New Video: David Bowie, “The Next Day”

By Less Lee Moore

I have no idea how this didn’t make it onto my radar until last week. The second single from David Bowie‘s fine new album The Next Day—and the third video—is the title track.

With lines like “they whip him through the streets and alleys” and “they know God exists for the Devil told them so,” it’s not a stretch to imagine that said video might feature some religious iconography and controversy. With Bowie the boundary pusher, you’re guaranteed excesses of both.

Not having seen videos like “Boys Keep Swinging” and “D.J.” until the early ’80s on MTV, I can’t say firsthand what kind of stir they caused in the late ’70s, but they certainly caused a stirring within me.

Floria Sigismondi, who directed “The Stars (Come Out Tonight),” also helmed “The Next Day” video and it’s not dissimilar to a Caravaggio painting come to life, with a bit of Ken Russell for good measure.

I’d also argue that Sigismondi got more than a little inspiration from the 1970 Czech film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, which I’ve not been lucky enough to see, but which I’ve certainly enjoyed through numerous images online.

In “The Next Day” we have Gary Oldman as a lusty priest with a ducktail haircut and Marion Cotillard as a quasi-Mary Magdalene character in a bustier. One might consider Bowie and his linen smock and glittery scarf to be Jesus. From Pontius Pilate to Jesus: what a career!

The nightclub in which this takes place is The Decameron, either a reference to Boccaccio’s medieval allegory, the 1971 Pasolini film based on the allegory, or both. St. Lucy makes an appearance and so does Joan of Arc.

It’s gory, gorgeous, and decidedly not safe for work. Enjoy.