Interpol - Obstacle 1

What this video is

Released in the immediate wake of Interpol's debut album Turn on the Bright Lights (August 2002), 'Obstacle 1' arrived as a second single in November 2002, with the music video released in 2003 alongside an Arthur Baker remix reissue. The video embodies the post-9/11 New York City cultural atmosphere — anxious, monochromatic, and hyperkinetic — that defined the post-punk revival movement centered around lower…

Why it matters

A foundational artifact of the early-2000s post-punk revival and NYC indie underground. The video's Sigismondi-directed surrealist narrative and industrial aesthetic became a visual touchstone for the genre, reinforcing Interpol's positioning as heirs to goth-inflected post-punk. Its interplay of…

The director

Italian-Canadian director and photographer (b. 1965, Pescara, Italy), raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Began as a fashion photographer before transitioning to music video directing via The Revolver Film Co. Known…