Bruce Springsteen short film ‘Hunter of Invisible Game’ premieres

Bruce Springsteen and filmmaker Thom Zimny are taking their longstanding working relationship to a new place with a short film/music video for “Hunter of Invisible Game,” which features Springsteen in a rare acting role.

“For a long part of the year, Thom Zimny and I have been talking about shooting a short film for “Hunter Of Invisible Game’,” Springsteen writes in a note with the film, both available on Springsteen’s official website. “We’ve finally got the job done, and we think it’s one of our best. Thanks Thom for the hard work and brotherly collaboration. You and your crew bring it all. And to all of you out there in E St. Nation, we hope you enjoy! See ya up the road.”

In the impressionistic 10-minute video for the track from the “High Hopes” album, the veteran singer-songwriter assumes the persona of a haunted man. In the long lead-in to the song’s performance, Zimny alternates between images of darkness and light, the former belonging mostly to Springsteen, the latter involving a carefree young woman and a few children as they live out the themes of the song:

We all come up a little short and we go down hard

These days I spend my time skipping through the dark

Through the empires of dust, I chant your name

I am the hunter of invisible game

Zimny most recently directed the HBO documentary/promo film for Springsteen’s latest album, and he has photographed and the two have worked together for almost a decade and a half.

Previously Zimny directed the 2005 documentary about the making of Springsteen’s 1975 breakthrough album “Born to Run,” and in 2010 he created “The Promise,” the feature-length film about the making of “Darkness on the Edge of Town” from 1978.

Earlier this year, Zimny talked about working with the Boss: “One of the quotes from the HBO piece that stayed with me was Bruce describing how he had found a balance of when to work and when not to work, but also accepting that being uncomfortable was part of his creative process. I opened the film with that because I thought it was such a powerful statement, and it was a great intro whether you knew the record or not.”

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