Broken Doll Town is a film that tells the tale of the subconscious world of a small child trapped in an abusive family. Half and Half is a child who manifests himself in an ignorant and hostile city. Here, the inhabitants are, among other things, broken dolls. Our unsuspecting hero finds himself on a quest to discover the reason why his world is so hostile and violent.
The purpose of this film is to use allegory, architype and puppetry to present the disturbing effects that abuse can have on children. I believe that dreams are full of allegorical situations and architypical characters that are actually reflections of our own selves and the choices we make. They are constantly and profoundly affecting our lives in ways we may not even be aware of. By using these devices, I am hoping to accomplish the same thing that myths and folk tales do, which is to connect with tha metaphorical reality within our collective human psyche.
The characters in the film represent a piece of our own reality. Half and Half symbolizes the child's free will. The Clown King represents society's inability to change. Humpty Dumpty represents the state of denial and the Shopkeeper is life and its journey. The sound of the circus is the first sound that this child hears from the womb, so when the Shopkeeper tells Half and Half to go to the land of many names, she is telling him to go to the beginning of the child's memory where abuse is most often concealed.
I am pushing the envelope of public acceptance of puppetry as a means of telling a story that deals with an adult subject matter. I strongly believe that we never lose the ability to be affected by puppets as we grow older whether it be awe and wonder at the technical achievement and manipulation of the performer/puppet or simply the revulsion of the mimickry of life. We are forced to stop and look. And finally, the puppet is a story teller that reminds us of both ancient idol and child's toy. This characteristic makes puppets the ideal medium for this project.
website created by Michelle Kimn and David Winchester. Send inquiries, comments or complaints to felix@4cs.net
