~ BEETHOPIA ~
The Grand Delusion TM
Beethopia (bay-tow'-pia): a short-sighted, delusional state of society; a failed state of human activity, where extreme measures are taken to restore an idealized paradigm of Beethovian dimension
A Film by Darryl Barker
NEWS: July 4, 2008
* Film is undergoing COLOR CORRECTION for General Distribution.
* Scheduled Completion Date: July, 2008.
* Cast and Crew Screening: December 15, 2007.
Over 100 attended the cast and crew screening, held at the Tivoli Theatre in University City, Missouri. Film was generally well received.
Still from 'BEETHOPIA": A distraught Ludwig (Ben Dolan) cries out for assistance from the local villagers, but receives none. (Pictured: Ben Dolan and Michael Schoelhamer)
~ PRODUCTION DETAILS ~
Four plus years in the making, 'BEETHOPIA' is the end product of a script first penned by filmmaker Darryl Barker while a graduate student at USC School of Cinema and Television in 1985. Demanding that the script not be compromised, Barker set out to independently fund this feature length drama about the decline of ethical decision-making and atrophy of conscience in a future human civilization. And so, 23 years after first setting pen to paper, 'BEETHOPIA' is now nearing completion. The talents and energies of over 100 people have brought this film to life and a gargantuan effort by a small, but dedicated crew saw this production through some of the most difficult locations, from searing hot sets in vintage St. Louis homes that could not be air cooled to 100% humidity and limestone mud floors in an underground location to frigid temperatures in a landmark location that heralded the origin of one of America's favorite beverages.
The storyline of 'BEETHOPIA' has been carefully guarded throughout production, however as completion nears, a few clues are worthy of note. 'BEETHOPIA's subject matter deals with the conflicts between science, religion and politics; and how not one of these ideological platforms alone satisfactorily serves the human race. It reveals how these areas of human endeavor, which are often enshrined in the highest order of praise, are actually fraught with hypocrisy and ineffectiveness. Frighteningly timely, 'BEETHOPIA' is no less an indictment of the current state of world affairs than was Ludwig van Beethoven's total rebuke of the man he once admired, Napolean Bonaparte, who upon declaring himself 'Emperor' of France, drew such a rage from the great Beethoven that the composer virtually destroyed the title page of the great symphony that he had previously dedicated to Bonapart: The Symphonie 'Eroica', an opus for "A Hero".
'BEETHOPIA' is not in the distant past or the dimly lit future of Man....
'The GRAND DELUSION' is now.
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"BEETHOPIA - The Grand Delusion" Copyright © 2007 Darryl Barker Productions