This is my test for a music video attempting a period setting: is the hair authentic? Costumes are easy; hair is hard. “NZ to the BK” is ostensibly set at a pool party in the 1980s but does it deliver hair with vintage ’80s boofiness? Yeah, pretty much. Not everyone has it, but there are a few key performers who have sufficiently giant hair.
The pool party setting seems to have been inspired by REM’s “Imitation of Life” video, which involves a poolside scene depicted with a few seconds of the same looped and reversed footage. But “NZ to the BK” isn’t as clever as “Imitation of Life”. It’s literally just a bunch of people hanging out by a pool.
There’s a vague plot involving a bit of thuggery and a man with a pistol. Going against the law of Chekhov’s Gun, the pistol is never fired, but someone does get pushed into the pool, which is close enough.
But despite all the ’80s party antics, it doesn’t actually feel like a fun party. It is more like a group of people who have been gathered together and told to look like they’re having fun at a pool party. Which is exactly what has happened.
Best bit: one of the pool chicks casually holds a confiscated pistol as she dances.
Director: Dave Garbett
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… the man with the hat.