Music Video
The video's screenplay was written by Farmer, and is a Requiem Publishing and Stuffed Monkey production, like all her previous singles, and was directed by Marcus Nispel, who had previously worked with the singer on "XXL", "L'Instant X" and "Comme j'ai mal". It was shot over the course of two days in Los Angeles, and cost about 100,000 euros. The video was first broadcast on 21 September 1999, when the Mylenium Tour started.
The video, which shows an apartment and its old furniture as they catch fire, was filmed in a building destined for destruction. Among the things that burn, there are a clock, a painting and some books, including Hitler's Mein Kampf and other German ideological books, and letters of the singer, as shows it the address on the envelopes. Farmer wore a dress in plastic made by Thierry Mugler which had been worn by the singer when she performed "Ainsi soit-je..." in August 1997, and which began to melt during the shooting of the video, as it had difficulty to withstand heat. Because of risks linked to the fire, there were firefighters present on the shooting. Images of the video do not follow the chronological order of events, as some furniture are shown intact after being burned.
This video is among the least appreciated by critics, partly due to its alleged "lack of respect" towards the Holocaust, as Farmer stands in suggestive positions, and her clothes are almost transparent. According to author Erwan Chuberre, the video "was made somewhat in haste and with modest means". French magazine Instant-Mag said about the video: "The quality, good taste and value of this short film are frankly debatable. Not only it doesn't contribute towards the work, but moreover, it has a certain vibe that it was shot in a hurry, with a cock-and-bull accumulation of colorful images, which also have very little to do with the theme of the song. The gap is rather embarrassing, even oppressive, and some people find it downright insulting and inappropriate". Farmer's position on a sofa, elbows resting on knees and head bowed as to protect herself from fire at the very end of the video, would be inspired by the text Le Brasier, written by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, in which it can be read: "Et pour toujours je suis assis dans un fauteuil (...) / Les flammes ont poussé sur moi comme des feuilles."
Read more about this topic: Souviens-toi Du Jour
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