A music video directed by Heath Ledger sometime in late ’07 will finally see the light of day on Tuesday, 8.4, some 18 months after his stupid accidental death. Modest Mouse will premiere the Ledger-directed video for their track “King Rat” tomorrow on their MySpace music page.
“The animated video was conceptualized and directed by Ledger,” writes Spin‘s Anna Hyclak, “but was left unfinished when the died of an accidental overdose in January 2008. The Masses — a film and music company that Ledger was a partner in — completed the video in his honor.
“Ledger approached Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock about wanting to direct a music video for the band while they were on a boat trip with a mutual friend in Ledger’s native Australia.
“‘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,’ the band has written in a post on their MySpace blog. ‘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.'”