Synopsis

In a wild, otherworldly landscape, a young woman moves through dense woodland as if she belongs to a hidden tribal society. Her encounters with another figure unfold amid ritualistic gestures, animal imagery, and an atmosphere of uneasy attraction. The natural world feels both protective and threatening, with enormous wolf-like creatures hovering at the edge of the action. Beauty gradually gives way to fear and brutality, culminating in a shocking act of violence that exposes the primitive instincts beneath the video's mystical surface.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Chiara" accompanied the release of Vendredi's first EP, "Veneris Dies," issued by the independent French label No Format on March 3, 2014.

• "Veneris Dies" is a concept release built around Friday, the day associated with Venus in Roman mythology. The EP connects that mythology with ideas of desire, nature, death, and transformation.

• Vendredi was the Parisian duo of Pierre-Elie Robert and Charles Valentin. Their music was assembled from electronic production, instruments, voices, and recorded environmental sounds that were processed and resampled.

• The title "Chiara" has a personal connection to the duo's time in Venice. They encountered an accordion player named Chiara there and brought her into an improvised recording session while completing the EP.

• The video was produced by ODDZ. Its production team included cinematographer Kaname Onoyama, actors Neia Aliabiev and Theo Rocha Custodio, and taiko performer Tulga Yesilaltay.

• Special-effects prostheses were supplied by CLSFX, while the post-production work was handled by BACK-UP. The production also employed dedicated monkey trainers, reflecting the video's carefully constructed animalistic world.

• Both censored and uncensored versions circulated online. The existence of two edits drew attention to the video's graphic treatment of violence.

• Contemporary coverage frequently described the clip as mystical, tribal, and deliberately primal. Reviewers also compared its atmosphere to "Princess Mononoke" and "The Jungle Book," while noting that its polished visual style contrasted with the brutality of its central shock moment.

• The clip helped establish the visual identity of Vendredi's early work: atmospheric electronic music paired with mythological imagery, natural textures, and a darker undercurrent than the duo's calm, organic sound might initially suggest.