Darkon

One of the few non-comedic movies by gamers, about gamers, and ultimately for gamers, Darkon (Ovie Productions/Seethink Productions, 2006) is a documentary that focuses on the activities of the Darkon Wargaming Club, a fantasy live-action role-playing (LARP) group in Baltimore, Maryland.

Moreso than movies of any sort by non-gamers about role-playing gaming (e.g., the execrable Mazes and Monsters), Darkon explores the purposes, positive aspects, and benefits of the hobby and the motives people have for participating in it. While it also hints at the all-consuming effect RPGs can have on their participants, it is ultimately more of an apologia for the hobby than an examination of it.

From a technical point of view, Darkon is well filmed, excellently scored, and structurally sound. One thing it does not do, however, is explain what a LARP is. Naturally, this does not matter much as far as gamers are concerned, but the absence of such explanation severely limits the value this film could have had as a tool for telling the non-gaming world about something about which it has limited awareness and little understanding. It is also a little on the long side, with multiple, interchangeable battle scenes, some of which could have been cut in lieu of some interviews with some third parties who could have helped put LARPing and RPGing in context.

A product of its times, Darkon draws as much on the genre of reality television as it does on that of documentary, with asides to the camera by its various subjects that shed light on their motivations and relationships in and out of the game. Depending on whether one likes reality TV or not, this could be seen as either a benefit or a detriment.

Some of the costuming and props used by the Darkon LARPers are impressive, with especial kudos going to the Dark Elf players (who do not appear in the film nearly enough). Firing catapults and a wooden fortress that is actually burned at the end of a battle demonstrate the willingness of this club's members to go above and beyond in their gaming.

Overall, Darkon is worth a watch by anyone interested in seeing a particular side of the gaming genre. It is likely, however, to be just as confusing as it is enlightening to outsiders, and does not go nearly as far as it could have toward producing an understanding of the hobby to those not already familiar with it.

Darkon is 93 minutes long. It premiered and won the Best Documentary Audience Award at the 2006 South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, and is an official selection playing at the Hot Docs, Maryland Film Festival, Silverdocs, LA Film Festival, Britdoc and Melbourne International Film Festival. It aired on the Independent Film Channel Nov. 12, and that might thus be a good place to keep an eye out for it.

Michael J. Varhola, Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

I'm sure there are folks who will be dismissive of the Darkon members, I don't think they understand it. I'm not one of them, I'm not of Darkon, nor anything like it. But there is something about it that connects. This is a documentary half way between "isn't this sort of cool" and "aren't these people weird?" It's probably too long, but that's a minor matter. I think the essential part of it is the point that some people in the modern world sort of miss our past. We live in a very high tech world, how many of us get angry as hell when the broad band goes out? And yet, fifteen years ago, there was no broad band.

And as hard and as difficult life may be, things like broad swords rather than broad band, really aren't a part of it.

I think this documentary, well, documents a part of our minds coming to surface -- that the cyber world doesn't necessarily satisfy all our instincts. These guys are kind of into Dungeons and Dragons, and Excalibur, and history, but also mythology.

I think you can call them just big kids, refusing to grow up, but I do like the way the movie progresses, a kind of drama is accorded to some things that are obviously silly, to one outside the society. I'm not in it, so I can hardly say, but I can see why they do these things. I think it helps break out of every day life, and touch the past, and touch the myths.

To answer why in the world these people do this is to answer why there is a mythology and stories of witches and fairies and goblins and on and on. I think these are folks who revel in mystery and history and alternate history, and maybe just plain old revel.

My take on it anyway.

)Documentary on a role playing universe called Darkon. Think Dungeon and Dragons but in the real world. The people go away for a weekend and and live an alternate feudal life where anything they can imagine is possible. The film examines the game and the people who play. I found the film to be very good at portraying the people and the game, but at the same time I found it very sad and troubling since its clear that many of the players have invested a great deal of themselves into this world and the game, more than is probably healthy. Too many people relate how they are nothing in the real world but in Darkon they are great warriors, princes, princesses or what ever they have chosen to be.They exist for the few moments where they can pretend to be something other than what they are. My heart breaks for these people since in many cases they are living for the weekend. For me its way too familiar a feeling. I have known too many people in my life who have given themselves over to a game and lost all touch with reality. (of course they may understand too well the pain of life). Granted this is no different than any other mania we come across from sports to cars to Barbies to fish, but at the same time rarely is the separation between worlds as clear as with Darkon players, there is this world and that, not one unified place. Its on IFC so you may want to try it if you're so inclined, but be warned you may be struck with a severe case of melancholia, I was

Saw this at the Santa Fe Film Festival. I knew little more than what I had read in the program and seen on the trailer. Not being a "Larper" (which is never fully explained) I never had a clear sense of the complexity of the activity. Overall, I thought that the film did a cursory job of presenting the characters and their motivations. Because the film takes itself so seriously, I felt we were laughing at the characters, not with them. All we really get from the characters is a reinforced theme of "at home I'm nobody, I'm not in control... at Darkon, I'm somebody, I'm in control" (not a direct quote).

Rather than documenting, this film seems to promote the activity, never taking the time to question whether or not participating in Darkon is always a good thing. It's more narrative than documentary, and the story simply isn't that compelling. I think this film thrives largely on the foreignness of the subject matter.

The editing is a little sloppy (the film could be about 15 minutes shorter), characters are a bit bland (give the subject, I expected more dynamic personalities), visuals range from professional to poorly shot/poorly exposed, the music is quite excellent... though it gives the film a pseudo "Lord of the Rings" vibe when it's really just Medieval Reenactment with padded weapons. Again, I felt this undermined the objectivity and made it Pro-Darkon.

The preview has all the best shots from the film, as previews often do. Most of those images have no context in the film itself, and are just visual asides.

Of course, independent film-making is no small task, so for that reason I'm giving this a 5/10. It was a good effort, but overall, I would not recommend the film. Boredom sinks in at about minute 15.

This is a documentary about Live Action Role Players, a rather noble and delightful type of gaming, that some people may find a little too far out of their realm to understand. It is interesting and enjoyable for any nerd and is also a unique type of documentary. I recommend this to anyone who has every played d&d, enjoyed magic, or any other type of role-playing endeavors. :) It is fun and light-hearted. It is not sad at all. Afterwards you feel admiration and respect to the people who can stay "in character" for a weekend straight -certainly not an easy task to pull off. I would consider this film a great accomplishment for gamers out there. :)