YouTube censors pulled the clip, which shows Bowie as a Christ figure and Cotillard suffering from gruesome stigmata, before reinstating with an adult-only rating on YouTube for its graphic content.
Directed by Floria Sigismondi, who also helmed the video for the album’s second single “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” the short film depicts a kinky, blood-soaked bacchanal attended by prostitutes and members of the Catholic clergy. Gary Oldman stars as a lascivious priest alongside Marion Cotillard as a prostitute with stigmata in Bowie’s new single, ‘The Next Day’. Hovering above it all is Bowie himself, bathed in heavenly light and wearing Christ-like robes while money exchanges hands between a cardinal and a scantily clad redhead, blood spews forth from stigmata, probably Bowie’s most controversial interpretation during Ascension Day of Jesus Christ on May 9th 2013.
The video finally closed with a sentence “Thank you Gary, thank you Marion, thank you everybody,” the singer says, then disappears. No matter what he had done, he has proven he still has a few tricks up his sleeve, still remains unrivalled levels of fascination. (Text Teuku Ajie)
You can watch the video below:
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