Calle 13’s career keeps moving to unexpected places. One day they were singing about tripletas and then they were featuring Eduardo Galeano, Julian Assange and Silvio on Multi_Viral. Sure, they were always inclined to make political statements, but now the band seems to be more interested in #inspirational anthems and name-dropping politicians than in making music to dance to. This is the sad conclusion I’ve come to after watching their most recent short film (mhmm, it’s not just a music video) for “La Vida (Respira el Momento).”
The clip was directed by Residente himself and Boricua director Kacho Lopez, who previously worked with the band on videos for “El Aguante” and “Adentro.” While these two singles had an aggressive tone, “La Vida” is the complete opposite – it depicts the passage of time in a positive and so-nice-it-hurts way.
The movie soundtrack vibe of the song matches perfectly with the carefully-crafted blockbuster cinematography of the video, a montage of people running and vintage footage (there are lots of cameos, including an appearance from PR boxer Miguel Cotto).
The result feels like a commercial for a Discovery Channel documentary, and that’s exactly where the short film premiered last Sunday. Discovery en Español had already featured “Muerte en Hawaii” in one of their commercials, so it’s safe to assume neither Calle 13 or Discovery are making a cool or risky move here.