Musician Leeward can never refuse a needy person he meets on the street – he always brings them home with him. He is constantly composing nice little songs for his three-year-old daughter Rainbow. He sees the world as a magical place. Leeward’s a nice guy. Only his wife Mary now sees this a little differently. She works hard as a nurse in a hospital for the minimum wage, while he refuses to write some music for a commercial because it would undermine his artistic integrity. Their marriage, which has become a succession of irritations, is completely tipped out of balance when the young artist Lilas appears. We all have to grow up sooner or later, seems to be the message of Swim Little Fish Swim, but this needn’t mean giving up our dreams – or rather, our capacity to dream. This sketch of mores and characters shows an almost surrealist lightness of touch; even generally hyper-aggressive New York looks like a friendly, fairytale world.
