Devendra Banhart bathes and sings in Oliver Peoples’ latest short

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Los Angeles-based eyewear company Oliver Peoples has been introducing its seasonal eyewear collections with short films to complement its ad campaigns, featuring personalities such as Robert Evans, Zooey Deschanel and Elijah Wood. The fourth effort features nouveau folk-rock crooner Devandra Banhart and his other half, Rebecca Schwartz, in various states of lounge in ‘Devendra Banhart in the Rainbow House,’ directed by artist Lisa Eisner.

Eisner said she picked Banhart and Schwartz because she wanted a ‘real couple, not a fake ‘now you two look like you are in love’ kind of thing that always looks set up.’ She said she drew from French New Wave movies, which ‘are hard not to be inspired by when it comes to sexy and relationships, like Godard’s ‘Une Femme Mariée’ and ‘Vivre Sa Vie,’ Agnes Varda’s ‘Le Bonheur’ and Eric Rohmer’s ‘La Collectionneuse.’’

With Banhart’s Spanish-language ‘Brindo’ playing in the background, the couple romps and bathes in John Lautner’s 1961 marvel, the Rainbow House, named for its arched roof and stained glass windows, built so that motorists on Mulholland Drive could have a clear view through the structure out toward the coastline. (The house made a famous cameo in ‘Lethal Weapon 2.’)

‘The Lautner Rainbow house is like a love nest, nestled off of Mulholland Drive with crazy views and crazy sunsets and the sexiest bathtub in the whole world,’ Eisner said. ‘The whole wall is a big picture window overlooking Los Angeles.’

Banhart and Schwartz are outfitted in shades from Oliver Peoples spring and summer 2011 collection, priced from $285 to $500.

Here’s a look at an edited version of the clip, a slightly racier version debuted Wednesday on Nowness.

-- Max Padilla

Video credit: Oliver Peoples via Vimeo