This is one of the most amazing music videos Ive ever seen... to be honest, when I watched it late last night, I was just like whoa, Im having some sorta acid flashback... should probably get to sleep ASAP. BUT WOW!!! Alright so everyone (...who listens to obscure, Icelandic, indie folk music...) has already heard the song, I heard it so much I got sick of it... but this video really blew my mind. It made the song super awesome all over again, and its so bizarre and eclectic... its almost impossible to describe. However I thoroughly enjoy attempting the impossible! So, lets see... The stark contrast black and white elements are obviously in done in the style of Film Noir, more specifically German Expressionism, even more specifically German Expressionist films from the mid-late 1920s... the cardboard cutout stop motion style animation - as well as the forced perspective (although much more subtle) simply SCREAMS Fritz Lang doesnt it? ;) Very Metropolis - which I love, much like the RHCP video for The Otherside - which was a total Fritz Lang ripoff... ;p The steam-punk style airship is also classic element of 1920s German Expressionism which is often used - most noticeably in the Smashing Pumpkins video for Tonight Tonight (another classic). However this video diverges greatly from typical Film Noir like The Otherside video in that it also adds extreme color and dynamism via all the psychedelic imagery, fractal patterns and use of flowing full spectrum color gradients. Often contrasting very well against the black and white - almost Eraserhead like (although David Lynch could never make anything remotely as beautiful as this, eh f**kin hack :3), Fritz Lang style imagery - this is really great and original! The Goddess protecting the male members of the band is obviously influenced by classic Hindu iconography - as are a lot of the creatures and monsters that appear throughout the video - particularly the last one (lol at first I was like whoa Bizzaro Sephiroth!). Multiple arms, heads, wings, appendages, etc. represent divine omnipresence and immanence - as seen in an array of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain pantheons. Continuing the Indian influence, all the flowing colors and movements are obviously derived from traditional Indian dance, which had a high emphasis on high saturation and hue color schemes as well as the visual effect of an array of multiple arms or other body movements to mimic the multiplicity convention seen in their deities. Theres also a lot of modern psychedelic influence in here, like the fractal imagery (also Indian, originally Islamic), constant lightning, and the Coachella style head-dress worn by the female :P The last really major element (theres about 99 minor ones) of this video I love is something I imagine comes from the bands homeland of Iceland. Actually its clearly drawn from the bands homeland of Iceland :D Iceland is a land of volcanoes, in fact it was made from volcanoes - there are lots of volcanoes in this video. Iceland also has lots of ice, and water... lots of that in this video as well. The less obvious Icelandic elements would be the narrative of this video - the male band members, trapped in a black and white world, are on a epic journey somewhere. They crash their airship, walk, swim, use a grappling hook... clearly they are going somewhere - meanwhile they keep falling into danger, only to be constantly rescued by the colorful, protective female Goddess figure. Im just guessing this is a reference to some type of Mother Goddess mythology... which dates back to prehistoric times (Da Vinci Code anyone? Venus von Willendorf?). Continuing on about Iceland, and Norse culture in general - Icelanders LOVE their epic sagas! Or er, Íslendingasögur... as they like to call em. Everyone knows about the Sagas of Erik the Red and his dad, and his dad, Leif Erikson... but theres many more obscure ones. Often these stories feature men on an epic quest of discovery (like in this video), discovering Greenland... or Newfoundland... or fighting epic, fantastic creatures and monsters (again like in this video) - just like Beowulf! ...Which is often mistakenly thought to be an English narrative, and while it was written in Old English and in the geographic area that is now England (but occupied by Norsemen at the time) - the story itself is a typical Norse Saga or Epic Poem about a Scandinavian hero fighting monsters in what is now Sweden and Denmark. Another Icelandic/Norse touch - the black and white face paint on the male band members. My first thought was oh its Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit but then I later realized that just like Wes Borland (who was ripping off Black Metals distinctive Corpse Paint look) that these Icelanders were probably instead drawing off traditional Norse face paint - just like their earlier Scandinavian musical counterparts in Norway did in the early 90s Black Metal scene which evolved into Corpse Paint. So, is Of Monsters and Men... influenced by Mayhem...!? Wutt. Anyways I think I thought about this video enough for today ;) I really like things that make me think, art in particular. But dont come across it too often -_- but yeah this video is amazing :D
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 22:57:29 +0000
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