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A year after going full-frontal to star in an experimental Sigur Ros music video, Shia LaBeouf has gone behind the scenes to direct a brooding, dark and sometimes gory clip for the Nashville group Future Unlimited.
The dreamy electro-song, “Haunted Love,” appeared on the band’s 2012 album of the same title; the 4 1/2-minute video features lead singer Dave Miller (wielding an ax) and LaBeouf’s girlfriend, actress Mia Goth (dancing, crying and giving birth in a bathtub filled with bloody water). There are several close-up shots of a baby wailing and another one of the child burning in a fire — yes, this is disturbing stuff.
“When I think domestic, I feel love,” LaBeouf told The Hollywood Reporter in an email. “When I think violence, I feel haunted. ‘Haunted Love’ for me was about lovers pushing each other to the edge. And how jealousy can make a person snap.”
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LaBeouf called the aesthetic “Barry Lyndon meets David Lynch” and said he also derived inspiration from director-provocateur Lars von Trier, with whom he worked on the upcoming erotic epic Nymphomaniac. (See the new teaser poster here.) During the shoot in Germany, LaBeouf listened to “Haunted Love” and — after brainstorming with von Trier — became motivated to reach out to Future Unlimited about directing a video.
“I love him. He’s a good man. And an incredible artist. He creates a family on his sets, he is very sociable and warm and more than anything Lars loves to toss ideas around,” LaBeouf said of von Trier, adding: “So between the magic of timing and having a Genius as a bounce board I wrote a script and contacted the band.”
Future Unlimited will host a Twitter Q&A on Thursday from 3-3:30 p.m. ET. (Fans are encouraged to use the hashtag #AskFutureUnlimited.)
Watch the clip below.
Twitter: @ErinLCarlson
Email: erin.carlson@thr.com
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