Christina Aguilera - Hurt

What this video is

Released in October 2006 as the second single from Back to Basics, 'Hurt' arrived at a moment when pop music videos were striving for cinematic legitimacy. The video's 1940s circus setting engaged with Aguilera's broader Back to Basics aesthetic project — a retro-soul and jazz-inflected album presented through vintage visual codes. The video's themes of estrangement, grief, and parental loss resonated broadly; the…

Why it matters

A landmark in 2000s pop music video production for its five-day shoot, full narrative arc, period production design, and co-directorial model. Represents the apex of the Floria Sigismondi / Christina Aguilera creative partnership (following 'Fighter,' 2003), and stands as a key artifact of…

The director

Floria Sigismondi (born 1965, Pescara, Italy) is an Italian-Canadian film director, photographer, and music video director. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design and began as a fashion photographer before transitioning to music video direction…