Kanye West’s ‘Cruel Summer’ Premieres At Cannes: What’s It About?

Becky Bain | May 24, 2012 3:23 pm
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Kanye West managed to get his ish together the last few weeks and finish his new short film Cruel Summer in order to premiere it at Cannes. (“In a tent, in a car park, 40 minutes walk from the Palais”, a reporter for The Guardian, who was at the screening, clarifies. But still.) The premiere for Kanye’s 30-minute film, his first directorial effort since 2010’s Runaway, was attended by many, including its star, Kid Cudi, as well as West’s new piece of arm candy, Kim Kardashian.

But what is West’s latest epic even about? It’s been a bit of a mystery til now, though reading the plot synopsis doesn’t really clear up any of our questions, either. Jump below for details of the film and the screening — spoilers abound!

As described by The Guardian,

Cruel Summer stars West’s GOOD Music protege Kid Cudi as a bloke of bad stock. Dad was a car thief – Kid’s desperate not to follow in his footsteps, so instead he walks through a sparkly purple door into the middle of the desert. Men on horseback arrest him. He’s taken to a palace full of fruit. A blind girl plucks a giant guitar string. Cudi’s wrapped in bandages. A hawk flies. In, ultra, slow, motion. Cudi resolves to cure his love of her blindness. The cure for blindness is a remix of a song by Coldplay.

Um. What? Let’s try another plot synopsis, this time from the LA Times‘ 24-Frames:

Cudi stars as a thief of high-end sports cars who falls in love with a blind Arabic princess. But the princess’ father won’t allow the pair to marry unless the thief can help her see, so the hero must find a way to make it happen (metaphorically).

Yeah, still weird.

Even the way it was screened was over-the-top and unusual. Cruel Summer was presented across seven 20ft square screens — five screens across, one on the bottom and one floating above . “Maybe one day this will be the way we watch movies”, West said at the screening.

For those more interested in Kanye’s music than his cinematic exploits, there’s some good news for you: the soundtrack, excluding the aforementioned Coldplay remix, all hails from G.O.O.D. Music artists like Cudi, Pusha T and Big Sean. These tunes will be part of the hip-hop gang’s upcoming G.O.O.D. Music compilation, also titled Cruel Summer.

After screening the film in Cannes, West plans to take his film around the world. There’s no word on if we’ll get to see a version of it pop up online like his Runaway film, though we’re sure West will somehow give all his fans a way to see his latest work of art.

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