Coldplay - The Scientist

What this video is

Released in November 2002 as the second UK single from Coldplay's landmark second album A Rush of Blood to the Head, 'The Scientist' arrived at the apex of post-Britpop alternative rock's commercial and critical peak. The video's reverse-narrative technique — then a rarity in mainstream music video production — distinguished it from the era's prevailing performance-clip orthodoxy and positioned Coldplay firmly…

Why it matters

A canonical text of early-2000s alternative rock music video practice, 'The Scientist' represents the high-water mark of the post-Britpop cinematic short-film approach to music video. Its formal innovation — full reverse-playback narrative requiring a month of backwards vocal preparation — set a…

The director

James Thraves (b. 1969, Romford, Essex) is a British film writer and director. He studied illustration at the University of Hull (1989), graduating with the award-winning short Scratch (1991), and later attended the Royal College of Art. He joined music…