Natalie Imbruglia - Torn Upscale (VideoClip)

What this video is

Released 27 October 1997 on RCA Records as the debut single from Natalie Imbruglia's Left of the Middle, 'Torn' arrived at the height of the post-Britpop female artist boom, when labels sought emotionally direct female voices in the vein of Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow. The song — itself a cover of Ednaswap's 1995 recording — became a defining artifact of late-90s confessional pop, peaking at #2 in the UK…

Why it matters

A canonical example of the art-house music video applied to mainstream pop in the late 1990s. Maclean's single-shot, self-deconstructing concept anticipated the reflexive, behind-the-scenes aesthetic that would become more widespread in the 2000s. The video earned Imbruglia the MTV VMA for Best…

The director

Canadian-New Zealand film director born 31 July 1958 in Ottawa, Ontario. Raised in New Zealand; graduated Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland (BFA Sculpture, 1982). Known for short film Kitchen Sink (1989, eight international awards, Cannes nominee), feature…