Before I even start… though it stroke me as I proofread for the uptenth time… The still photo for Partir Avec Moi, seriously, I am ashamed not to have noticed this before, really. Look at the colours!!! French song… colours: blue white red… the French flag! My flag and I have not even seen this.? Looking everywhere for the less obvious when the most obvious is in my face. Who else did not notice? I am not going down alone, people!?

The Sweet Escape vs Partir Avec Moi.

In my previous post, I promised you an extra article comparing the videos. After struggling with two YouTube windows opened playing the videos almost silmutanuously, my fellow fans provided what I was desperately in needed of… a synchronizing tool. Yeah! Thank you ?

Watching both videos at the same time…

For the fun of it and because some fans mentioned it was an interesting auditory experience, I had both videos play at the same time and with the sound on both… yes, interesting but what a hubbub! Seriously… no matter how much I love Marko‘s voice… here goes my limit.

You need to cut the sound on one of them, people… watch, compare the imagery and then do the same but with the sound from the other video… common sense and it is precisely what yours truly did!

Ultraviolet vs warm light

From the start of both videos, and as I have pointed out in the previous post about Partir Avec Moi, the lighting is slightly different. Ultraviolet light versus warm lights set the tone for both videos. I believe there is also a correlation between these lights and the small change in wording from one language to the other.

Photography story-telling

I will not go through all the differences, it might kill the buzz of both songs, but some that might say something about the actual story (-ies) that is told. Is it truly 2 episodes or just 1 in 2? Basically, both videos are telling the same story to me… but maybe, the narrator – although it is apparently Marko in both – has changed his point of vue. One dream-like state and one reality-like state… A what if, where doubts lead him to a whirlwind of loss and confusion… and a what is, where he takes control and manages to quieten those same doubts, even though they might try to take control over him again.

Different order

While Marko is filmed walking until he starts singing – The Sweet Escape (TSE), we don’t see him before we get a sense of his surroundings in the second video – Partir Avec Moi (PAM)… that same shot comes on to TSE precisely when Marko appears in PAM. This suggests to me that Marko is more aware of his surroundings in PAM contra the way he walks in TSE, where it would be the surroundings that are more aware of him.

Time

As Marko starts singing, it looks like he is on the same street on both videos, however, he does not seem to be heading in the same direction at first… until he does. See! It seems that way but he is not walking on the same side of the street in both videos. My knowledge of Helsinki is as limited as almost non-existent (my short visits there were not enough to get well-acquainted with this fine city)… but it is what the video suggests to me. I wonder… how long has he been wandering the streets and wondering? All night? Same night? Every night? I mean, it is a rather easy task to take back control over one’s doubts, right!? NOT! So, these images alone bring an idea of duration in time. I don’t know how long, but we all can have a go at guessing…

Same shots

Exactly same footage of Jani passing behind Marko, looking at him… and Marko‘s expression. No difference… same story after all? nah, they’re just messing with us… There are more identical shots arranged in different order, but this shot with Jani was almost simultaneous. Is there a reason for that?

Captain, Olli and Jaska… same shots… but is it my eyes that deceive me or Jari‘s shot was a bit extended. For what purpose? Has Marko made eye contact… or is it the one behind the camera who did, to say: I am here and I am telling the story, not Marko… hmm. Interesting idea… the mysterious character whom no one ever sees, the one who sees all.

Lost and found

We all agree that Marko grows anxious and almost lost in TSE while he seems to have found some kind of peace in PAM. It is obvious in his demeanor, in my opinion. Yet again,  look at this shot and remember what I just said… contradiction? He does not look so distressed in TSE… rather hopeful I’d say. Then again, it changes as the video advances… might there be pieces of reality in the dream-like state? Duh, obviously! Insinuous doubts but hope as well: the best enemies… one cannot live without the other, or?

Passion

The passion in French is a bit stronger than in English at around 2:40… and then this turns around at maybe 3 minutes in TSE… around 3:38, TSE gives us Marko‘s first real smile with hope in his eyes. I found though that it is the same passion in both, expressed in subtle different ways. Or I just see what I wanna see to fit my train of thought. Believe what you will, it is fun to watch these two side by side and I love it when Marko sings in French…

Phone sequences

Sorry guys, but in both videos Marko speaks on the phone… now, one could argue that he is leaving a message on TSE, but he nods just like in PAM. He is talking to someone on both. Same footage on both videos, slightly postponed from one video to the other… considering Marko‘s demeanor in TSE, maybe he is not talking to the same person, at the same time, why would the conversation have exactly the same impact on him then? So many questions and so few answers… and time’s running out.

Looking straight at the camera

Someone pointed out – sorry I don’t remember who it was, but I know it wasn’t me – that the last verses of PAM, Marko smiles and looks straight at the camera… or at the one holding it? In Partir Avec Moi, the story might be that he never is alone while in The Sweet Escape he feels that he is.

Sliding doors

Knowing our Poets the way we do, and Miika Hakala by now, there is probably more than just one possible explanation to the story-telling, which means that we all find what we need in everything they do. One last thought, however… Have you seen the move Sliding Doors… watching both videos side by side I had the same sensation as when I watched that movie. Two life scenarios based on whether the main character does or does not catch a train. In the end, which is real and which is not?

Miika Hakala “chapeau bas” sir! ? I ended up having more questions than when I started this post… Kudos.

Thanks for reading!

/Claire