In James Blake’s new video for “My Willing Heart,” the song is nearly secondary; it’s emotional, immediate and watery like most of Blake’s more recent tunes, but here it provides a textural background for the visuals: Natalie Portman reveling in her pregnancy, an almost primordial being.
There’s a reason this black-and-white clip is so pretty: it’s directed by Anna Rose Holmer, who also made The Fits, one of 2016’s absolute finest films. The visual language she uses in her work is ecstatic and crisp, and she holds her subjects dear, elevating them without being cloying. Portman reportedly gave birth to daughter Amalia just a few days after this was released, and so the narrative adds to the tenderness of the clip. At one point at around 2:20, you can actually see the baby kicking inside her belly, a wild thing to witness at any time, let alone in a music video depicting an Academy Award-winning actress. What an alien, bizarre thing! Anyway, this is probably as intimate as a fan is ever going to get to Portman, so revel in it if you like.
