Feb 1, 20212 min read

hZA-Paths music video review

★★★

Directed by: Rakesh Jaitly

Starring: Hza Bazant

Still Image from Paths showing protagonist. — Still Image from Paths

A man is wandering by himself in the countryside. This music video mixes fantasy with reality.

A man wakes up alone in the woods. Next to him is a can of drink, which he takes with him. All of a sudden, there are two of the same person, looking identical, wearing the same clothing. Then there are three of them. Then the man wakes up again in a field, bottle of drink next to him. He carries on walking. Then again there are two of him, then three, then four. Again he wakes up in a suburban area, this time without a drink. He sits on a wall and watches the sky.

The narrative that this music video contains, is kind of like a road movie. It depicts a man's journey, as he travels from nature, towards civilization.

Multiple figures of the man are seen on screen simultaneously. Whether this is real or not could depend on how the viewer interprets it. The fact that there are many of him, could be due to the fact that he has been drinking alcohol (indicated by the bottles he has next to him when he wakes up) and is therefore hallucinating. Having many of him walking in different directions could also mean that he has no destination and that his journey is aimless. Or it could also mean that he is taking multiple paths at the same time.

There are no lyrics accompanying the music and the man does not say a word. The score is rather relaxing and more or less maintains the same rhythm throughout.

Jaitly does a good job, creating wonderful establishing shots of nature and the sky. Jump cuts and split screen editing are used effectively and so is the picture-in-picture technique, during which the main image is placed in front of a larger image, whose sides surround the main image. The effects that were utilized in order to create the illusion that there are several identical people, were done so successfully as the result is convincing.

This music video is well-made, with a believable performance by the protagonist. It offers an interesting experience and deserves recognition and praise.

#JasonKnight