Synopsis

David Bowie moves through Sydney's Chinatown and nearby beaches in a stylized portrait of an interracial romance. He appears alternately as an outsider, admirer, and threatening Western presence alongside Geeling Ng, whose character is framed through both intimate and stereotypical imagery. The video contrasts Bowie's modern urban world with images associated with an imagined Asia, building toward a beach embrace modeled on the famous finale of "From Here to Eternity." Its romantic surface is complicated by themes of cultural power, fetishization, and racism.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in Sydney, Australia, in February 1983, during the same trip in which Bowie filmed the video for "Let's Dance."

• Geeling Ng was a New Zealand model and actress who had no previous acting experience when she auditioned. The appearance became her best-known screen role.

• Bowie described the video as a direct statement against racism and as part of his continuing fascination with Asian imagery.

• The beach sequence deliberately recreates the embrace from the 1953 film "From Here to Eternity," replacing the original couple with Bowie and Ng.

• The unclothed beach footage caused controversy on release. Some television broadcasts used edited versions, including a censored presentation on "Top of the Pops."

• New Zealand was among the countries where the video was banned in its original form.

• The song was co-written by Bowie and Iggy Pop and had first appeared on Pop's 1977 album "The Idiot." Bowie's 1983 recording turned it into a major international hit.

• The video won the inaugural MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video in 1984.