New Tarot Card Movie

Like Diana, I've visited Arkgoth's web site and was slightly familar with his previous film before he posted here.... which btw went to the Cannes Film Festival this year if I remember correctly and is supposed to be ---very--- scary and disturbing for a 27 min piece. I'm quite sure Children of the Arcanum will be just as scary and disturbing and something not for everyone's tastes.

However.... it fascinates me, the underlying ideas. Much the way "Red Dragon" did this summer. Fascinates me because it touches into a depth of darkness that so rarely sees the light, an abyss that destroys by fear, and I find myself tip-towing towards it, taking deep breaths, preparing to look into the tenebrous wastland and face.... myself.

I'm not saying that I'd ever make a tarot deck of human skin. I do not believe in blood sacrifice, and I'm too much of a wuss to even get a tatoo or piercing. But movies and literature make us ~think~ and I believe there are going to be issues and ideas addressed by Children of the Arcanum that are worth thinking about.

The people who already hate and fear the tarot have all the ammunition they need to throw stones in glass houses and aren't likely to ever hear of this film much less see it.

The people who love the tarot already know their own truth.

So I don't "worry" about the effect the creation of this movie will have on the general populace. I'm soley interested in seeing what effect it has on -me- and if it enlightens, entertains, or repulses me... and why. I won't know until I actually see it what the answer will be. I loved "Red Dragon", I loved the English and Japanese versions of "The Ring"; I could not sit through "Daumer" and had to leave the room.

I applaud Arkgoth for coming to the Aeclectic community and asking questions. I've found all the comments made to be really interesting and thought-provoking. This is an excellent thread.

Laurel

Re: HI ALL!

arkgoth said:

The Tarot community does have some evil in it. Not in the whole. The majority of you belong to the path of white magick. Many of you use divinity to benefit the lives of themselves and others for the better. But there IS a small fraction of this community that choose to abuse white magick, hence turning it into black magick. And it is my personal values (based on experiences) to expose these people for what they truly are.

Click to expand...

So, the film is about black magick then?

What exactly is it you want to expose about these people?

(I wish you'd have made your statements to these effects right at the beginning because your early posts lead us to believe the film is just about the 'nasty ol' tarot! )

allibee

OUTSTANDING....you have come up with something my mind couldn't conceive. I will be sure to use those principles....thanks for opening my mind!

arkgoth said:

OUTSTANDING....you have come up with something my mind couldn't conceive. I will be sure to use those principles....thanks for opening my mind!

Click to expand...

Which principles are you referring to?

"I agree that imbalance is possible, and that evil can rule, but I still do not go with the win/lose viewpoint. Both sides, I believe, are here, were here, and ever will be here. It is the balance that is important, and if you were replying to me, I never stated I am sitting back and letting some outside GOOD triumph. I care to be part of the solution."

THESE ONES!!

Re: Re: Re: Diana, just offering advice that was asked for

Khatruman said:

However, please be open and know that the face I sometimes show is not the only face we Americans have. I present it in the hopes that it doesn't become in reality as terrible as I and others have presented here. You have many centuries of wisdom behind you that we are only now struggling through. Please bear with us.

Click to expand...

Aaaaw, don't worry. I think most people form their own opinion of folk on a personal level anyway? But having some minor experience of these cultures, it amuses me to think that perhaps the film would be show in the USA (freedom of speach and all) amid a "storm" of protest. Banned in the UK by some faceless censor before anyone else gets to KNOW about it (The nanny state) And premiered in Geneva without French subtitles to resultant empty cinemas. Except of course for a few self-concious "international" Brits and Americans who sneak in to see it because they couldn't/wouldn't see it at home! Please note these are some (WILD) generalisations and derived from experiences some years ago. But I do think it's these little quirks that make us all the more endearing

Thanks for the clarification Arkgoth. I think that was what much of this discussion was/is(?) lacking - at least from my perspective. Perhaps it's difficult to form a complete opinion with the whole plot? Clearly not asking that...

Mac

a thought...

What exactly did you have in mind for the ending? A truimphant evil, or one that is temporarily cast out, or what? If it's the first, warning would be nice (so I can get my family out of here before we find a burning cross in the yard).

If it's the second, however, there could be a 'call' of sorts put out (in the movie) for those that understand and use the true goodness of the power behind the cards, they end up banding together, lots of spells being tossed back and forth between the 'good' and 'evil' factions, lots of spirits, etc. etc. for the effects guys to piddle around with... Then, after a long struggle that the 'evil' almost wins, it's forced out into the world to find somebody/something else to inhabit, leaving whatever's left of the 'good' people to use the powers that be to start on the long road to enlightening the boy (if he were to survive) and healing and such things. That could be followed by script on the screen, possibly over/nest to scenes of the healing in hospitals or whatever, simply stating that the evil is still out there and we have to band together and work for the good of things to survive. Stated more eloquently, of course. Less than technical terms, but it's off the top of my head.

From what I understand, you're not interested at all in the 'good' completely winning out over the 'evil' so I'm not going to comment on that

Hey people! If I seemed to get het up (I wasn't at all, by the way, honest to God), it's 'cos I get mad at the things that you people have to go through due to some narrow minded folks that make your life difficult.

Honest, if a Tarot movie like this is going to cause trouble for you, then I'm sad, because it shouldn't be like this in the 21st Century. But I'm not mad at America. That would be stupid. America is so big and diverse (I have been there and loved it by the way, I hope to come again next summer). I'm mad at the fundamentalists and puritans that have so much power. And that mess up your lives. I remember cricket's problems, amongst others, and that really drove me up the wall.

As to using Tarot for dark stuff, I wonder how one would do this? To me, Tarot can only be beautiful.

The end of the movie, chronicles the lead actor landing in purgatory. He is strapped in a haloed chair and forced to eat off the karma of all his wrong doings in the past. While the persecutor looks like a menacing evil demon, he is really karma and punishes Gordion for all the wrong doings in his life.

In essence, my film uses an evil being, using evil (torture) to do good by making the wrong right.

I find the ending a little lame and need to some work on it. Any suggestions?

pictures of what I shot can be seen at http://www.ouijiboard.net/tarot.html

the real website is not up yet till I finish editing the film at least. Just a temporary page I put up for you guys to take a look at.

You could always have Gordion doing a tarot card reading for himself after being forcefed, and every card he turns over is the same, Judgement, Judgement, Judgement, Judgement......etc, that way you might redeem the place of tarot in the film, and show it more in it's valued light as a tool for looking at what can't be seen.

From your site:

- This is the story about a child who made a deck of Tarot cards out of human skin

- This is a story about a child of the arcanum

The first one you failed to mention, naughty, naughty,
Diana is right about the second, you have your tenses a bit muddled for the title too.


allibee