Synopsis

Set in 1950s Oregon, the video follows young Peter Reich, played by Kate Bush, and his father Wilhelm Reich, portrayed by Donald Sutherland. Father and son work together on a strange machine intended to draw rain from the clouds. Their affectionate routines are interrupted when government agents arrive, arrest Wilhelm, and dismantle his laboratory. Peter watches helplessly before returning to the cloudbuster and managing to activate it. Rain finally falls, giving the story a bittersweet ending shaped by loss, devotion, and a child's faith in his father.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was inspired by Peter Reich's memoir "A Book of Dreams," which describes his childhood relationship with his father, the controversial psychoanalyst and inventor Wilhelm Reich.

• Kate Bush had discovered the book years before making the song and sent Peter Reich a cassette of "Cloudbusting." He responded positively to the adaptation.

• Donald Sutherland was Bush's first choice for Wilhelm Reich. She reached him only around ten days to two weeks before filming, and his schedule happened to leave the four shooting days available.

• Bush deliberately wanted the result to play as a short film rather than a conventional promotional clip.

• Bush plays Peter Reich, not a female character. Her costume, short haircut, and performance were designed to present her as the young boy at the center of the memoir.

• Filming took place at the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England, standing in for the story's Oregon setting.

• The video was conceived by Bush and Terry Gilliam, with a cinematic approach that helped make it one of the most distinctive narrative videos of the 1980s.