A cell division gone wrong

摘要

Vilnius University Children's Hospital, Vilnius, Lithuania: a fresh-faced young man is having his head shaved. He watches in wonder as the light brown hair falls away. Excitediy anticipating a sea-change in his appearance, he breaks into a smile. A girl materialises: headscarf, surgical mask, and a flash of eyes. "Don't hurry", she warns her mother, "they're filming me". "Let's go, film star", the dryly indulgent reply. But even the camera's presence cannot dampen the impatience of youth; the girl hastens to the lift and works tiny fingers between the obstinately closed doors. These scenes are taken from the opening passages of Arunas Matelis' Before Flying Back to the Earth, a poetic exposition of day-to-day life in a paediatric cancer ward. In another early episode, a boy undergoes an MRI scan. He keeps perfectly still; "can I breathe?" he enquires, "absolutely" the doctor responds. Life may be put on hold, but it does not stop.