Semisonic - Secret Smile

What this video is

Produced in February 1998 and released as a single in 1999, 'Secret Smile' occupies a pivotal moment when American alternative rock bands were achieving international crossover success through MTV and European radio markets. The video's home-movie aesthetic and paparazzi-pursuit narrative engage directly with late-1990s tensions between celebrity media culture and private intimacy — a theme heightened by the…

Why it matters

Represents a key artifact of late-1990s Triple-A / adult alternative crossover video production — a subgenre in which major-label budgets were applied to simulate grassroots intimacy. Sophie Muller's pseudo-documentary approach here anticipates the 'found footage' and home-video aesthetic that…

The director

Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962, London) is an English music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She trained at Central St Martins and holds a master's degree in Film and Television from the Royal College of Art. Her…