The second full-length feature by Ian Kerkhof focuses on `dope 'n dole refugees' Howard and Selena. Two English-speaking foreigners, with university educations but without jobs, enjoy all the freedom offered by Amsterdam. In The Mozart Bird the relationship between Howard and Selena is investigated in an almost clinical way. Ian Kerkhof does not put his characters in a social context. Almost the whole film is set in a house; first Selena's, and eventually Howard's. The whole thing is filmed in eight long camera shots. A tension is created because the cutting is not determined by the continuity of action or space. Ian Kerkhof allowed himself to be inspired by the films of Ken Jacobs, Max Ophüls and Douglas Sirk.
