Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs

Go watch the movie then come back here.

The first time I watched this I didn't understand what was going on. I couldn't figure out what the first part of the movie -- nailing the trees to a cliff -- had to do with the second part. My problem was that there was an implicit suggestion that there was only one tree on the cliff and that it wasn't a very big cliff. The second part states rather the inverse and the disparity prevented me from making the (now-obvious) connection.

Once I got that though, it made the whole thing rather sad. The very cute work through the the eventual jump -- the cartoony bird, the little jump of joy, the flight helmet -- is all leading to a very different finish. The accompanying tuba and triangle music don't indicate the outcome and seem to be utterly misleading on an emotional level. Maybe that's the idea.

For a bit more elucidation, here's an interview with the creator of the piece. The interviewer poses a question about the ending:

Jordan: At the end of "Kiwi!", we hear a thud as Kiwi assumingly hits the ground. Did you contemplate not including this in the finished movie?
Dony: "Yes, of course. I had many people telling me to end it differently, like give him a parachute, or have him fall in a pond. But I didn't want it wrapped up that tightly. And I think that's what happy endings do - they take care of everything [at the end] with the emotion! I wanted to leave it open and a bit unsettling. But then again some people may see it as an ending."

Dunno, I reckon the "thump" pretty much seals the ending of the movie. The kiwi can't fly, has no parachute and is well above the tops of the trees. It really doesn't leave it open to any other interpretation. At this point I guess I could go off on a rant about mixing comedy and drama: that you can have a drama with comedy, but never a comedy with drama. I think though that this piece makes the explanation for me.

(Via Terra Nova)