As part of my final for art school, I tried to visualize what a movie poster for “Amara Sol” might look like.
Hey! I’m Justin and thanks for stopping by.
I wrote a screenplay called “Amara Sol.” It was inspired by the novel Emmanuelle, Plato’s Symposium and Cosmopolis by Stephen Toulmin. I’ve spent about 3 years writing a lot of drafts (about 30) and I have one I’m excited about. This blog is about putting it on the screen.
Here’s what you’ll find inside:
In the “About” section, you’ll find stuff about the vision. The “Making Of” section is about the process of putting it on screen. The “Images” section is the visualization and inspiration.
One last thing. In terms of the vision, the script is a piece of erotica.
What inspired me about the novel Emmanuelle was how artistically it portrayed sexuality. It’s a story of a woman’s liberation told with literary skill, intelligence, beauty. At times it’s even philosophical. The vision behind this movie is to portray sexuality in a similarly artistic, positive way.
That’s how Cosmopolis and The Symposium are involved. Cosmopolis includes a critique of how we sometimes see the body as something “dirty” that needs to be suppressed. Plato’s Symposium offers an alternative: physical desires or sex can be married with soul.
“Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss” by Antonio Canova, 1797
In fact, I used an ancient Greek myth called “Eros and Psyche” as the storyline. In that myth Eros, Aphrodite’s son, was the god of sex. Psyche, Greek for “soul,” was a princess whose beauty rivaled Aphrodite’s. Despite obstacles (namely Aphrodite), Eros and Psyche fall in love and marry. You could think of the script as a modern re-telling of that classic story.
But through my many rewrites, I discovered the true core of the script is about living life from the heart. Not only is sex best when it’s connected with the heart, but we’re at our best when we seek happiness within.
Again, thanks for stopping by! Feel free to contact me here or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you as putting a script to screen can’t be done alone.
Amara Sol 