M.I.A. - Bad Girls

Romain Gavras, the French director known for last year's video for M.I.A.'s Born Free, is as fearless and as aggressive a director as they come.  His unrelenting vision makes for visually arresting works that summon political archetypes and contrasting ideologies.  Just this past Tuesday M.I.A. released the video for Bad Girls, and it is absolutely breathtaking.  Shot with long, elegant jib shots over an exotic expanse of Arabian highway, with a contingent of armed youths driving fast cars recklessly, it is a visual feast.  Bad Girls is also rife with mixed messages, being less about women and more about crossing cultural borders in sometimes less than healthy ways.  The songs strengths have little to do with M.I.A.' lyricism, and more to do with the exceptional production behind it.  The video's strengths have as much to do with Gavras as with M.I.A.  Watch it below, as well as last year's Born Free, which is worth watching if you haven't seen it.