Birdsong (2008) review

A timeless Catholic narrative gets reimagined/restructured by the Catalan auteur: the Three Wise Men (Lluís Carbó, Lluís Serrat Batlle and Lluís Serrat) go on a very long journey over water, hills and sand to pay a visit to the infant Jesus of Nazareth, who is with his parents Mary (Montse Triola) and Joseph (filmmaker/programmer Mark Peranson) ... and bicker all the way there.  As with his other films, the emphasis is more on the haunting black and white imagery than following a "plot," with cinematographers Jimmy Gimferrer and Neus Ollé doing a marvelous job keeping the digital photography crisp ... and at times unreal (the often-mentioned nine minute take involves our protagonists dissolving in and out of the horizon).  Serra's having a tiny bit of fun in having his Magi on the plumper side (there's a lot of heavy breathing), but for the most part he's being totally serious with the project.  I know he - like John Waters - is an obsessive collector of books, and I wonder if he just so happened to have a collection of Ansel Adams' works sitting around, glanced through it and something clicked....