'The mask' is a hybrid allegory about the illusions with which we all proudly disguise ourselves. The story is centered around an artist, who enters the scene for a Tarot card reading.
He wears the mask of the fool and is descibed in his reading as "a conjurer of illusions". In his journey, which is that of the fool, sacrifices are indicated such as the end of his relationship with the model that he had fallen in love with and the challenge of confronting his dark side.
In this world of duality, of light and dark, he learns that there are two sides to the same coin. But with the loss of innocence, symbolised by the blood dripping onto the white flowers, and the scales weighing the heart and the feather. Plus the opening scene of the spinning mask exploding, we find his life also repeated in spiral patterns as he has to let go of control.
Illusion and reality merge and he finds himself within the domain of dreams within dreams.
Shot in Bangkok in April 1997 after just completing an exhibition of my paintings with two renowned Thai artists. It was fundamentally done as a visual experiment and adapted from a feature length screenplay which I had written called Dreams of Frankie Cameron.
It was probably one of the most rewarding and fulfilling projects that I have worked on, since I wrote it, storyboarded it, also designed the masks, produced, directed and acted in it. I guess it was also a great form of escapism at that time, after just going through a breakup with my fiance after she had just won a Miss Thailand contest, actually she had come second, but her ego was at an all time Number 1 high.
That story of Dreams of Frankie Cameron, which is ironically about the stuggle between the ego and spirit, the desire for celebrity and integrity of an artist, has since become an illustrated novel which I have been working on for several years and now looking for a publisher.
Special thanks for their help in 'the mask', goes to Jennifer Tsui (Action News presenter), Whelma for her perfomance as Tarot card reader and song 'Chiang Mai and all the models who acted in the film. Thanks to the Hour Glass Company for the fashion show footage featuring Kathy (Mettinee), a former Miss Thailand. Also to Paul Madris for the editing. But especially to the people of Thailand were the film was shot.
