The Killers - Shadowplay

What this video is

Released in October 2007 as a digital single and included on The Killers' rarities compilation Sawdust, 'Shadowplay' is a cover of the Joy Division song from their 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures. The Killers recorded it expressly for Anton Corbijn's biographical film Control (2007), which tells the story of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. The track plays over the film's closing credits. Control was itself a…

Why it matters

This video is a rare example of a music video functioning as both a promotional artifact and an extension of a feature film's narrative world. It bridges 1979 post-punk origins (Joy Division), 2007 biopic cinema (Control), and mid-2000s post-punk revival (The Killers), making it a multi-layered…

The director

Spencer Kaplan is a director whose credits include the Control short film (2007) alongside this music video. Jonathan Sela (born April 29, 1978, Paris, France) is a French-born Israeli cinematographer and director. He trained at the American Film Institute,…