We told you all about this earlier this year.
Not sure what it is about Modest Mouse these days, but they really get on our nerves now. Maybe it’s the stupid sea shanty vibe they keep aiming for. Still, if you want to see one of the last creative things Heath Ledger ever made you’ll want to watch this video for their new single, “King Rat,” that he directed, err, conceived. He was conceptualizing the heavily-animated clip before his January 2008 death, but apparently he passed on before work on it was completed so it was finished by friends.
Here’s the press release info (via P4K) for further details:
In January of 2007, while visiting his homeland of Australia, Heath Ledger presented Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse with an idea to direct a video for their yet-to-be-released song ‘King Rat’. Heath’s vision, brave and unapologetic in its nature, would marry his love of bold and original music with his impassioned stance against the illegal commercial whale hunts taking place off the coast of Australia each year. Always one to operate from his heart and take a stand for what he cared deeply about, Heath’s intention was to raise awareness on modern whaling practices through a potent visual piece without having to say a word. It was his way to let the story, in its candid reversal, speak for itself.
The video was fully conceived down to the last detail but unfinished when Heath passed away in January of 2008. In the interest of fully realizing Heath’s final work as a visual artist, THE MASSES (a film and music company which Heath was a partner in) finished the video in his honor, with the support and advocacy of Isaac Brock.
Ledger’s final onscreen appearance, in Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” is set to premiere around the world in the fall, however, the picture still does not have U.S. distribution.