Crow Hand!!!
The collective term for their kind “a murder of crows,” it is a sinister but undeserved term for a genus Corvus whose many species are found the world over, intelligent, social animals who exhibit complex behaviours including the use of tools, their presence in mythology long associated with knowledge and wisdom, perhaps why when finding a small crow-shaped charm while crossing the parking lot the urge to pick it up is natural.
A very short film written and directed by Brian Lonana and starring Jason Vail and Caitlin McPhail as the unnamed husband and wife, Crow Hand!!! packs a lot into two and a half minutes, with domestic discontinuity as she walks ahead while he shuffles behind laden with goods and proceeds to defy her by ignoring her direct and specific warning, then blood, feathers and more blood.
Presented as a cautionary tale of the perils of failing to listen and obey, of the lure of shiny objects, of mocking the misfortune of others, and of the strange powers inherent in animal totems, Crow Hand!!! claims to be based on a true story but does not identify the source, so it is possible that some of the minor details have been exaggerated to enhance the dramatic effect of the piece.
That said, the underlying truth cannot be denied, for who cannot have experienced or witnessed the despondent “I told you so” of a spouse who has specifically said not to do something even if the outcome was not necessarily transmogrification and enucleation, though capturing her husband’s predicament on camera rather than helping is perhaps not the best course of action for someone claiming the moral high ground if they wish to be spared what is to come.
Crow Hand!!! will be available on the Arrow platform from Friday 14th June
