MIND BLOWN: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Dir. by Spike Jonze)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Euj9f3gdyM]
This, for me, has stolen the music video crown for 2010. It’s a simply brilliant piece by the intensely good Spike Jonze, a director who seems to do no wrong. Check out his film for Absolut Vodka, I’m Here, again, a little masterpiece. The suburban story, shot in Texas, follows a group of teenagers, fooling around, having fun, but then juxtaposed against darker, more brutal imagery of invading soldiers, violence and what can be interpreted as fear. It’s like a mix of a story by John Cheever and ‘Call of Duty’ (there was a good suburban-set level in the Modern Warfare 2 edition.)

Of course, being a music video it’s complimented by the music of Arcade Fire, whose album this year offered a suburban portrayal I think Jonze has visually captured perfectly. A concept album that Jonze has visually tapped into, the emphasis on childhood, innocence juxtaposed with imagery that is harrowing and full of violence. It’s even more exciting to contemplate that this is part of a longer short film called “Scenes from the Suburbs”, how it would pan out into a narrative structure or a more artistic message will be interesting to see, yet, for the moment, I am content with the ambiguity.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/7115832"]