The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent snake, worm or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; (oura) meaning "tail" and (boros) meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail". Although this ancient symbol has many interpretations, it is most commonly believed to represent cyclicity, the concept of the eternal return, things which begin anew as soon as they end.
Ouroboros, my current short film, is a tale about how karma affects two underworld figures. Frank Shaunessy collects money owed to him by the younger Latino gangster Emilio Sanchez at a rendezvous on the edge of a cliff. Frank is overwhelmed by a supernatural experience which, changes him for life.
I was interested in making an experimental film where the beginning and end of the film were the same. The Worm Ouroboros a heroic fantasy novel by Eric Rücker Eddison, first published in 1922 is based on this concept. It so happens that the Ouroboros is a symbol represented in jewellery, particularly rings, and I found it intriguing that The Worm Ouroboros was published prior to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings by some 32 years and in fact Tolkien praised this book, and based his famous trilogy on a ring. I set out to achieve a short film itself becoming a cycle. The film begins in reverse motion, then reaches a point where a decision or choice is made, as in this case between two gangsters on a cliff’s edge exchanging money, then proceeds in forward motion to the same point where the film began in reverse. This underlying simplistic concept, however, underwent much development and the “cycle” was broken in the final film. It became a way to build a story around the main character Frank Shaunessy, played by Dan Hynes, who was being ripped off in the deal. Frank is a hardened old world gangster linked to the Mafia with both Scottish and Italian descent. The reverse sequence was used quickly to set up Frank’s brutal past and emphasize the danger to the younger Latino gangster, Emilio Sanchez played by Raphael Felix as he attempts to short change Frank. When the film reaches forward motion, we become aware that Frank is immersed in a supernatural experience which leads to his epiphany and emerges our anti-hero. Frank is confronted by a vision of his blonde Geordie sweetheart, Bonnie, who speaks about the Ouroboros and Frank’s cycle of violence. The concept of the Ouroboros now starts representing the pattern of behaviour and choices that the characters are making in their lives. I had a variety of influences including Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s Sin City, David Lynch, Cohen Brothers and Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad. In particular I wanted to explore black and white with a splash of colour (most often red) to enhance the storytelling, making a distinction between what is real in the story, which is in black and white and that which is imaginary, in colour or in reverse motion. Filmed in Adelaide, Australia, I wanted the film to look like it could have been made anywhere in the world so no Australian accents were heard and efforts were made to avoid Australian looking landscapes.
