The Pigeon Egg Strategy

An odd movie with a beginning that completely fails to grab your interest, but that rapidly recovers from its [admittedly necessary, but still] dismal opening to become a well-plotted work. The plot is in the details here... and there's a barrage of them. The language too, deliberately obscures and confuses... work past it and it's a rewarding experience.

Complexity theory finally finds a voice in the movie industry.

Each time I saw this movie, I discovered something new. Questions about time, space, synchronicity, and culinary innovations weave through stories held together by a group of existential gangsters.

The question of time: The movie is in black and white, setting a sense of timelessness. The story develops in a non-chronological fashion, but not through flash-backs. Cleverly done, the movie challenges the linearity of time.

The question of space: Like the writer, the movie's characters have moved through different countries: Brazil, Hong Kong, Germany. Somehow, they have always been connected - even if as simply as by a piece of German ham.

It is an intellectual and philosophical treat!

It's been a few years since I saw "The Pigeon Egg Strategy" (at a screening where the director was present), and it still stands as one of my more surreal film experiences. Its Mobius strip structure and obtuse (but still quite funny) dialogue encourage multiple viewings -- hopefully it will get a DVD release one of these millennia so that this is possible.

I had the great privilege of watching the film with Max Makowski and asking him questions afterward. The film is a stroke of genius. Sure, there were a few continuity errors and other glitches which Mr. Makowski was quick to point out, but the arrangement of the events was absolutely like no other. Some compare it to Pulp Fiction, but there's no way the strategic non-linear order of Quentin Tarantino's film even comes close to The Pigeon Egg Strategy. Makowski said he thinks of his film like a ride at the amusement park; you go on a tour of everything and then come back to where you started. The most amazing scene was near the end, when two drunken men are walking from a bar to their car. Makowski uses a cross-fade effect that defines the feeling of drunkenness more than being drunk. You have to see it to believe it. I wanted to watch the film at least five more times to completely understand the story (that's how complicated the sequence of events is), but Mr. Makowski had to catch the bus. Supposedly he will release Pigeon Egg Strategy to cable television - I can hardly wait to see it again.

Although the acting is sometimes dreadful, this still is near the top of my personal list of greatest movies of all time. This movie has numerous subtexts, and is an interesting analysis of just how confusing (and magical) language can be. To fully understand this film, I recommend seeing it at least three times. Trust me -- it's worth it!