The music video for Mumford and Son's “Lover of the Light” tells a visually enthralling story, which follows a blind man through his morning routine in his country home in England, where he then leaves his disability at the door, runs through the woods, and chases the sunrise. The video opens to a wide shot of the English hillside as an elk approaches, followed by the blind man (played by Idris Elba) waking in his bedroom as light pours in through the window. We then see him venture to his kitchen, where he prepares his breakfast, and where we learn he is blind. Intercuts of the elk appear as the blind man dresses and works his way out the door. Leaving his home, he begins running down the road, through the woods, and eventually winds up at a cliffside, facing the sunrise.
In regards to the visual tone and selection of settings for the video, it mixes well with the narrative, but in some ways, begs the question of how well it actually mixes. How could a blind man be a “lover of the light,” anyway? What the story seems to be about, however, is that the blind man’s disability in no way hinders his enjoyment of every other detail of life. Evident with the man’s way of going about his morning, this is a character who can feel the life that light brings. The crack of dawn rolling through his window wakes him, because though he cannot see the light, its very presence is enough to bring him to life. The decision to set the video in the morning was a wise one; it has the blind man chasing the rising sun, rather than a setting one. Overall, every scene of the video is a place where light has everything to do with the look of the setting. The way the light enters his home, the way that it shoots through the trees in the woods, the way it blankets him in the end. Theory aside, however, it is difficult to determine the exact purpose of the narrative written, considering the musicians responsible don’t even have a concrete idea of what it’s about. A perfect analysis of the scene selections is difficult due to the lack of certitude, but it can be assumed that the use of light throughout the film has more of a subjective quantity than an objective quality.
There isn’t much I would do differently with this script for the video. If it took place at sunset, I would change it to sunrise. Considering that the song isn’t supposed to have a definite meaning, however, and everything we see is really just a man chasing after light (with a lot of love in his heart), I would say that the filmmaker did a fine job with the narrative; it perfectly captures a love for light.
