Henry Joost and Die Romantik

Posted by Ajit on March 22, 2007. 2 Comments

This is simply a soft and perfect treasure, a seamless visual dialogue. The man sings apparently to Linnea, the coy and smiling blond, about how he wants her, while she is clearly with another woman. However, upon reflection, it may not be that easy, he seems to be singing for someone else, he doesn’t seem affected by her refusal. He’s almost singing on our behalf, with his voice sounding like a male Astrud Gilberto, as if we, the newly introduced friend, have fallen immediately in love with Linnea, and he whimpers, half in warning half in lament, that we and he, and all the rest, want what will never be ours. But, that’s content. Formally, it’s edited like a tennis match. The tone, cadence, and colours are all brilliant. If you’ve seen F for Fake, you know that it starts like a jetplane, and goes non-stop for 40 minutes, and then lags bigtime for like 25 minutes during the Picasso part. This is what those 25 minutes should have been condensed to.

I have gotten to a point with experimental music videos that I don’t question anything. Character motivation and plot automatically get erased from my expectations. This can be bad when there are elements of it that are still present. The idea of just watching is painful and rewarding because you find little gems like this. The visual idea is brilliant. The girl is at first awkward but then as intoxicating as any Sophia Loren.

Watch it