Elton John - Nikita

What this video is

Released on 4 October 1985 as the lead single from Elton John's nineteenth studio album Ice on Fire, 'Nikita' arrived at the height of Cold War cultural tension, when US-Soviet relations and the divided Germany were prominent in Western popular consciousness. The video uses a Berlin Wall border crossing as its central metaphor for impossible, politically obstructed love. Ken Russell's theatrical direction…

Why it matters

A landmark of the cinematic narrative music video format in British pop, 'Nikita' demonstrated that a major artist could commission a prestige short film — directed by an established auteur — rather than a conventional promotional clip. Its Cold War romantic allegory influenced a generation of…

The director

Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director known for his flamboyant and controversial style. He began directing for the BBC making creative adaptations of composers' lives, before achieving international acclaim…