The Roe's Room (1997) - full transcript
Within their apartment, a father, mother and son bear the dulling yoke of an ordinary urban life. His mind and heart borne aloft by the cycle of the seasons and the images and music within him, the son transforms his cloistered existence into a richly poetic emotional utopia. As autumn arrives, cracking flakes of plaster become falling leaves. With spring, a cold hard floor comes alive with meadow grass and love beckons in the form of a beautiful young girl's outstretched hand. A ravishing ode to the imagination, THE ROE'S ROOM is a place where the energy of youth and the eternal power of the natural world triumph over the banalities and deprivations of the commonplace.
THE ROE'S ROOM
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FILM OPERA
Attention.
Now we Iook into the camera.
PIease stand motionIess.
Look into the camera.
MUSIC
Don't move.
There are some refIections in the window.
ACTORS
SON
MOTHER
FATHER
GIRL
Don't waIk over there.
For the picture, pIease.
VOICES
SON
MOTHER
FATHER
GIRL
BEACIE AND IRKOWI
SPRING
Oh table levitate...
above the town
Oh table levitate...
above the town
When each bite of bread
Perforates my palate
And starry dust spirals above my head
Oh levitate
And don't let me forget
That bits of bread can cure
Numbness in our tongues
Today we sit at the table
As we do each night
At dinner time
When mother serves
A steaming TV set
And father carves it
With fork and knife
Today
As usual
They gave me the best cut
Ajuicy throat
Of a reporter
And a sugar coated head
Of a weatherwoman
Today as well
For the first time
During dinner,
l noticed nobody looked at me
Her light awakens fear
But it's easy to approach her
When she spurts from the table
From the chairs the wall
The fountain is our mother.
Father's face shadows
Only his eyes glow in the silence
The fountain bore us
Mother renders
Cauldrons and bottles
Sticky and without milk
The fountain is our mother
Trying to preserve her fertility
She washes her breasts and hands
The fountain bore us
ln our apartment
And we never know
From where she'll spurt anew
The fountain is our mother
Her milk soothes pain
The fountain is our mother
And puts our fear to rest
So we stand vigil
in the darkness staring
At furniture
Unguarded moment
ls too costly
l cannot hammer nails anymore
When l'm doing this
Her body escapes
From under my fingers
l cannot hammer nails anymore
Nor forgive myself
My losses
Every so often
The wall overwhelms me
l cannot anymore
l don't know who she is
Mother or lover
Though at dawn
l kiss her cold bare feet
And undress her fragile plaster
SUMMER
SUMMER
When there is a full moon
l can never enter
My father's room
As soon as it arrives
Father closes the door
And doesn't speak to me
Only at dawn
l feel through my skin
The presence of the moon
l don't wake up though it's better that way
To leave them alone
At night
ln the midst of our apartment
Grows the tree whose roots
Reach the neighbor below
Whereas its crown
Penetrates the ceiling of the bright room
Of the one who lives above us
We nurture our tree
With stern care
Water it each day
And clean the bark
Killing worms
Grows the tree
At night we believe
ln our tree's omnipotence
We feel needed
Therefore we stand by
Watching the filth
Of the neighbor below
We know about his thievery
And drunkenness
His blasphemies
Reach us often
Lying down on the floor
We witness as every night
ln his damp and murky apartment
He has a different woman
Who always cries with ecstasy
And hungrily nestles to her breast
His hairy chest
We are disturbed by not knowing
What our neighbor above makes of it
The peaceful and silent tenant
As silent, as nonexistent
Who every day
ls lost in prayer
But we believe that flowers
Blooming from the branches
ln his living room
Draw juices from the dark soul
Of the tenant below
This image
Always returns
lnto my father's dream
Naked l walk thoughtfully
Through the dense garden of his library
Touching the books
He allowed me to touch
And l am full of bitterness
Father sees it and waits
Until you fall asleep
Then he kneels and touches your ribs
So when awakened
ln the arms of a close and distant woman
You would feel carnal pleasure
But father
Still dreaming
Cannot see
That the woman who is oblivious
To the warning voice that snakes
Will break into the drawer
She will break in and read
That we are naked
And unprotected in a dream
Which only is
Father's library
At dawn
Father will wake
Under the weight of perspiration
Only after a while
Will he decide to rise
Shuffling his feet
Among the dried leaves
Until he will understand
That no one believes in dreams
Anymore
AUTUMN
AUTUMN
ln our apartment
The floors sprout grass
So we can walk barefoot
And enjoy it in silence
The grass is good
lt grows tall
Entwining chair legs
lt kills our fear
Of loneliness
lts wisdom
ls also in its cycle
lt dies in spring
To be reborn in winter
Grass knows how to give birth
As far as l can remember
Mother sits at the table
And instead of TV
She watches grass
Father scythes the grass
ln our apartment a festivity begins
We put on clean shirts
And l turn off the record player
Nobody knows that at night
Dew covers the cut grass
l wake up then
With the taste of blood
ln my mouth
ln the innermost room
Of our apartment
The roes graze
Their moist eyes
Touched by darkness shine
And the furniture grows bark
Each night
Picked clean by roes' teeth
We all sprout leaves
Our roots crack the walls
We all sprout leaves
Our roots crack the walls
Our faces bloom
When nuzzled
By velvet nostrils
Father, mother and l
We like to stare
As the roes eat from our hands
And walk safely
Through our apartment
Through our dream
Though each evening
The neighbors draw their radios
And sharpen their TV sets
WINTER
WINTER
ls it possible
That one day we'll go away
All of us
The apartment will remain empty
And the walls will dry up
Without our breath
ls it possible
That flowers knobs and chairs
Will not be ovegrown with moss
Mother ever older
And father in gloves
So much pain in their bones
We touch hidden corners
Beat the carpets
Not to think about it
When dust presses itself too early
Silently into our eyes and mouth
We believe hidden tears
will make dust fertile
And someday we will overgrow with moss
New mother and father,
with their hands yet free
From gloves
will touch us in silence
Enjoying the new moss
in the old apartment
Winter
Already in my house
Father has frozen upon the table
Mother sways carrying the supper
Against the wind that touches her eyes
Chilled to the bone, my father's hand
Attempts to transfer the reign
lnside the bed shackled with ice
Pulses the spring of old blood
l can't peel my face
Frozen to the window
l hear fading steps
Crunching snow
lt's you
Fading away from the sky
lced in stillness
Fluorescent frost
Covers carnival trailers
lron hearts
ln shooting galleries
My hand
ls red like the dawn
ln the chapped skin one can trace
The contour of high mountains
And forgotten touches
Crystals on frosted windows
Crumble in my hand
And only silence and this waltz
Will endure
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FILM OPERA
Attention.
Now we Iook into the camera.
PIease stand motionIess.
Look into the camera.
MUSIC
Don't move.
There are some refIections in the window.
ACTORS
SON
MOTHER
FATHER
GIRL
Don't waIk over there.
For the picture, pIease.
VOICES
SON
MOTHER
FATHER
GIRL
BEACIE AND IRKOWI
SPRING
Oh table levitate...
above the town
Oh table levitate...
above the town
When each bite of bread
Perforates my palate
And starry dust spirals above my head
Oh levitate
And don't let me forget
That bits of bread can cure
Numbness in our tongues
Today we sit at the table
As we do each night
At dinner time
When mother serves
A steaming TV set
And father carves it
With fork and knife
Today
As usual
They gave me the best cut
Ajuicy throat
Of a reporter
And a sugar coated head
Of a weatherwoman
Today as well
For the first time
During dinner,
l noticed nobody looked at me
Her light awakens fear
But it's easy to approach her
When she spurts from the table
From the chairs the wall
The fountain is our mother.
Father's face shadows
Only his eyes glow in the silence
The fountain bore us
Mother renders
Cauldrons and bottles
Sticky and without milk
The fountain is our mother
Trying to preserve her fertility
She washes her breasts and hands
The fountain bore us
ln our apartment
And we never know
From where she'll spurt anew
The fountain is our mother
Her milk soothes pain
The fountain is our mother
And puts our fear to rest
So we stand vigil
in the darkness staring
At furniture
Unguarded moment
ls too costly
l cannot hammer nails anymore
When l'm doing this
Her body escapes
From under my fingers
l cannot hammer nails anymore
Nor forgive myself
My losses
Every so often
The wall overwhelms me
l cannot anymore
l don't know who she is
Mother or lover
Though at dawn
l kiss her cold bare feet
And undress her fragile plaster
SUMMER
SUMMER
When there is a full moon
l can never enter
My father's room
As soon as it arrives
Father closes the door
And doesn't speak to me
Only at dawn
l feel through my skin
The presence of the moon
l don't wake up though it's better that way
To leave them alone
At night
ln the midst of our apartment
Grows the tree whose roots
Reach the neighbor below
Whereas its crown
Penetrates the ceiling of the bright room
Of the one who lives above us
We nurture our tree
With stern care
Water it each day
And clean the bark
Killing worms
Grows the tree
At night we believe
ln our tree's omnipotence
We feel needed
Therefore we stand by
Watching the filth
Of the neighbor below
We know about his thievery
And drunkenness
His blasphemies
Reach us often
Lying down on the floor
We witness as every night
ln his damp and murky apartment
He has a different woman
Who always cries with ecstasy
And hungrily nestles to her breast
His hairy chest
We are disturbed by not knowing
What our neighbor above makes of it
The peaceful and silent tenant
As silent, as nonexistent
Who every day
ls lost in prayer
But we believe that flowers
Blooming from the branches
ln his living room
Draw juices from the dark soul
Of the tenant below
This image
Always returns
lnto my father's dream
Naked l walk thoughtfully
Through the dense garden of his library
Touching the books
He allowed me to touch
And l am full of bitterness
Father sees it and waits
Until you fall asleep
Then he kneels and touches your ribs
So when awakened
ln the arms of a close and distant woman
You would feel carnal pleasure
But father
Still dreaming
Cannot see
That the woman who is oblivious
To the warning voice that snakes
Will break into the drawer
She will break in and read
That we are naked
And unprotected in a dream
Which only is
Father's library
At dawn
Father will wake
Under the weight of perspiration
Only after a while
Will he decide to rise
Shuffling his feet
Among the dried leaves
Until he will understand
That no one believes in dreams
Anymore
AUTUMN
AUTUMN
ln our apartment
The floors sprout grass
So we can walk barefoot
And enjoy it in silence
The grass is good
lt grows tall
Entwining chair legs
lt kills our fear
Of loneliness
lts wisdom
ls also in its cycle
lt dies in spring
To be reborn in winter
Grass knows how to give birth
As far as l can remember
Mother sits at the table
And instead of TV
She watches grass
Father scythes the grass
ln our apartment a festivity begins
We put on clean shirts
And l turn off the record player
Nobody knows that at night
Dew covers the cut grass
l wake up then
With the taste of blood
ln my mouth
ln the innermost room
Of our apartment
The roes graze
Their moist eyes
Touched by darkness shine
And the furniture grows bark
Each night
Picked clean by roes' teeth
We all sprout leaves
Our roots crack the walls
We all sprout leaves
Our roots crack the walls
Our faces bloom
When nuzzled
By velvet nostrils
Father, mother and l
We like to stare
As the roes eat from our hands
And walk safely
Through our apartment
Through our dream
Though each evening
The neighbors draw their radios
And sharpen their TV sets
WINTER
WINTER
ls it possible
That one day we'll go away
All of us
The apartment will remain empty
And the walls will dry up
Without our breath
ls it possible
That flowers knobs and chairs
Will not be ovegrown with moss
Mother ever older
And father in gloves
So much pain in their bones
We touch hidden corners
Beat the carpets
Not to think about it
When dust presses itself too early
Silently into our eyes and mouth
We believe hidden tears
will make dust fertile
And someday we will overgrow with moss
New mother and father,
with their hands yet free
From gloves
will touch us in silence
Enjoying the new moss
in the old apartment
Winter
Already in my house
Father has frozen upon the table
Mother sways carrying the supper
Against the wind that touches her eyes
Chilled to the bone, my father's hand
Attempts to transfer the reign
lnside the bed shackled with ice
Pulses the spring of old blood
l can't peel my face
Frozen to the window
l hear fading steps
Crunching snow
lt's you
Fading away from the sky
lced in stillness
Fluorescent frost
Covers carnival trailers
lron hearts
ln shooting galleries
My hand
ls red like the dawn
ln the chapped skin one can trace
The contour of high mountains
And forgotten touches
Crystals on frosted windows
Crumble in my hand
And only silence and this waltz
Will endure