A fisherman watches a snipe and clam locked in a struggle neither can win. The camera doesn't move much. Nothing explodes. What hits is the recognition that you're watching a parable unfold in real time, not a story being told at you. By the end, you understand why this tale survived a thousand years without needing anything louder than patience.

While fishing, a fisherman is drawn to a snipe and a clam, and his attempts to catch both come to nothing. A kingfisher catches a worm, only for the clam to take it, and when the clam goes to eat it, the snipe snatches the worm and swallows it. The furious clam grapples with the snipe while the fisherman watches, delighted. The short film is painted in the Chinese ink wash style and draws on an old proverb about how a third party profits when two rivals fight. It won the Jury Prize Silver Bear for short film at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.