Cut Off native Dorian Dardar turns teen memory into feature film

Filmmaker Dorian Dardar always heard references to the 1891 Oscar Wilde novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” so he turned it into a feature flick.

When Dardar was 17 and attending South Lafourche High School, he bought the book and discovered the parallels – beginning with the lead character’s first name.

“As I was reading it, I realized Dorian Gray is a horrible person. At the same time, there is the idea that he is a beautiful man. People are naturally attracted to him,” Dardar said.

“Basically, I am just a good-looking guy. That is what people have always told me. I was always told I have great hair and movie star looks, kind of like Elvis. So you hear these things all throughout your life, and it feeds into your ego.”

In the book, Gray craves immortality, not unlike the experience he had as a youth growing up in south Louisiana’s “dominant Catholic” region.

From there, the origins of “The Picture of Dorian Dardar,” his film, were born.

“I study philosophy and religion, which has similar ideas of being immortal,” the filmmaker said. “One thing I noticed is wherever the pontoon bridge is, there is usually a Catholic church near it. The idea of Catholicism is always right there.

“One of (the) things about Catholicism is Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life. The idea of Christ and eternal life is something always in your head.”

Dardar took a keen interest in Daoism growing up, which again underlies the notion of immortality.

“I grew up with a religious influence. Little did I know, Daosim was basically another fundamentalist philosophy, which also has a quest for eternal life and immortality,” Dardar said.

Dardar’s movie, unlike the book, offers a comedic twist while using a Daoism approach instead of the materialistic, hedonistic method Wilde employed.

“That was my basis for it, whereas Dorian Gray is selfish and always looking for more with a tragic end, Dorian Dardar is living a selfless life and not always looking for material things. He is always lacking in material things,” Dardar said.

“Part of the comedy is always the quest to satisfy the material world with the free-spirited life. That is what a dramatic comedy is about, so I went with that.”

In the film, Dardar follows a fundamentalist path through Daosim and Yoga ultimately envisioning himself in a dual-class community with the lord Shiva.

“The fundamental idea of yoga is cleanliness and sanity. You have to do breathing, exercise and meditation. Shiva is a business class or warrior class individual. He is also a priest class individual because all he does is yoga all day,” he said. “Meanwhile, he is still one of the lords of the Earth and a property owner. The idea is to envision him as a dual class person with this kind of priest-like nature.”

The film also features lead actress Manon Pages, whose character is left waiting on Dardar hand and foot.

Pages plays the new girl in town named Terra who joins the meditation class he teaches.

“We end up being friends because of the class and she develops an attraction to him,” Pages said.

However, nothing truly develops between the two characters because of Dardar’s timid nature. The relationship is left open-ended; viewers are left to decide whether or not the two get together in the end.

The film depicts ultimately Dardar as a failure because he can’t achieve immortality.

“The world hit him hard, so the woman shows up and tells him how it is and to keep going,” he said. “It is a very simple drama with a lot of classical standard themes.”

“The Picture of Dorian Dardar” will be available in December or January. It will be available on Amazon.com.

Camera Operator Simon Mabile and actor/producer Dorian Dardar combined their creativity to shoot “The Picture of Dorian Dardar.” 

COURTESY PHOTO