The concept album "Metropolis Pt.II: Scenes From a Memory" by progressive metal band Dream Theater is an album which has influenced some of the ideas for our short film.
The album centres around the story of a man called Nicholas, who has recurring dreams of another life. He goes to see a psychiatrist, and the album opens with words softly spoken by the psychiatrist:
"Close your eyes and begin to relax. Take a deep breath, and let
it out slowly. Concentrate on your breathing. With each breath
you become more relaxed. Imagine a brilliant white light above
you, focusing on this light as it flows through your body. Allow
yourself to drift off as you fall deeper and deeper into a more
relaxed state of mind. Now as I count backward from ten to one,
you will feel more peaceful, and calm. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.
Six. You will enter a safe place where nothing can harm you.
Five. Four. Three. Two. If at any time you need to come back, all
you must do is open your eyes. One."
The album takes the listener on a journey through which Nicholas discovers that the dreams he has been having are of a girl called Victoria who lived 70 years earlier. The regression therapy focuses his dreams so that they are much more vivid, and he is able to meet Victoria. She reveals to him that there is a reason that she is haunting his dreams, and tells him that she wants him to know her story and has been searching for a way to reveal the truth about her death.
Eventually, Nicholas learns that the reason he is being haunted is that he was Victoria in a previous life, and therefore they share a soul. After discovering this, finding out what happened to him in a previous life becomes an obsession, and he feels that he cannot rest until he uncovers the truth. It takes over his life.
As the album unfolds the listener learns that Victoria is in love with Julian Baynes, but that she is drawn into an affair with his brother Edward because of Julian’s lifestyle of gambling and drinking. Newspapers report that Victoria was shot by Julian, who then killed himself, leaving a suicide note. However, Nicholas believes that this is not the truth.
At the end of the song “Fatal Tragedy”, the psychologist says "Now it is time to see how you died. Remember that death is not the end, but only a transition." This is a reference to the fact that Victoria was reincarnated as Nicholas:
This is significant as we learn that not only was Victoria reborn as Nicholas, but that he carries the same personality traits as Victoria, and also that deeds will follow his soul through eternity. This foreshadows the fact that eventually the story will come full circle and that the same thing will happen to Nicholas.
Eventually, Victoria ends her relationship with Edward, leading Edward to kill his brother and Victoria. He then writes a suicide note and puts it in Julian’s pocket, getting away with the murder.
Satisfied that he has uncovered the mystery and that he can go back to his own life, Nicholas goes home and relaxes. However, he is startled when the psychiatrist turns up. He says “open your eyes Nicholas” and then it is implied that he kills him, completing the circle once again. Presumably, the cycle will continue with whoever Nicholas is reincarnated as.
Part 1:
Part 2 (Watch from 3:18)
It can be interpreted from this that the purpose of Victoria haunting Nicholas is to warn him of the vicious circle, however it does not end it as Nicholas is murdered in the end.
It is the cyclical aspect of the story which interests me most, as it deals with the concept that our fate is already decided though we don’t know it. The psychiatrist is also an interesting character because as far as we know he has no motivation for killing Nicholas other than to complete the cycle. The line “open your eyes” is also repeated from earlier on in the album when Edward kills Victoria.
There are many aspects of this story which we will use as inspiration for our film, particularly the words of the psychiatrist as they have an eerie calmness to them which adds to the sinister nature of the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment