Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Primary is back after a long hiatus to join forces with Ohhyuk and Lim Kim. The music video is directed by Chung Jinsoo of VISUALS FROM.
Editor’s Note: Welcome the new author, who will take a look at … well … artsy fartsy elements to things that I generally don’t pick up on. And I mean like actual art themes, not making up narratives about vague concepts cause “ZOMG OPPAR IS SO HOT” or whatever. This stuff adds a different dimension to the site and is an interesting read for me since I don’t really watch music videos this way, personally. Please anticipate.
Chung Jinsoo is no stranger to Ohhyuk, as he has filmed and produced an album trailer and three other music videos for him. Even though Primary is the star of this combo to the general public, he’s actually an “add-on” of sorts to the Chung Jinsoo/Ohhyuk partnership, which is an intelligent step forward for everybody involved.
The song is called “Gondry” as an ode to the film director Michel Gondry, who directed “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” and “The Science Of Sleep”. If you’re not aware of Gondry’s work, he mostly focuses on imagination, dreams, and memories — not so much focusing on what’s real or what’s not. The same themes are present in the music video, which is why the cinematography is the way it is.
We think we’re all different, but we’re all about the same. So we laugh and cry about the same things, relating to and agreeing with the same things. This song takes on a different perspective to everyday things we do, like saying goodbye to loved ones, pitying ourselves in exhaustion, holding back our loneliness, and pushing to always be happy. This album could be depressing, or it could be encouraging. Either way, good luck to you.
Whether the lyrics are a personal account or Ohhyuk’s own take on Gondry’s themes, either way it works.
The whole music video is shot from the perspective of memories and dreams, and little details like the pink blank space help represent the transitioning from scene to scene because they remind us of the feeling of falling asleep.
As the scenes progress, we become more and more aware that Ohhyuk’s character has been the one “left behind“…
…and that the characters are dreaming. But notice that while they’re in the “dream state”, Ohhyuk is always solo or views of the pair are from afar or shot in a detached way rather than intimately, thus emphasizing the loneliness aspect that you’re supposed to feel.
The detached nature of it all and the lack of focus on the identity and faces of the characters are a way to de-emphasize the importance of the characters, because they aren’t the star of the music video, the themes that are being conveyed are. The ‘story’ of memories and fantasies about relationships are universal, and so is the feeling of being the person left behind and loneliness, which is what makes “Gondry” so appealing.
There are two other music videos from Primary and Ohhyuk, but this was the one that was the most visually stimulating, and it best shows that Chung Jinsoo is a director to watch out for in the future.
