Evocative, symbolic, and visually arresting - Rosalía’s latest release, 'Berghain' is no ordinary music video. Written in English, Spanish, and German, Marcelina Burzec says the operatic track and parade of avant-garde fashion invites viewers to unravel its intricate layers of meaning.
'Berghain' is not merely a music video - it is pure cinema, and a love letter to and from the Polish capital.
Directed by Nicolás Méndez, a Latin Grammy winner for Best Short Form Music Video, the piece dazzles with its aesthetic precision and emotional depth.
Filmed in Warsaw, it sees Rosalía gliding through the city aboard a Solaris bus and visiting the Warsaw Zoo. Yet, these surface-level scenes merely hint at deeper themes: freedom, purity, and personal metamorphosis. The video weaves in visual echoes of Polish cinema, art, and even religiosity.
Berghain serves as a prelude to Rosalía’s forthcoming album, Lux, and reflects a profound spiritual journey.
Freedom and an emotional odyssey
The title of the song references Berlin’s legendary night club Berghain - a symbol of openness, transcendence, and liberation, yet also of ritual. The club, often called a cathedral of electronic music, mirrors the dual nature of spirituality and sensuality. This interplay between sacred and profane runs through the entire video, underscoring the artist’s exploration of emotional release and rebirth.
Heartbreak and healing
At its core, the narrative portrays a woman devastated by lost love. In the opening scenes, Rosalía clutches a golden pendant - a token of devotion. Later, during a medical examination, she undergoes a heart test, with a poster titled “Conduction System of the Heart” (in Polish) looming behind her.
Soon after, she visits a jeweller, as if attempting to mend her broken heart. Behind her hangs Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Lady with an Ermine' one of Poland’s most treasured artworks, housed in Kraków’s Czartoryski Museum. Its symbolism of purity, renewal, and transformation reflects the overarching narrative of Lux — an odyssey toward light and rebirth.
A cinematic homage: Three Colors: Blue
The video concludes with Rosalía reclaiming her heart after dipping a sugar cube into her coffee — a poetic act of quiet catharsis. She then transforms into a dove, the eternal emblem of freedom, hope, and love. This metamorphosis alludes to Three Colors: Blue, the masterpiece by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski, starring Juliette Binoche.
Kieślowski once described a pivotal scene in Three Colors: Blue where Binoche’s character, Julie, encounters a man who loves her, as music swells mysteriously - later revealed to come from a street musician’s flute. “We did something similar in Three Colors: White,” he said, “where Karol plays the harmonica in the subway. At that moment, Julie rejects the man, and he leaves, leaving her utterly alone.”
Rosalía’s transformation, then, mirrors this cinematic solitude - an embrace of freedom through loss.
A grateful Warsaw - and its delighted fans
Before the video’s release, Rosalía teased her Warsaw adventure on Instagram, sharing snapshots from the city, including a visit to the beloved Rusałka milk bar. The posts amassed nearly a million likes and a flood of admiration from Polish fans, who expressed both pride and excitement.
Lux arrives November 7th
The release of Lux, the artist’s fourth album, is scheduled for November 7th. It features 18 tracks recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. You’ll hear contributions from Björk, Carminho, Estrella Morente and Silvia Pérez Cruz, as well as the choirs Escolania de Montserrat and Orfeó Català.
After listening to and watching Berghainone can’t help but await Lux with heightened anticipation - a promise of transcendence through sound, vision, and emotion. Can you feel it already?
