Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart (Turn Around)

What this video is

Released in 1983, 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' arrived at the apex of MTV's cultural power, when the music video format was reshaping how popular music was consumed globally. Directed by Russell Mulcahy — who had already established himself as a defining visual auteur of the era via his work with Duran Duran and the Buggles — the video transformed a Jim Steinman power ballad (originally conceived for a Nosferatu…

Why it matters

A foundational artifact of the MTV-era cinematic music video, this clip redefined the formal possibilities of the format by deploying feature-film production values, a Gothic horror aesthetic, and operatic non-linear narrative within a six-minute clip. Mulcahy's fast-cut, tracking-shot visual…

The director

Russell Mulcahy (born 23 June 1953, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian director who rose to prominence directing music videos in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the landmark Buggles clip 'Video Killed the Radio Star' — the first video aired on…