Michele Civetta

In Depth

Exploring Pulp Cinema with Director Michele Civetta and The Randians

If director Michele Civetta's 2006 longform "Friendly Fire" piece for Sean Lennon is essentially a feature film of a music video, but this trio of clips for indie rockers The Randians is like episodic TV series that hits all the right Pulp Fiction buttons with debaucherous glee.

We recently connected with Michele to talk about the videos, the inspirations and the guest stars (including Boardwalk Empire actress Paz De La Huerta)...

Watch It

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes "Better Days" (Michele Civetta, dir.)

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Better Days [video]

You know how Wizard Of Oz syncs up with Dark Side Of The Moon, like they were predestined to be combined into one work of art, despite being made over 30 years apart? There's a similar convergence here. Director Michele Civetta has discovered that scenes from the classic dance movies Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo, Beat Street, Paris Is Burning, Rappin' and The Boyfriend, are all perfect fits for this boisterous new Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes song.

Of course that's not exactly true — although I still say Breakin 2 is classic — since there's lots of post and editorial nudging to string all these clips together so perfectly, so it might be wiser to view this as a visual component that recycles and recontextualizes in the same way the song sounds instantly vintage.

Either way, it's kinda undeniable.