At first glance, Björk: Biophilia Live (2014) seems like a foreign body in Strickland's oeuvre, and not only because he has a co-director in Nick Fenton and a truly prominent client in Björk; his behavior contributes to this impression in many ways: the master, who always keeps his cool anyway, usually introduces the work with the dull phrase “This is just another concert film”. That's true. But it is an extremely astonishing example of its genre, as Mika Taanila was also pleased to note after a screening.
Strickland & Fenton achieve something very rare: they find the right distance to their star - Björk first of all always seems like part of the show, one dazzling element among many; the wonderful Icelandic girls' choir Graduale Nobili, the fabulous costumes and of course the musicians are just as important for the success of the evening. In addition, Strickland & Fenton incorporate amazing animations and science film footage into the visual fabric of Björk: Biophilia Live, which on the one hand is reminiscent of background projections, and on the other congenially deepens the theme of Björk's song cycle - the equanimous truth of nature.
