CAPTURING THE ZEITGEIST
German actor/film-maker Robert Gwisdek on how he put together such an epic video for the lead-off single
HOW AWARE WERE YOU OF RAMMSTEIN’S MUSIC?
“I’m from East Germany, so since Rammstein started releasing music they’ve basically been omnipresent. At an early age I listened to [Flake, Paul and Christoph’s early band] Feeling B, so they’ve always been in the back of my mind. You can’t grow up where I did without knowing Rammstein, though. I’ve always loved the ambiguity with the band, too; you can’t pin them down lyrically or musically because they don’t do one thing. They keep so much back that you can’t help but feel fascinated by this Rammstein machine.”
WHAT WAS IT LIKE ON SET?
“They have a really good work ethic – they come in ready to follow instructions from the director. They aren’t messing around, acting like rock stars and turning up late. They’re gentlemen to each and every person they deal with. They’re so friendly and such a delight to work with, on all levels.”
WHAT WAS THE SCOPE OF REFERENCE FOR THE SYMBOLISM THROUGHOUT THE VIDEO?
“When they enter the sand world, it was important for me to find a way of expressing the idea of time without just turning it into the grim reaper or something. The mood we were emanating is this idea that the being is neutral, perhaps even comforting, taking you along like a guide. It lives beyond the realm of physicality, but is able to guide you through that. I wanted it to be dark, but not in a dangerous way.”
WHAT ABOUT THE BACKWARDS MOVEMENT OF THE SAND?
“I wanted to play with time, because we can experience it in different ways – not just in slow motion, but going backwards. You can feel it in your guts, that time isn’t just a line from
A to B, it’s something that can be transcended, in a way. The blindfolds during the backwards birth was this idea that we’re all living among the miracles that are time and space, but we’re not really aware of all the things that are created by it. At the same time, we’re still a part of that miraculous process; we’ve all experienced birth and lots will give birth themselves, so we are miracles in that way.”
HOW HAVE PEOPLE RESPONDED TO THE REVERSE BIRTH?
“I knew if I was playing with birth in a Rammstein video, it had to be graphic! We couldn’t make it soft it any way because that would go against what Rammstein do. I love that though, that it forces us to confront these things – especially as men – that we’d otherwise avoid. We’re so sexualised graphically, in so many ways, that you don’t see how humans come into the world. Youtube took the video down for half a day because they couldn’t decide if it was too much – they had to check the guidelines – but it worked.”