Bellefire - All I Want is You

MAY 06 2002 · 12:00

Bellefire - All I Want is You (2002) Director: Martin Smith Era: Early 2000s British-Irish Pop Boom (2002) - Peak of Louis Walsh-managed Irish pop acts crossing into UK mainstream, defined by polished major-label aesthetics and aspirational outdoor imagery on Virgin Records. Moderate-to-high curatorial value as a convergence point of several historically significant threads: the peak of the Walsh-managed Irish pop boom, the early career of a now-Oscar-nominated cinematographer, and the reworking of a classic Irish rock song for a new pop context. The video's warm naturalism and rapid editing represent a transitional aesthetic between late-1990s glossy pop production and the more location-grounded look that would define mid-2000s UK pop. Its rarity in archival databases elevates its preservation priority. Context: Released in April 2002, this video sits at the crest of the Louis Walsh-managed Irish pop wave that followed the global success of Boyzone and Westlife. Bellefire, signed to Virgin Records as the first girl group in Walsh's stable, represented a deliberate move toward a more adult-contemporary pop niche than the teen-oriented acts dominating the market. Covering a canonical U2 song lent the group an immediate cultural credibility in Ireland while broadening their appeal in the UK. The coastal, sunlit visual grammar of the video reflects a wider early-2000s trend in British and Irish pop videos toward aspirational, travel-tinged imagery, positioning the group as relatable yet glamorous. Director notes: Directed for Virgin Records, 2002. Producer: Tracy Skelton. Director of Photography: Robbie Ryan (now a two-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer for The Favourite and Poor Things). Label commissioner: Carole (surname not confirmed in sources). The video was released as the enhanced CD single for 'All I Want Is You', Bellefire's cover of the U2 song from their debut album After the Rain. UK release date: April 22, 2002. The video depicts the group in coastal/beach settings, consistent with the warm, naturalistic visual approach reflected in the production metadata. Robbie Ryan's involvement at this stage predates his breakthrough collaboration with Andrea Arnold on Wasp (2003), making this an early professional credit for one of Irish cinema's most decorated DPs.