Vietnam, 1968. A feared American colonel, nicknamed the “Black Dragon” by Vietnamese locals, is forced to confront his inner darkness after his platoon captures a young Viet Cong girl with terrifying powers in this psychological horror-fable inspired by the real-life Mỹ Lai Massacre.

Interview with Writer/Director Alexander Thompson

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

I’m drawn to the human capacity for malevolence and any circumstance that allows it to flourish in its most audacious form, like warfare. With “Black Dragon” I sought to examine what happens when harrowing circumstances brings even the most noble-minded among us into alignment with our lesser angels. The real-life Mỹ Lai Massacre was an especially sinister pretext for this sort of thematic exploration.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

During my research into the particulars of the massacre, I was struck by the relatability of the soldiers who carried it out. These men were not born evil; in other circumstances they were decent, well-adjusted members of society who leaned into something singularly, deeply sinister in this context. That’s the universally frightening part - any one of us could carry out an act like this in the wrong time and place. Cross-reference the particulars of the Mỹ Lai Massacre with any other war and you quickly find its familiar time and again. I have my reasons for selecting the Vietnam War and this event specifically but it is, soberingly, not so unique.

In the film, Matt Del Negro’s character, Colonel Palmer (the titular “Black Dragon/Rồng đen”, so-named by Vietnamese locals due to his distinctive dragon tattoo) is portrayed as an adoring father who believes what he is doing is justified under the aegis of a well-oriented moral compass. It so happens that compass leads him along a path of death and suffering, and he does not see this clearly until things have devolved into chaos.

At the archetypal level Palmer and Celia Au’s character, Chau, are articulations of personas I’ve inhabited or people I’ve known. That sounds precious but it’s the only way I know how to lend a character any solid definitional scaffolding. Palmer ‘the Man’ needed to be fully-realized in my mind in order for Palmer ‘the Monster’ to have dramatic weight. And with regard to his nickname, dragons are pervasive mythological embodiments of evil derived from animals who assailed our hominid ancestors - winged birds of prey, venomous reptiles, predatory felines/canids quadrupeds. It’s latent but it’s all there. You see a dragon representation in media and your brain makes a subconscious association with evil because it’s all these ancestral predators amalgamated into one being within this evolutionary-psychology framework. No matter if it’s the dragon slayed by St. George or the one Maleficent transforms into at the end of “Sleeping Beauty”, it’s all the same thing, same shorthand, same symbol. In our film, it is a manifestation of the evil Palmer aligns himself with.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

When I first started developing the story it was through Chau’s eyes. As I researched the Mỹ Lai Massacre in more depth my interest shifted to the men who carried out this crime less so than its victims - not that there isn’t a harrowing story there of course, but I couldn’t shake how easily I saw myself in these soldiers. With “Black Dragon” being probably the most straight-forward horror film I’ll ever make (for better or worse) there needed to be that potent and relatable dread or fear-factor. So that’s the direction I took the material.

At the time I began work on the script (as a university student in my early 20s) I’d recently been introduced to the writings of Carl Jung, specifically his Archetypes and the function of the Shadow as a representation of the unconscious, so there’s a lot of that influence there, a lot of Anima/Animus duality stuff vis-à-vis Palmer and Chau, and of course the metaphorical emergence of Palmer’s inner dragon as a representation of what he comes to embody. Again this may ring a bit precious but for me it was a vital discovery, this set of axioms. I have C.G. Jung and his disciples to thanks for setting me on an obsessive pursuit of “timeless” versus “timely” storytelling. If a narrative tracks there will always be plenty for modern viewers to glom onto, yes, but that’s not my personal North Star.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Very humbling feedback. I’m highly critical of the film. “Black Dragon” reflects sensibilities and capabilities of a younger self, attempting to bite off more than my team and I could chew. We punched above our weight class with the time, money and resources we had, so there’s lots of bruising and scarring from that in the film. It languished unfinished on a hard drive for quite a while and only got resurrected and completed during the pandemic. My hopes were not high that it would find much admiration but it’s had a modest little go for itself so far on the fest circuit. More importantly, it's been opening a surprising number of doors for our feature projects, so it’s had some strong professional salience in my life. That, I am very grateful for.

Best of all has been the occasional kind word or review. That’s always a treat, any interaction like that where your work speaks to someone at an emotional level. Isn’t that why we do any of this at all, to move and inspire one another?

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I suppose you never really know how an audience will respond to your work until you hand over the reigns to them. They decide its fate, whether your efforts bore fruit or not. I’ve seen “Black Dragon” twice now with fairly-packed houses at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood and that’s a terrifying, vulnerable, but very informative and rewarding experience. Of course I will never see that same film the audience does. I was there. I know how the sausage was made. It wasn’t pretty. But what can you do? You pick up and sally forth.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

You've done a very fine job of curating thoughtful, individualistic works from passionate filmmakers. If anyone reading this happens to have a pallet for historical horror-fables with Jungian leanings (can that become its own sub-genre?), perhaps they'll find something appreciable within our humble effort.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

I’d enjoy speaking with journalists about the themes and historical context of the film. Festival Q&As invariably err on the side of technical inquiry - ‘how’ and not ‘why’. I’m a filmmaker, obviously what’s happening under the hood to make a film work or not work is of interest to me, but thematic exploration and character always need prevail. Any technical consideration is in service of those needs, never the other way around.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

It’s designed to be mnemonic, in the same way fairy tales and fables of old were ascribed with coded moral lessons. “Black Dragon” is meant to remind viewers that there’s a monster lurking in each of us, ready to spread its wings under the right circumstances. You can never be too certain you will prove to be the infallible protagonist of your own story. That is by no means a foregone conclusion.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Who would you embody in this situation, against a backdrop of such harrowing circumstances as those seen in the film? Would you blindly follow orders, would you yield to your darkest impulses - or would your moral compass align with virtue? Are you the hero or villain of this saga? Don’t be so sure you know the answer. I sure don't. And I hope most of us never end up in a situation as horrific as the Mỹ Lai Massacre, forced to confront these questions firsthand.

Would you like to add anything else?

I have two long-time collaborators and friends to thank for getting the film finished: Editor Zach Kashkett and lead VFX Supervisor/Colorist/Unreal Engine Artist Isaiah Kang. Zach talked me out of abandoning the film full-stop, and Isaiah dove headlong into some very sophisticated post-production tools that we’re excited to now have in our filmmaking arsenal. A director is only as good as his or her team, and I feel deeply fortunate to have a very strong one. They’re my family. Hopefully we’ll be doing this together for a long time to come.

Of course I must also thank my entire crew and cast, particularly leads Celia Au, Matt Del Negro and newcomer Chris Day. They brought so much to this film. I hope people take particular note of Day's contribution. He is a very gifted young actor who really blew us all away on set.

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

We’re in post on another short called “Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting”, a Neo-western fairy tale about mothers, daughters and the beasts they hunt. It stars Milly Shapiro (“Hereditary”) and Pollyanna McIntosh (“Walking Dead”) and features creature VFX from the teams behind the ”Fantastic Beasts” franchise, various Marvel productions, Guillermo Del Toro films… You name it. We hope to hit fests circa fall of ’23. Readers can follow that film’s journey here: https://www.instagram.com/emandselmagogriffinhunting/

I have a number of feature projects in development, a few of which have begun to mobilize as a direct result of the surprisingly effusive reaction “Black Dragon” has garnered amongst producers, executives and financiers. That’s a whole other story for another time.

Interview: September 2022

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

Black Dragon (Rồng đen)

Length:

14:47

Director

Alexander Thompson seeks to explore the human condition through a personal brand of cinema that infuses a love of dark fairy tales, aberrant psychology, strange monsters and even stranger people.

He is in post on "Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting", a neo-western fantasy short starring Milly Shapiro (“Hereditary”) and Pollyanna McIntosh (“Walking Dead”). Its ambitious creatures VFX hail from by the team behind "Fantastic Beasts” and “Marvel” franchises, as well as countless other studio tentpoles.

Upcoming projects include "Cyrilla's Bestiary” w/ Armory Films ("Mudbound", "The Peanut Butter Falcon", "Arctic”), New England-set maritime ghost story "Fathoms" and a grounded coming-of-age fantasy drama, “The Sisters”, a semifinalist in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ 2022 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship.

Producer

North Carolina native Sam Froelich produced such films as Eli Roth's breakout horror hit "Cabin Fever" and David Gordon Green's acclaimed feature debut, "George Washington". He is an alumni of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Key cast:

Celia Au, Matthew Del Negro, Chris Day

Looking for:

journalists, film festival directors

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/blackdragonshortfilm/

Hashtags used:

#blackdragonshortfilm

Where can I watch it?

Upcoming screenings include but are not limited to:

Nashville Film Festival / Nashville, TN - VIRTUAL - Fri Sept 30th
Beyond Fest / Los Angeles, CA - Sat Oct 1st
Flickers' Rhode Island Int'l Film Festival / Providence, RI - Oct 15th
Portland Film Festival / Portland, OR - Mon Oct 17th
Eerie Horror Film Festival / Erie, PA - Sat Oct 19th
Filmquest / Provo, UT - Fri Oct 28th