The cult band Rammstein has won the love of fans thanks to the deep meaning embedded in the lyrics, as well as thanks to the dynamic and vibrant videos. For the single “Rosenrot”, which became a reflection of the group’s vision of the work of Goethe and the Brothers Grimm, a video was shot, each action in which is saturated with symbolism. Many fans of the group, when they first saw him, often wondered: what is the meaning of the video?
The action begins with the arrival of several wandering monks in a small village where a holiday is in full swing. Praying guests are warmly welcomed by the locals. During the celebration, the gaze of one of the monks falls on a young girl dancing in the center of the crowd. For a fraction of a second, the monk, already involuntarily succumbing to temptation, understands his fate: he sees his own bloody face and hands roughly grabbing him. At night, the ascetics who came to the village retire to the field for self-torture.
In the morning, the girl takes communion along with other villagers. Her nocturnal confession to a priest in love remains a mystery, which most likely ended in a forbidden relationship, as evidenced by the bed, which played the role of a confessional. Companions of the protagonist, despite the obvious violation of the vow by their religious brother, rely only on prayer and self-flagellation in the fight against vice.
However, one sin leads to another: a young temptress persuades a monk to commit murder, condemning her own parents to death. The symbol of the request is the rose placed in the hands of the monk, on the thorns of which he injures his hands. Rammsstein play on the symbolism of this flower: according to Christian tradition, the thorns of the rose appeared after the fall of man. The color of the rose also plays an important role: according to the Christian interpretation, it symbolizes the blood shed by Christ for humanity.
At night, the monk and his beloved meet near the girl’s house. A man entering the house brutally cracks down on her family. The shots flashing in this segment of the clip are interesting: blood on the faces of the dead, the monk’s face, blood from the thorns on his hands. This moment can be interpreted in two ways: either the man understands that initially the blood on his hands was the blood of innocent people killed by him, or it symbolizes the repentance of the monk, who realized what he had done.
The case takes an unexpected turn when the killer leaves the house, expecting to see the joy on the face of his beloved. However, the girl, smiling, calls the neighbors, who, running to the scream and seeing the criminal, first beat him, and then sentence him to death at the stake.
The last thing the condemned saw was the lit torches thrown into the fire by the villagers. The smile of the girl, for the sake of which he ruined both himself and others, did not hide from the eyes of the executed.
The final scene was the departure of wandering pilgrims from the village, which can be interpreted in two ways: either the course of life, for which even such terrible events do not play a big role, or human nature itself, which tries to quickly forget about past crimes in order to start a new life from scratch .
The meaning of the clip was to demonstrate the duality of human souls. The changing nature of a person (first hospitality, then execution, first asceticism – then sin, love and hatred) will always haunt him, no matter who he is. The course of life dictates its own conditions, and neither a young age nor a monastic cassock will save a person from the real “I”.
