Full Moon Over Faulconbridge

Full Moon Over Faulconbridge: The Story The Blue Mountains are collapsing. The Creation Spirit Biami has had enough of people thinking they own the land. In a moment of compassion in the AfterDeath Pub headed by Sir Henry Parkes, Biami gives The Monk the Melody of Life to help save the Blue Mountains. When Margaret learns about the flute, she wants the melody for herself for its power to give her a new body that is young and beautiful. To start her plan, she has to get rid of Merv, her husband. In pushing him off a cliff, she becomes involved in having do get rid of the video crew as well who saw her commit the crime. She pushes Mick and Chris, two twenty-something buddies off the cliff and knocks out Robyn, their director. Margaret rushes back home as a car drives into the area. Merv has fallen into The SpiritBridge tree, the intersection of Life and Death. His fall off the cliff is somewhat cushioned by his being co-impaled on a branch of the SpiritBridge tree with a kangaroo. A Crow, representing The Law of The Land, asks Merv if he wishes to live – but Merv’s new life would blend with the awareness of the kangaroo. Merv accepts and starts a new vision of the world: to see life from the kangaroo’s point of view. Meanwhile, Mick and Chris, a bit torn up, are lost in the bush. They discover rail tracks leading to a hidden cave that had once belonged to Dave Kelly, a train bandit. As Mick and Chris read about Dave Kelly’s adventures in the cave, Robyn is trying to find out what happened to them, and who and where is Margaret. The Monk, in exploring this new melody from Biami, is beginning to discover its healing properties. In the process, Robyn discovers him in the Corridor of Oaks where she now lives. As his ex-girlfriend, she vents her anger at both the current situation, and the past where he disabled his best friend in a martial arts test. Robyn is cynical of the power of the flute, and of the The Monk, who tells her he admits he is guilty of rage and has taken a vow of non-violence. Full Moon Over Faulconbridge is about Australia growing up. The story is a tapestry woven of the major themes of our time: man’s relationship to nature; the European impact on indigenous cultures; religion and spirituality in a modern world. The story was originally penned for an online radio series. Full Moon Over Faulconbridge produced in 2006, expanded and developed for 8 -part audio episodes, is now available. The story is set in Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Its conception derives from an outsider’s observations of the quirks and oddities unique to the area and an appreciation of the ‘different’ nature of the communities of the Blue Mountains. This was augmented with research into the rich living heritage of the Dharug people. The target audience is young adults 15-30 who enjoy comic fantasy; it’s for the intelligent, witty yet deep crowd that loved The Princess Bride, Stardust and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Each character represents a facet of Australia’s dark side: apathy; suburban boredom; cultural cringe/ inferiority; outdated colonialism; femininity; fear of anger; depression and mental illness. Margaret, the ultimate disgruntled Aussie housewife, twisting her thwarted desire for love into a need to be powerful, famous and – oh yes – a Witch-Queen, is the main villain, and a personality that holds much promise for further development and refinement. Merv, Margaret’s husband, is chosen by the Rainbow Serpent to become the first Were-Kangaroo. He is an echo of ‘Norm’ from the ‘Life. Be In It’ TV campaign of the 1980s – until he learns from a mob of kangaroos about responsibility, family and protecting the innocent. Merv’s character is a comment on the traditional Aussie male, and further work on his arc could make him a classic Aussie film character in the tradition of Daryl Kerrigan from The Castle. Bernard, part of the alternative community of the Blue Mountains, brought up motherless by monks in a temple of an unnamed Eastern tradition, needs to confront both his feelings of inferiority and fear of his extraordinary spiritual powers. His story is to find a way to use his gifts responsibly for the good of others. He is the hero - a sincere and dedicated man who stands for what he believes in. Robyn, Bernard’s ex-girlfriend and a self-styled investigative reporter, is sucked into the madness of the happenings in Faulconbridge while investigating geological instabilities, and through her experiences is forced to re-examine both her spirituality and her feelings for Bernard, suppressed after an incident in their mutual past. There is scope here for a strong heroine, a hard-nosed woman who needs to soften and reclaim her femininity in order to become whole – similar to Princess Leia from the Star Wars series. Sir Henry Parkes, an historical character presented in the form of a spirit, has to cope with the not-so- pretty legacy of white men in Australia and come to an understanding with the elders of the Dreaming. He represents the conscience of the nation, and his learning becomes our learning. This is where the story deepens and becomes a transformative experience for the audience, taking the film beyond simple entertainment. Dave Kelly, 19th Century rascal train pirate turned Stygian guide of the Dreaming, meets two boys who teach him the value of living in the present and help him to get over the murder of his brother, the reason for his sentence as the Death Train Conductor. Through Dave we arrive at a sense of awe at the scale of the ancient consciousness of the Dreaming, and learn that time and love heal even the deepest of grudges. Mick and Chris, irresponsible yet lovable ‘tweens, originally part of Robyn’s video crew, become lost in the bush, and dragged into the world of Dave Kelly, the Dreaming and Sir Henry Parkes. They become the catalyst for change, as their youth, exuberance and innocence cut through the hard shell of Dave Kelly and the narrow-mindedness of the dead Australian politicians. In the process they must mature, and learn to become leaders rather than followers. Full Moon Over Faulconbridge is an epic satire– it takes the fundamental Australian questions and reframes them in a comedic context, letting them loom obvious and larger than life in a feature film. The climax slams the unconscious into the conscious realm, reaching its fullest expression when the Rainbow Serpent is revealed to be a living, dangerous entity to be feared and respected, rather than a mythological echo of a largely forgotten people. A number of consultants have helped to bring the project to its current stage. Victor Spiegel, the author of the original Full Moon radio play, has helped to reshape his story for the big screen. Jacinta Tobin, elder of the Dharug people, has been invaluable, taking the writer on walks through her country and sacred sites, explaining some of the Dharug stories, and giving full support to the development of the project. Sho Fu Xing Fu of the Shaolin Ju Shi Lin school has given advice on aspects of Eastern spirituality and martial arts. The Australian actor and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jonathan Hardy has been instrumental in helping the writer to shape the story into a traditional three act structure, and pointing out where weaknesses and strengths lie. Finally, Dave Letch has asked the hard questions, helping consolidate both dialogue and character development, as well as giving guidance in the craft of screenwriting. Nine Crows Pty. Ltd. is also looking ahead to the production phase. Producers have expressed interest in the project, and so we have begun to make initial investigations into budgetary requirements for a feature of this scale. While we will welcome investment from Australian sources, we understand that realistically we may need to look beyond our shores to support what is an essentially Australian film with the level of production values the project deserves.