Nash Edgerton and Bob DylanLast year marked the feature film directorial debut of Tropfest-winning short filmmaker and long time stuntman Nash Edgerton, whose CV of body-hurling work includes stunts for The Matrix, the Star Wars prequels, Moulin Rouge! and Superman Returns.

Edgerton’s The Square is a taut and gripping nourish thriller about two adulterers who happen across a big bag of cash that, in the tradition of greed thrillers like A Simple Plan, leads to a spiral of murder and mayhem. Despite strong reviews, the film – which starred his brother Joel – fizzled at the box office, taking in a measly $102,216 across 51 screens in its opening weekend before quickly disappearing into the lonely annals of Australian film obscurity, where it can presumably be resurrected in a couple of decades time when another Not Quite Hollywood style doco explores lost and underappreciated local gems. In an interview with The Age last August, Edgerton noted his disappointment, saying (and who could blame him?) “at the moment I’m not rushing to make another Australian film.” Those who haven’t seen The Square – which statistics indicate is just about everyone – would be well advised to fish out a copy on DVD.

Edgerton has relocated to Hollywood, where local talent inevitably go to try their luck after falling through the crater-sized gaps of the Australian film industry. He is currently working as a stunt coordinator for indie drama Hesher (starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman) which began shooting early this month.

Presumably Edgerton is also keen to launch a directing career in tinsel town and his terrific new short, a music video for Bob Dylan’s Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ (from BD’s new album Together Through Life) is definitely a coup for the up-and-comer. Watch it below, but beware – it’s brutally violent. Depicting a helluva stoush between two vengeful lovers, I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the most intense domestic dispute you’ll ever see, and word has it that it was Dylan’s idea to make the video violent. He has never met Edgerton, which is unsurprising given the songwriter’s well-known reclusiveness.

For the record, my favourite Dylan music video is this visually inventive pastiche for ‘Series of Dreams’ even if it’s hard to look past D. A. Pennebaker’s famous music video for Subterranean Homesick Blues. But Edgerton’s clip is definitely up there.

Cinetology will be keeping an eye on Nash. With any luck, expect more updates in the future.

Watch Nash Edgerton’s Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ music video:

Watch Nash Edgerton’s stunt reel:

Watch Nash and Joel Edgerton interviewed on Rove: