Development In December 2014, Madonna's manager
Guy Oseary announced that a music video was scheduled to be released in early February 2015. The video was directed by the French duo Julien Choquart and Camille Hirigoyen, together known as J.A.C.K. It was edited by Danny B. Tull, styled by B. Akerlund and choreographed by Megan Lawson. According to Madonna, she wanted to have a cinematic and storytelling aspect with the video adding that: The thing about that song, it's such a passionate song. I had to present it in a passionate way, and I used mythology to tell the story, with the story of the Minotaur, the matador, fighting for love. And the color red. And flowers. Horns, and death. And naked men. You know, the important things in life. I don't want to make every video the same. But I did love the richness of that video. To me it felt like a painting that came to life. That's what I was trying to do. Verena Dietzel, creator of the fashion label V-Couture, who specializes in different kinds of
corsets, were enlisted to create clothing for the video, as well as a
Grammy Awards performance. Dietzel explained that she had initially thought Madonna's e-mail as
spam, however after confirmation from the singer's assistant stylist, B. Åkerlund, she started working on the designs. Within 48 hours she sewed a new corset, as well as created two new ones, by basing them on the only information provided to her, that of Madonna's
bra-size. She had to search on
Google for deducing the rest of the singer's
proportions. In total four different corsets were shipped off to Madonna. Lebanese designer Shady Zeineldine was also contacted by Åkerlund, who visited the designer's press conference in Los Angeles, and asked him to send his ideas and sketches for the video. The corset was described by Steff Yotka from
Style.com as "masculine-feminine mix... it's the sort of tight, sexy, gender-bending thing we've come to expect from [Madonna]". The singer and her team had sent matador references to Zeineldine, who wanted to give a feminine touch to the designs, utilizing numerous laces and nude color palette to highlight the singer's body curves. Amber Kallor from Style.com explained that Madonna's make-up in the video was inspired by recent runway shows of
Christian Dior and
Givenchy. The singer had applied parallel eye liner with her bolero jacket look, as well as sported
bobby pin and
Princess Leia like buns on her hair. Designer
Riccardo Tisci approved of the
Minotaur costumes used by the dancers, which used crystal masks designed by Marianna Harutunian and leather horns. He also gave his approval of the
gemstones applied on the singer's face for one sequence in the video.
Release and synopsis The music video was released on picture messaging application
Snapchat on February 5, 2015, where it was available for viewing on the application's "Snap Channel" platform. Sara Spary from
Marketing Week commended the decision, believing it to be "a major move for Snapchat and the decision by Madonna's label could pave the way for other label giants to host content on the app as well as other branded content." The video begins with a focus light on Madonna's hand which gradually reveals a circular red stage surrounded by red curtains. Madonna, wearing the red velvet jacket moves around the stage throwing off a cape and does choreographed dance moves. Interspersed are visuals of a male dancer as a Minotaur wearing the horned mask, dancing on the ground and Madonna in the matador dress. She entices the male dancer with the cape as the chorus ends. A flock of male dancers wearing similar horned mask appear and surround Madonna around the stage. Throughout the second verse Madonna chase the dancers and defeat them in mock fight. One of them pick her up and together they perform a second choreography atop the stage. Madonna is also shown in the bejeweled corset flapping around a red cape. For the final verses and chorus, Madonna in the nude corset dances among the Minotaurs, and ultimately slays them all. The last visual shows the singer standing among the slain bodies of the Minotaurs, throwing off the cape while holding a pair of horns in her left hand. Red roses fall around her and sound of
applause is heard as a quote by German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche flashes on screen, "Man is the cruelest animal. At tragedies, bullfights and crucifixions he has felt best on earth; and when he invented hell for himself that was his very heaven." Matthew Jacobs from
The Huffington Post believed that the music video and its imagery matched with the uplifting nature of the song. He compared parts of the video with "Express Yourself" and "
Hung Up", saying that Madonna emerging victorious among a flock of men dressed as bulls, evoked the leaks of
Rebel Hearts songs. Recalling the self-referential undertones in the videos for "Give Me All Your Luvin'" and "
Girl Gone Wild", Jacobs explained that "Madonna presents herself as queen of the big top without relying on allusions to her own résumé to prove she is the master of the postmodern pop scene... This is the Madonna video we've waited a decade for." The
Houston Chronicles
Joey Guerra gave another positive review, saying "we haven't already learned time and again – never underestimate Madonna" and describing the video as a "nice fit" for the song. A writer for
The Guardian described the video as a "straightforward performance clip" and believed that the simplistic nature of the video suggested that it was designed for being viewed on mobile devices.
Louis Virtel from
HitFix called "Living for Love" as Madonna's "best video since 'Hung Up'". He found references to older Madonna videos, like "Express Yourself" in the "unusual choreography with all of its masculine posturing and grappling", "
Take a Bow" with its bullfighting theme and playing on a familiar imagery from her career, and "
Open Your Heart" during the sequences where Madonna fends off the Minotaur dancers. Virtel also commended the choreography, costumes, Madonna's looks and the cinematography of the video. Along with the "Take a Bow" reference,
Billboards Joe Lynch called the video as incredible and "lush, arresting" but criticized for the misspelling of Nietzsche at the end." Rita Kokshanian from
InStyle said that the video was "just as good as you could have expected... And while we were completely transfixed by her killer moves and insane physique, we were equally in awe of her outfits." Nathan Smith from
Out found the video to be transcending gender roles, with Madonna assuming the role of a matador, a title generally reserved for a man. Also he noted that Madonna demonstrated her "toned and lean physique, demonstrating her unique and unparalleled mastery of the male species". For Alyssa Tomey from
E!, Madonna "transforms into a fierce and sexy matador in the clip" and dances "her butt off with some seriously acrobatic moves". Jim Farber from
New York Daily News found a contrast with the song's title and the "battlefield" like portrayal in the video, saying "While it's sonically exuberant, the song's lyrics reflect the aftermath of a hard-won battle." Rachel Pilcher from
Yahoo! found the video to be strange, but believed that it was to be expected from Madonna. ==Live performances==