Directed by Oscar Kightley, “Silver & Gold” presents a South Auckland morality tale. The video features a young man who spends much of the time wandering the colourful neighbourhood streets, looking concerned. But what’s troubling him?
It turns out he’s troubled by a bank robbery that was previously detailed in the non-NZOA funded music video for Ermehn’s bleak song “Bank Job”. That video featured a Tarantinoesque robbery, where everyone is a sweary gun-toting cool dude until one of the bank staff is accidentally shot. It ends with one of the crew hiding from the police, and indeed we catch up with him in “Silver & Gold”, which looks at the aftermath.
It turns out the criminal has a troubled conscience. He wanders the streets of South Auckland and sees kids happily playing, probably reminding him of when life was better. The video flashes back to the robbery using clips from “Bank Job”. The revved up cinematic tone of the robbery jars with the more ordinary footage of South Auckland, suggesting that the cooldude bravado of the robbery is a fantasy, with the reality being too awful to consider.
The criminal heads towards his house, where a police officer is at the front door, talking to his family. There’s no showdown, no struggle. The guy willingly gets in the cop car, leaving his family looking utterly deflated.
The video ends on the family sitting around their table, praying for their son. The camera pans around and we see a photo of the guy as a boy, back before things went wrong.
It’s a sad story, so it’s just as well that Ermehn is here to kick some butt. He features along with Cydel, hanging out in South Auckland pedestrian mall that looks as vibrant as Cuba Mall on a good day. The cool music, uplifting lyrics and Ermehn’s kick-arse performance is enough to lift the darker storyline to at least give it a hopeful feeling. “Silver & Gold” doesn’t give the dark world of “Bank Job” a happy ending, but there is at least a feeling that history won’t be repeating itself.
Best bit: the vibrant scenes in the pedestrian mall.
Director: Oscar Kightley
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… a romantic escape.