By Travis Johnson
A decade in the making, the upcoming indie feature Godplex is a difficult project to pigeonhole. It follows the exploits of Clark Duke (performance poet Shane Hollands) as he attempts to find enlightenment through his own startup religion, Virtology. A rambling road movie and a thoughtful philosophical inquiry, the film is the brainchild of writer and director, Darcy Gladwin.
“The genesis of the film was when Shane Hollands and I were travelling New Zealand performing electronic music combined with Shane’s poetry.” Gladwin explains. “The other member of our party was an evangelistic drum and bass producer with a penchant for candid comedy, who helped to inspire this story. I had been looking for the components of a possible feature for some time and looking at Shane anew, saw the potential of his natural charisma and expressive ability. Coupling that with an absurd premise of starting a cult-religion and the ideas began to flow rapidly.”
Although ideas may have sprouted readily from that fecund soil, the DIY nature of the project meant that production took an extremely long time, with Gladwin and his team filming in both Australia and New Zealand as touring commitments allowed. “The development and production is unconventional and some would say irresponsible – we filmed the first act while the screenplay was in draft form and I subsequently relocated from Auckland to Melbourne. Production was staggered over six years as I worked to save money while developing the screenplay. Each year the production resumed in the two countries with new information, insight and crew as they were available. Under tight financial and resource conditions, we found that two to three-day slates is what the cast and crew could tolerate.”
Still, there were advantages. “This approach had many benefits including time for gestation of new ideas, space for the actors (in debut screen roles) to reflect on their recorded achievement, visual style and technique refinement; finally new camera technology as it became available, all of which instilled confidence and empowered the team.”
Central to the film – and the fictional religion of Virtology – is the concept of “elephant mind”, an aspirational state of consciousness which Gladwin describes as a specifically non-homo sapien way of looking at the world. “By attuning our thoughts to that of the collective Elephant consciousness, we unlock new spiritual and creative possibilities – new ways of looking at the world, new spirituality and religions without us as the central conceit. To achieve this state we must give up the restrictions and conceits of ‘human consciousness’ and become one with the ‘Elephant Mind’.
“To the casual viewer, Godplex can be confounding,” Gladwin admits. “As the protagonist dives into psychological dissociation, the viewer will likely experience periods of confusion. Having said that, the story is written in conventional three act form and begins formally – it is the multiple character and psychological explorations which I believe justify the title – Godplex. You can expect dry humour, and classic horror motifs – It’s a tragi-comic story.”
Godplex is currently being shopped around the festival circuit.
