Yes, this is an for Belvedere Vodka. It’s also directed by Taika Waititi with music from Rita Ora and Griggs, and it features Daniel Craig simultaneously channeling Right Said Fred and Christopher Walken from the Weapon of Choice music video.
It is a video that you simply allow to happen to you.
From the scenic Pont Neuf in Paris to the bombardment of cameras to the rooftops where Craig gets to let his tank tops fly, there is a powerful joy in every frame. It’s also highly likely that this is just an average day in Craig’s life. Gorgeous scenery, pushy paparazzi followed by 10 full hours of dancing bare-armed before drinking alone. Following Dave Bautista’s opinion that Craig seems happier in Knives Out than he did as Bond, the ad might also offer some meta-commentary on Craig’s freedom from the oppressive bonds (sorry) of that iconic role.
Or it’s just a schmancy ad for vodka.
Then again… Waititi exhorting Craig (and the audience) to “Just be yourself” is mildly troubling. Is he saying that Craig wasn’t just being himself as he danced so joyfully? Or that they’re doing another take where he gets to be himself by swaying wildly again? Is Waititi calling us all fakers drifting mindlessly through a late capitalist hellscape of hollow memetic excess that we desperately crave but never have, and even if we had it, wouldn’t fulfill us?
Something to ponder while drinking aggressively boiled potato vapor.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
