A Morning in September: A Film Requiem2002

A meditation on grief and loss, the film sets footage shot September 11 and immediately thereafter to a Monteverdi aria – Orpheus' plea to cross the River Styx to his loved one – and a John Dowland song, "Come Heavy Sleep". The Voice of New York pleads to cross the river to the loved one, "a soul shorn of its body", over footage of the smoke filmed from the New Jersey waterfront, and of vehicles and rescue workers in Manhattan. A cortege of ambulances shows that the plea to rescue the loved one has been denied. A second singer repeats the aria with different orchestration as a plea to join the loved one in death over smoke shots that progress to nightfall. Then the first voice sings "Come Heavy Sleep" orchestrated as a duet between the voice and the ghost voice of the loved one (viola da gamba). Finally, over shots of the missing signs, "Come Heavy Sleep" is repeated as a poignant duet between solo guitar and the wind. available for rent on Beta SP (NTSC and PAL)