From the Film Maker...

Like the girls in the painting, I initially wasn't aware of anyone lying in the grass on the left of the painting. Then I recognized the figure of death. This pulled me into the painting. I was intrigued by the contrast between the lightness and playfulness of the girls and the dark, shrouded presence of death - watching, waiting. Death and I were watching the girls together.

When I read the description '...girls dance in the meadow, apparently unaware of the shrouded figure of death, the reaper, lying in the foreground', I realized that it would be interesting if the girls weren't naïve victims but young girls teasing death with their liveliness, making him eager to end their ignorance.

If the girls in the painting saw death, would they be fearful and walk away? Maybe some would be intrigued and walk towards him, challenge him, play with him because they believe they are immortal. It reminds me of the way youngsters tend to take their youth and their health for granted, unaware of time ticking away.

In my story, young girls push the limits of death without being fully aware of the consequences that might be waiting for them in the near future.

I believe that one of the girls in the foreground, with the yellow dress, is about to see and even recognize death. The girl became one of the main characters in my film. She looks death in the eyes for a brief moment, but returns to life feeling more immortal than ever before.
Muriel d'Ansembourg