Sting - Englishman In New York

What this video is

Released in February 1988 as the third single from Sting's Nothing Like the Sun, 'Englishman in New York' is a portrait of Quentin Crisp — British writer, raconteur, and openly gay cultural figure — who relocated from London to New York's Bowery in the mid-1980s. The song and video celebrate radical individualism, cultural dislocation, and the experience of the British expatriate in America. Filmed in…

Why it matters

A landmark of sophisti-pop music video production, blending jazz performance documentary, New York street realism, and literary celebrity cameo into a cohesive monochrome art object. Fincher's black-and-white treatment predates and arguably anticipates his own iconic work on Madonna's 'Vogue'…

The director

David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962, Denver, Colorado) is an American director. He worked at Industrial Light & Magic before co-founding Propaganda Films in 1986. He directed music videos for Madonna, Sting, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, and others,…