Singer, director, and visual artist Alexandra Savior evades the confinements of genre on both her sultry debut record, Belladonna of Sadness, and her atmospheric sophomore album, The Archer.
On these releases, Savior touches on themes of independence, reflection, and personal identity, as she contemplates her past romantic relationships as well as her experience in the music industry. Savior’s music conveys a cinematic interest, as its vivid and expressive sound transports the listener into a Rosemary’s Baby-esque mystery. Luckily, six music videos accompany these albums, and each one is as purposeful and feeling-driven as her musical work.
Drawing upon influential filmmaking styles, these videos imaginatively visualize Savior’s lyrics while emphasizing her mystical sound. The videos for “Howl,” “Mystery Girl,” and “Mirage” each include elements of film noir and French new wave cinema, as they experiment with moody lighting, extreme close-ups, and unorthodox angles.
In “Mirage,” the camera swirls around Savior’s glamourized stage persona, while a series of slow zoom-ins show her true self anxiously hiding from her doppleganger. These two facets of Savior’s personality coincide with the female archetypes of film noir: the innocent girl-next-door and the power-hungry femme fatale. Revolving shots alternate in direction behind the stage persona of Savior, highlighting her mystery and intrigue, while head-on shots of the authentic Savior showcase her fear. “Mirage” also points to noir influences through an abundance of silhouette and profile shots which obscure Savior’s expressions and emphasize her hiddenness. When she is fully visible, the camera’s motion occurs alongside Savior’s movements, positioning the viewer as a watcher and heightening the video’s sense of avoidance.
Throughout the “Howl” video, Savior assumes positions of death, lying face-down on a carpeted staircase and crumpling torso-over-knees in her messy bedroom. As the song’s synths oscillate in and out, she sits in the ocean and anticipates the rising tide. She stands at the foot of her bed, facing away from the window to stare at the wall. She seats herself underneath a strong tree branch and looks into the distance. The “Howl” video conveys emphatically that Savior is awaiting something unseen. Singing, “Handsome dictator of my crimes / I can’t tell if they’re yours, I can’t tell if they’re mine,” she explains the oppressive force that leaves her listless and mechanical. Savior is awaiting the return of her agency– unable to move or think while under this spell.
The video’s existential themes and indirect storytelling point to the methods of French new wave film, prioritizing feeling over narrative and taking an artistic approach to visualization. Its surrealist nature compares to Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou, with uncanny and cinematic visuals conveying a broadly applicable feeling.
With the “Mystery Girl,” video, time fragments into a series of shots: a driving car, A phone call, Savior in the passenger seat, and two unknown women shown in bright lighting. These images repeat while the video’s editing becomes quicker and additional shots appear, building tension as the viewer anticipates the climax. Then, it finishes with little explanation of these fragmented scenes. The sporadic editing style and initial long takes draw on French new wave filmmaking, allowing the viewer to create personal expectations and interpretations of the video, but withholding a true resolution. With this style, the video conveys a strong sense of unease through its unresolved story and dark imagery.
“Mystery Girl” carries a horror-esque quality, especially in the opening shot, as the camera sits upon the hood of a car and watches the road move forward. Savior and co-director Sam Kristofski draw upon 1940s horror movies, especially those of Alfred Hitchock, as they utilize steady movement, close up facial expressions, circular spotlights, and shadows. The combination of these styles adds to the video’s sense of uncanniness, portraying Savior’s story with ambiguous and abstract imagery.
Savior’s videos repurpose classic film techniques to create a deeply feeling-based experience for listeners. French new wave, 20th-century horror, and film noir influences shape her music videos into stylized and cinematic depictions of the world that use abstract posing, pointed lighting, and unconventional angles to define a unique and cultivated style.
I’m an writer and photographer currently studying Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas at Austin. Some of my favorite artists are Arctic Monkeys, Faye Webster, and Doja Cat. I take photos and write with Austin Underground of TSTV, and I love creating media with local zines. In my free time, I like to cook, play pickleball, and have picnics with friends.
