Tae Hwa, the MV aims at representing the heartbreaking story of a couple on the run as they struggle to survive in a dystopian future.
The video fully confirmed the remarkable acting skills of V and IU, sweeping me through an emotional whirlwind that ranged from anguish to tenderness, before leaving me immersed in a poignant sadness. The protagonists were able to convey to me with intensity their fears and the deep bond of mutual love, to the point of making me cry. The song and IU’s melodious voice accentuated the nostalgic feeling, making the visual narration even more engaging.
In this high-quality short film, we see a young woman, presumably with hearing problems, and her partner, suffering from a visual impairment in one eye, injured and dressed in worn-out clothes, fleeing from a dark presence represented by a large floating cube.
The couple, in search of shelter, finds refuge in an abandoned building in an attempt to escape the threat that pursues them. Here the two discover a retro camera, capable of showing them a parallel world, in which there is no suffering, but only happiness. In this alternative dimension, the young couple, wearing wedding clothes, experiences moments of pure joy: they delight in delicious food, dance, sing and exchange tenderness. The camera becomes the means through which the protagonists find a temporary refuge, an oasis of joy in contrast to the dark and sinister world from which they are trying to escape. The powerful symbolism of this scenario, in my opinion, amplifies the emotional depth of the short film.
These moments of sweetness and romance are suddenly interrupted when the dark entity reaches the couple. The two try to flee desperately, V tries bravely to face the cube, but their efforts are in vain.
Sitting on the floor, holding each other tightly, the young people accept the harsh reality that surrounds them. Their hands tremble visibly as they desperately seek each other out, giving each other comfort and strength in the embrace. With gestures of tenderness, the young woman gently covers the only healthy eye of her partner, as if she wanted to protect him from the surrounding horror. In a delicate non-verbal language, her hands squeeze his shoulder three times, a gesture that seems to transmit a silent “I love you.”
With a broken heart, the two give in to tears, aware of the inevitable fate that awaits them. The camera captures the last moments of their moving love story, as the couple slowly fades away, carried away by the wind of eternity.
Only their clothes remain, falling onto a pile of used clothes, a tangible symbol of their fleeting presence in a world marked by pain and uncertainty.
Director Um Tae-hwa gave us a key to reading the dynamics represented. He said that Nemo, the entity that chases IU and V, could be compared to a smartphone screen that has become a channel for the spread of hatred, thus symbolizing discrimination. This representation can be interpreted as a reflection of the multiple forms of oppression present in everyday life.
The lens of the camera embodies the filter of love that allows us to see beauty beyond appearances, to appreciate the true essence of people.
The temporal context of the video is in the present, but the scenes reflected by the camera show a world that once prospered, before ruin crept in.
The director interpreted the moment when the couple’s clothes rise into the air as the representation of the final liberation from all forms of oppression and constraint. This moment, according to Um Tae-hwa, raises an interesting question: “clothes” represent the true essence of people or are they just external forms considered significant and important only for others?
The director also stated:
Since the worldview itself is a heterogeneous and abstract environment different from reality, we welcome various interpretations of the music video.
The pile of clothes that stands out on the floor in the MV recalls the scene of SUGA sitting on a mountain of clothes in the famous BTS’ Spring Day music video.
The director could have been inspired by Boltanski’s installation, characterized by a vast pile of multicolored clothes that create a strong visual and emotional impact. According to its creator, this work explores the fundamental themes of the relationship between life and death, individual and collective human existence, memory and oblivion, past and present, and induces reflection on the flow of time and the very meaning of life.
After reading the director’s statements, I reflected on the context of social media and Korean entertainment as a whole, and I would like to share some of my thoughts on the matter.
In contemporary society, judgment has become a persistent shadow that accompanies many human interactions, often hiding behind the mask of online anonymity. It has become too easy to condemn others without considering the nuances and complex circumstances of their lives. Hypocrisy and hatred are rampant, and we all know how words, powerful vehicles of emotions and thoughts, can deeply hurt and even kill.
Minorities are often victims of daily discrimination and oppression.
The obsessive pursuit of physical perfection, fueled by utopian standards and constant social pressure, has become a widespread trend.
Korean idols and actors, constantly exposed to the attention of the media and fans, often find themselves struggling to defend their privacy. Too often they are forced to apologize for the most trivial matters and wear forced smiles, despite their inner battles. I see them, in their attempt to escape this malevolent entity, like the couple in the Love Wins All MV, but in vain.
The cube in the video represents this to me, in my opinion: the negativity inherent in judgments, the tendency to point the finger without fully understanding the complexity of a person, the desire to shape others according to our desires rather than accepting them for who they are, the gratuitous cruelty that satisfies some individuals. We do it with the people around us, on social media, and with the artists we follow.
Only through mutual respect can we hope to create a more inclusive and tolerant society, in which everyone can feel free to Be, without fear and without having to be forced to run away.
Here you can find Love wins All lyrics and Italian translation.
