Millais Flower Honey - Sugarless

Millais Flower Honey's video for Sugarless transports us back in time to tell a simple story of a man at war, isolated in a field with nothing but a photo to keep him company. There deliberately isn't a lot going on, all we see is the man in question along with some stylish shots of the world around him, where similarly little is happening. On one hand, it's relaxing until we realise why so little is happening, and there are some surrealist moments which guide us to fairly bleak conclusions. As a companion piece for a shoegazing soundtrack, it's suitably numb.

The narrative is split into two parts - a prologue and then the body of the story. There's little to go on, however, as to why. The story seems to be one self-contained piece without a defined split, as we meet the man in question after the event has taken place that lands him in this period of isolation. It isn't until the end that we find out more about his character and his background, and by then we're already quite a bit of the way through. It isn't even that it needs a prologue, it just seems an odd creative choice to signpost one when there isn't really.

When the story does unfold, there's sufficient intrigue without giving anywhere near too much. This seems to be an exercise in allowing us to project ourselves into the narrative by using symbols and clues that we can all recognise and relate to, even if they are from a different time. To that end it works quite well, but it may have carried more depth and meaning if there was just a bit more substance.