A contemporary variant on the Orpheus myth in which the myth is not only a metaphor for a change: The protagonists really do descend into the realm of the dead and they fetch their loved one back to the world of the living.Schmidt, a legendary low-budget film-maker, did not just make the film with a modest budget, but also shot most of it in his own home in Port Townsend. He worked with non-professional actors and mainly sought people who could play themselves. He wanted to take advantage of the circumstances and leave plenty of room for improvisation. Schmidt: ‘If it rains, shoot in the rain. If an actor leaves, use someone else. Have your eyes open and pick up on the gifts that occur.’ To cut costs, he also used a special shooting technique: during filming, Schmidt called at specific points ‘freeze’. His actors then had to stay exactly where they were until the camera had changed position. This made it possible for Schmidt to achieve a complex decoupage with one camera while working fast.Protagonist in the film is Fay, who flees with her five-year-old daughter from her husband and moves into a small coastal town. She lives in isolation, alone with her child and with the fear that her husband will find her. She is misled by theher sister’s boyfriend, her husband does track her down and she loses the child; the inattention of a babysitter leads to the death of her daughter. The child has dreamt during her life that a little Indian girl appears in front of her. When that little Indian girl appears in Fay’s dream, the inconceivable seems possible.
