Din of Celestial Birds

E. Elias Merhige's 'Din of Celestial Birds' is the second part of an as-yet-unfinished trilogy of films, the first part being his bold and visionary debut feature 'Begotten'. Most people coming to 'Din…' will have watched 'Begotten' and are presumably expecting more of the gruesome and haunting imagery that distinguished the style of that feature, however as the movie begins we are reassured to "not be afraid ... be comforted ... remember ... our origin..." and certainly the graphic images of 'Begotten' have been replaced in favour of abstract images that swirl around the screen, morphing into various shapes which, with the help of the delicately eerie accompanying music, oddly enough do indeed invoke a reassuring feeling.

I came away from the film thinking of it as 'Begotten' enacted on a microscopic scale: a depiction of the divine mystery of creation through an exploration of processes prior to it, but where 'Begotten' did so as a metaphorical psychodrama, 'Din…' does this in a style reminiscent of a nature documentary…except that it seems like what is being presented is a nature documentary of life on one of the outer planets shot by Man Ray or some other 1920s surrealist!

The opening credits actually attribute the film to Q6, a group consisting of a visual philosopher (whatever that is), a computational visual neuroscientist (whatever that is), a multi-media performance artist, a composer, and a sculptor; all of whom Merhige collected around him to produce the movie in a hands-on fashion employing techniques used by the work of cinema pioneers like the Lumiere brothers, Fritz Lang, and Jean Cocteau, in addition to software and technology created specifically for the film. The effort was certainly worth it as at only 14 minutes (much easier going than the 80 minutes of 'Begotten'!) here is a film which even though it cannot be said to be unique on the grounds that it arguably ploughs the same furrow as it's conceptual predecessor, is nevertheless testament to a unique artistic vision, and which explores the limits of both cinema and human understanding.

Din of Celestial Birds (2006) is a surrealist short film telling the story of the evolution of consciousness. I respect this film a lot, but I'm not sure if I'll ever watch it again. It has some amazing sound design and decent visuals, but not much else.

This film is full of unnerving and unique visuals, and filming the short in black and white is a great stylistic choice and very recognisable in E. Elias Merhige's work. It features a lot of flashing images and some great mirror image shots. Also, I loved the text that appears in the opening of the film.

My favourite part of this short by far is the sound design. It creates an incredibly eerie atmosphere and is mixed so well! Additionally, it fits the experimental nature of the movie well, and acts to enhance the viewing experience.

Like Begotten (1990), this film relies highly on metaphors and hidden messages, which forces the audience to think deeper and analyse each frame of the short. For this reason, I highly respect Din of Celestial Birds (2006) as it feels more like an art piece.

Lastly, the film has no clear structure or plot, making it a confusing yet intriguing watch. It is peak surrealist cinema and definitely not for everyone. Although I don't understand a lot of this movie, I think it's definitely worth the watch!