When I was a kid, when we were playing together with my cousins, I always wanted to be the "villain." I loved making up diabolical plots to derail the other guy (whoever it was) and make their day miserable. Of course in the end I would lose, but it would be a glorious death. With a defiant "I will not be defeateeeeeeeeeed" my persona in the game would die... only to show up the next time with an even more diabolical plan.
The first impression I got from role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons were that they were "evil"and somehow bad for me. But as time went on, I realized that these games were merely an extension of what my childhood play was. There wasn't really a difference between the two except that this was more structured.
There are some people who take this to another level; Live Action Role Playing games, or LARPs, make the player take the role of their character and play them out in real life. In parks and soccer fields they engage in battle over a fictional world. In real life they may be your usual dude, but in this fantasy world they could be Borgania the Dark Elf of Highward or something. The possibilities are endless.
The Documentary film Darkon chronicles the tribulations of one such organization dedicated to LARP. The movie opens much like you would see a fantasy film, with grand sweeping shots of the landscape. Immediately you are immersed in the world of these roleplayers. Juxtaposed with these scenes are scenes from the other side of their lives: a stay-at-home dad, a mom working her way up, a lonely teenager wanting to fit in somewhere.
The camera accentuates the action and political intrigue of the events of the role-playing scenario and are given a stylized treatment by the camerawork, immersing you in the role-play itself, as if you are part of it.
The documentary casts no aspersions or makes any judgements on any of the people involved - it merely portrays them as they are - which is to me, a group of people hanging out and totally having fun. Ultimately, the film asks, (or perhaps, you ask yourself) what's wrong with that?
From start to finish, the film engrosses you and doesn't let you go until the 90 minutes are over. I highly recommend it.
The first impression I got from role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons were that they were "evil"and somehow bad for me. But as time went on, I realized that these games were merely an extension of what my childhood play was. There wasn't really a difference between the two except that this was more structured.
There are some people who take this to another level; Live Action Role Playing games, or LARPs, make the player take the role of their character and play them out in real life. In parks and soccer fields they engage in battle over a fictional world. In real life they may be your usual dude, but in this fantasy world they could be Borgania the Dark Elf of Highward or something. The possibilities are endless.
The Documentary film Darkon chronicles the tribulations of one such organization dedicated to LARP. The movie opens much like you would see a fantasy film, with grand sweeping shots of the landscape. Immediately you are immersed in the world of these roleplayers. Juxtaposed with these scenes are scenes from the other side of their lives: a stay-at-home dad, a mom working her way up, a lonely teenager wanting to fit in somewhere.
The camera accentuates the action and political intrigue of the events of the role-playing scenario and are given a stylized treatment by the camerawork, immersing you in the role-play itself, as if you are part of it.
The documentary casts no aspersions or makes any judgements on any of the people involved - it merely portrays them as they are - which is to me, a group of people hanging out and totally having fun. Ultimately, the film asks, (or perhaps, you ask yourself) what's wrong with that?
From start to finish, the film engrosses you and doesn't let you go until the 90 minutes are over. I highly recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment