The world according to Björk:
"There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic to human behaviour," she sings into a bowl as a large moth clings to the window of her lit log cabin. Human behaviour is adventurous, wild, primitive. The wilderness of human behaviour is a deep forest of possibilities: fear, adventure, love, death. Timpanis resound like the footsteps of a wild bear.
Floating in a rushing river, Björk looks out subtly at you and intones, "Human behaviour."
The first token of Björk and Michel Gondry's treasure was released in the summer of 1993. Human Behaviour is the birth of the forest of lyrical imagery that the two artists nourished through six music videos.
It also blew up. Gondry's imagery, design, and film techniques warranted the video countless accolades, including MTV Breakthrough Video status, as well as heavy rotation on that and other networks.
The imagery of Human Behaviour is a web of various physical, in-camera effects that Gondry uses throughout his film career. Models, composites, screen projections, and lighting abound in Björk's emotional woodlands. Colors are deep and saturated.
Human Behaviour is a story of predator and prey. In search of food, a bear clomps through a forest in the evening. A rugged hunter stalks the woods in pursuit of his game. Björk, as narrator and character of her own story, flees from the bear. Numerous times the bear almost succeeds: in one attempt he drives a car, and almost hits Björk. In the end, Björk flies down the throat of the bear, and rests in his stomach, while the hunter also meets his demise.
In addition to his unique perceptions of Björk's music, Gondry's art of storytelling, as largely introduced by this video, is unique to the music video world. The video is a classic; a vivid story imagineered in Gondry and Björk's surreal playground.
See it here or here.
