Out there, in the meadow
Stood a lovely bird to sing.
One naughty boy picked a stone,
And threw it at her wing. (Yitzchak Katsanelson)
This experimental film tells an allegoric story, seemingly simple, about a boy killing a bird; his casual motive for the murder, and the way he feels about it in retrospect. The film addresses the universal causes for guilt and pain through the use of a repetitive text (a lullaby by Yitzhak Katesenelson- see above and below), and exposes the “unbearable ease” of death.
This strategy of using a repetitive narrative highlights the fatal, cyclical sense of absurd in this story, and thus brings to mind cinematic stories such as “Rashomon” (Akira Kurosawa), and “La Jetee / The Pier” (Chris Marker).
This strategy also highlights the recklessness involved in inflicting senseless loss to another living being, the impossibility of absolution and the pointlessness of grief.
The film is about the human need for a selective memory, such which allows the rephrasing and re-framing of experiences (or memories) in order to re-create a more convenient, livable reality.
The film is composed of five sequences, woven through by a single process; transcendence from the realm of the abstract to that of the concrete. It does so through a simulation of the memory process; starting with video fragments and obscure words, which gradually gain their meaning and context from the ongoing rhythmic repetition of the lullaby.
Satirically, the film paraphrases familiar sounds of memorial ceremonies & rituals, private as well as collective, which are so characteristic of Israeli society and culture.
Out there, in the meadow
A dead bird lied.
A little boy passed by and saw her,
Sat down and cried.