Steve McQueen is primarily known as the Oscar-winning director of such films as Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave, the 2013 winner of Best Picture, which led Time magazine to call him one of the World's 100 most influential people in 2014.
But he also directs short films, and his new ad for high fashion brand Burberry proves his work can be quite erotic, even if it includes nary a hint of Michael Fassbender au naturel.
This spot may be promoting the Mr. Burberry fragrance, but it all but screams High Art with a capital "A." Get ready for some well-framed heavy petting.
The song claims that "The more you love me, the more you hurt me," but that didn't look too painful.
The behind-the-scenes short doesn't add much to the work beyond reminding us that Mr. Burberry and his paramour are real people rather than unbelievably lifelike bots created by the brand's marketing department.
This week, McQueen appropriately explained his working concept to U.K. tabloid Daily Mail: "I wanted to convey the idea of two people who are passionately in love, and go off on a dirty weekend," he said. "It's that moment in a relationship where all you are thinking about is each other, and all you want is to be with each other."
Check, check and check.
Burberry CEO Christopher Baily described the ad as follows: "It is traditional yet irreverent, elegant without being pristine. It perfectly encapsulates a mood and an attitude that today's Burberry man will recognize as his own."
In other words, it is indeed all about the cologne.