Parity Pipeline

Genre

Synopsis

A man gets off a boat. He walks into a restaurant and orders albatross soup. He takes one sip... pulls out a gun, and shoots himself to death. So...why did he kill himself? Over 50 people have been recorded trying to guess this riddle using only “yes” or “no” questions. The film is a visual representation of the riddle unraveling as we hear a rapid fire kaleidoscopic soundscape of questions from each participant. An all knowing God-like voice guides the story by answering “yes” or “no” for each question. The questions will reveal that the man and his wife, along with other passengers were survivors of a plane crash. Stuck on an island with no contact with the outside world, they have nothing to eat but the native birds circling the sky - albatross. In attempt to hunt for the birds, the man uses a gun found in the wreck. He tries, but fails. Hopeless and ill from starvation, his wife was the first to die. One night, one of the other survivors offers the man some albatross soup! They had managed to hunt down some of the albatross. “Still…” the God-like voice asks, “why did the man kill himself?” At the very end, as we sit with the man in the restaurant as he’s sipping the soup, a flashback takes us back to the island. The man sits by the fire having his first taste of food in weeks. He glances at an albatross perched on the cliffs, just out of reach. The albatross looks back. “He buried her and they dug her up and - “ “They dug her up and ate her and told him it was albatross.” “Oh no...” “His wife was in the soup?” (YES) We hear celebration from the participants as it slowly fades away. Inside the restaurant, the man stares down into his soup, knowing this last bite will either absolve his guilt, or confirm what he has known all along. He takes his final bite...