Bridgely is an autistic man living in an English Coastal town in the Middle Ages, relegated to the post of village idiot. He lives with his weary widow mother Nerida who works long hours running a bakery. Bridgely has formed a bond with a flock of Albatrosses on a grassy hilltop and feeds them every day with bread from the bakery. Bridgely's biggest critic is Waylon the Barrelmaker. Waylon feels it's his right to hate Bridgely because he himself has endured the town's hate being the town drunk. The town introduces a Viking Watch program to watch for dark sails. Waylon shirks his Watch duties due to inclement weather. Bridgely, looking for his birds, sees dark sails and warns everyone, saving the town. In appreciation, the town continue Bridgely's tradition with the birds, one which still persists today
Dark Sails explores the ridicule, mistreatment and lack of empathy people with autism have experienced throughout the ages. A main theme is acceptance that many yearn for from their community. Dark sails is largely set in the Middle Ages but is framed within a bookend story of a coach tour – Northumbria Coastal Tours - final destination - Mundleton, birthplace of Northumbria's favourite son. A tourist falls asleep and dreams of Middle Ages Mundleton. All characters are passengers from the coach. It's a mystery who is the tourist dreaming. Bookend's main theme is Redemption.
I love this period, before clocks when the day started at dawn and Monday was Moonday, a period ignored by cinema. Yet people loved and lived and hurt just as much as now and many lived under the constant fear of being invaded by Vikings. A Viking Watch is analogous to Neighbourhood watch and Nerida's plight, working long hours is analogous to running a small business. I wrote this script for my son Ricky, who's in the spectrum, to play Bridgely. The Illawarra is ideal to film this feature with its coastal towns and numerous unspoiled hills overlooking the ocean.
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