Has everyone seen this already?

I’m way late to the party on this one as I needed an Apple commercial to find out about it, but this music video is better directed, choreographed and conceived than just about every movie musical of the past thirty years. For those in the unenviable position of being more oblivious to pop culture than I am, this is the Canadian singer Leslie Feist who had a song in a Verizon Wireless commercial a few months back (profitable year for her). It’s a catchy song but nothing mind-blowing and from a production value standpoint it’s pretty minimal (reminds me a bit of the single-take “Praise You” video Spike Jonze and Roman Coppola did for Fatboy Slim only less self-consciously dorky) but I’m digging on the rustic charm big time. Specifically the on-set echo of the claps and the way it appears uncoordinated and hectic when it fact it’s intimately designed and elaborately staged. Apparently the whole thing was done without CGI or hidden edits which may or may not be impressive to you depending on how you respond to the video.

I initially guessed that it was directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton who between Little Miss Sunshine and that Gap commercial with Patrick Wilson and Clare Danes have been coming across as a little too cutesy-pooh (how’s that for a lacerating critical assessment?) lately, but apparently it’s directed by a thirty-one year old video-director named Patrick Daughters. This guy should absolutely be directing features (certainly over guys like Adam Shankman and Rob Marshall). I haven’t seen Across the Universe yet (and by yet, I of course mean never will I while sober) but my gut tells me that nothing in that film is quite as charming or wondrous as this video.