Phaeleh - Tokoi

I recently Phaeleh’s music video ‘Tokoi’; I discovered Phaeleh on YouTube as his music is very similar to Bonobo’s (who’s song ‘Recurring’ I am using in my music video). The music video for his song ‘Tokio’ was directed by Tom Paton. I absolutely love the music video. Like mine it is open for interpretation. I have interpreted it as life. I think the video is portraying the girl growing and is very similar to my initial idea of my music video.

The video starts with the female protagonist falling from the sky which I believe is a representation of her being born. In the next shot we see of her, at 0.10, she is curled in a ball on the floor as a child would sleep with a bunny rabbit toy nearby. I think this represents her being a toddler. When she wakes she puts her hands to the sun at 0.16, depicting that she is not use to the bright lights (like a baby). Throughout the video there are reoccurring shots of her checking the time on a pocket watch, symbolic of the passing of time. As the video continues the female protagonists walks through a wheat field with a bunny in her hand, feeling the wheat (0.37 ). The shots illustrate a child exploring. The girl goes on to smell different flowers, followed by shots of her eyes and mouth. These frames are as if the girl is discovering her senses of touch, smell, sight and taste. By this point the girl has dropped her bunny rabbit. At 1.28 we then see the girl finding a bottle with a clear liquid substance that makes her fall to the fall and blur the shots, I believe this depicts her youth and teenage years where she finds drugs and alcohol. The next time we see her she is in a dark, more fitted dress, juxtaposed from the pale pink, silky dress she wore initially. This represents her maturing as she develops into a woman. Then at 2.22 we see her take off the pocket watch and place it on, what looks like a grave, made with two twigs. This is a portrayal off her time being up in life and giving herself to death. The video ends with the girl walking off into the sunset as the day comes to the end.

The video has beautiful imagery and so much symbolism. The costumes and props are simple and yet manage to reflect a lifetime. I was struck by how similar it was to my initial plan. Constant changes in the filters help keep the ambiguity of the video leaving all interpretations open to the audience.