A Song of Ceylon

This film refers not only to Basil Wright’s classic British documentary “The Song of Ceylon” but also to a name erased from the map of the world, for there is no country officially named Ceylon. Invoking this idea of absence the above film pursues a certain phantasy of the body, a somewhat abstract form of the body in extremis, the body in travail, the body in torsion. The extremity in question is around forms of hysteria. A Song of Ceylon explores the narcissistic body, the masochistic body, the hysterical body and maybe a few other bodies in extremis. This is done by bringing together two different theatrical traditions from two different cultures through the mediation of cinematography.