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The Murder Capital 'Ethel' by Maxim Kelly

Rob Ulitski - 22nd Nov 2022

A young maid finds herself at a crossroads, in Maxim Kelly's mesmerising promo for Ethel. 

Waiting hand and foot on a slightly surreal family, we see the main character run errands and try to stay out of the way, as the father figure lip-syncs to the track, getting oppressively close to her wherever she tries to escape to. 

Ending with a climactic dance in the living room - performing to the awkwardly apathetic parents and daughter - the video is haunting and contemplative, echoing films from French and Korean arthouse cinema. A subtle manipulation of the textures of the image at certain points also heightens the surreality of the concept, which creates an unnerving atmosphere.

“Initially I thought Ethel should be the main character and do the dance at the end, and I always had this image from this French film called My American Uncle, where it’s like a little girl standing up at a table," Kelly explains. 

"I originally had that image in my head for a rap video, but it didn’t really make sense to the song. I wanted this to feel more like surreal so then as I started finding more imagery. It kind of transpired that maybe the maid was the more interesting character.”

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Rob Ulitski - 22nd Nov 2022

Tags

  • Director's notes
  • Artistic
  • Surreal
  • Haunting
  • Family
  • Maid
  • Narrative

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Rob Ulitski - 22nd Nov 2022

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