Little Birds and Orphans and Fools

The birds represent 'the souls of the dead' in this darkening, carnivalesque frolic. A kind of despairing Jules et Jim, it features a trio of 'orphans', Yorick, Andrej and Marta, playing mad games in a crumbling old house populated occasionally by old people and children. It's acted pantomime-style with a particular Nouvelle Vague brand of erotic theatricality, and draws on psychedelic 'liberationist' surrealism in the design and editing. Added to the mix are obscure folkloric, catholic, historical and political references and metaphors. The orphans drive into the countryside to form a funeral pyre of celluloid film - 'Goodbye New Wave!' - before one of them is imprisoned and the bleak ending begins.