"Salome in Low Land" by Christian Zagler

'Salome in Low Land', is a delightful concoction that joins the classic world of opera by Richard Strauss, and a play by Oscar Wilde with the contemporary world of retro 8-bit video games. I was surprised when heard about it's success at the 2006 Rotterdam Film Festival. Salome was a biblical princess with a bit of a mean streak. With her magical dance of the seven veils she had men eating out of her palm. Even great men, like King Herod, succumbed to her charms.

“It is a story about a man-eating woman, a femme fatale”, Christian explains, “Salome's innocent, passionate, self conscious and dangerous at the same time.” Tragedy strikes and blood flows red when the King unwillingly grants Salome one dark and deadly wish. It’s a classic tale of lust, power and revenge (opera buffs love that stuff). “My focus lies not just on the story itself, which comes from Oscar Wilde and the bible, but on aesthetics” says Christian, “I did it all on my private computer, spending more nights than days arranging pixel by pixel, influenced by a lot of computer games.”

You can watch "Salome in Low Land" here.