ELTON JOHN _ NIKITA - 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 apex of Cold War cultural anxiety in Western pop music. The Berlin Wall divided not only a city but an entire global symbolic order, and the video—directed by Ken Russell and shot on a purpose-built set at Pinewood Studios—transformed that geopolitical reality into an intimate, impossible…

Why it matters

A landmark of mid-1980s cinematic music video production, 'Nikita' demonstrates the full maturation of the music video as a short-film narrative format. Ken Russell's involvement elevated the form, bringing feature-film production values, theatrical set design, and a coherent three-act emotional…

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 his career at the BBC directing creative biographical films about composers, before making acclaimed feature…