If you missed the weekend’s box-office topping theatrical event the Release Party Of A Showgirl, you’re in luck. The centerpiece of that event, the premiere of Taylor Swift’s “The Fate Of Ophelia” music video, has already landed online. In it, Swift is both the showgirl and the director, paying homage to the glamorous muses of stage, screen, and even canvas.
“The idea I came up with for this music video was sort of a journey throughout all these different ways in which over time periods, historically, you could be a showgirl,” Swift explained in the Release Party behind-the-scenes portion (via Variety). “Like, how you would be in the public eye back during the 1800s, when you’d sit for a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Or you could be a showgirl by being a cabaret burlesque club performer. You could be a theatrical actor putting on a performance. You could be a Vegas showgirl. You could be one of the girls in the Busby Berkeley screen-siren era of the ’30s and ’40s. You could be a pop singer on the Eras Tour.”
If “The Fate Of Ophelia” video is another play for Hollywood credibility (last seen during the awards season push for the ten-minute “All Too Well” short film), it’s her strongest yet. The Life Of A Showgirl has been met with overall mixed reviews, but this video moves confidently through these showgirl “eras” backed by the same crew from her own Eras tour (that includes the dancers, choreographer Mandy Moore, and production designer Ethan Tobman, per Variety). It all leads to the image of Swift in the bathtub, revealing that the main album cover is itself a nod to the Sir John Everett Malais painting of Shakespeare’s Ophelia. (“So, art history for pop fans!” Swift said in the behind-the-scenes explanation.)
Asked about her own “next era” during an appearance on the U.K.’s Heart Breakfast radio show, Swift promised we “arguably haven’t even really started” the Showgirl era yet. “We’re taking baby steps, we’re putting one foot in front of the other. I love this era, I love the theme of this album, it’s so fun to play with. I wanna make more music videos. I actually have time to do stuff like that.” Maybe all the cinematic references in this video are a hint that she’s going to use her time to get her feature film directorial debut off the ground. Regardless, you can expect more to come now that the pop star has survived “The Fate Of Ophelia.”
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