2008 Woodie Awards
The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution
Crispin Glover's new film What Is It? comes to the Times
Frank Olson
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"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
- Frank Zappa, The Real Frank Zappa Book
Crispin Glover is primarily known as an actor, but it would be a mistake to think of his feature directing debut, What Is It?, as a vanity project. The film took a decade to make - partly because of Glover's hyper-meticulous approach to editing, partly because of his initial plans to process the film photochemically, and partly because of the difficulties of finding financers for a confrontational, avant-garde film in which most of the cast is afflicted with Down Syndrome (even though the film is not about Down Syndrome). The Leader recently had the privilege of asking Glover a few questions about What Is It?, which will have its Milwaukee premiere at the Times Cinema on the first weekend of May.
The Leader: Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see What Is It? yet. Could you give our readers an idea of the concept behind the film?
Crispin Glover: I always [describe the film as] being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are snails, salt, a pipe, and how to get home, as tormented by a hubristic racist inner-psyche. People often seem a bit confused [by that explanation], but once somebody has seen the film, they realize it's actually a pretty fair description of what the film is about on some level. Part of the reason that I do What Is It? with a question-and-answer is that there are usually a lot of questions about the film.
With avant-garde material, there is always the threat that some viewers may ignore the ideas in the film and see it instead as a string of random images. Is that another reason for the Q&As?
It depends on the sophistication of the viewer in terms of what kinds of films they're familiar with. Some of my favorite filmmakers would be Bunuel, Herzog, Fassbinder, and Kubrick [because] I think that all of those filmmakers at one point or another went into a vocabulary of filmmaking that is different from what everybody is familiar with in day-to-day filmmaking. I would say most people do very much understand and don't have a difficulty with the vocabulary of the film. But there are people who get confused [and] the film does deal with an aesthetic of confusion. So I'm not there to literally explain what everything is in it, but I am there to give a context.
Do the views expressed in What Is It? necessarily reflect your personal values, or is the film more about questioning the status quo?
One of the things that I set out to do was [to] get into areas that are considered taboo. There are things in the film that I would not necessarily advocate in day-to-day life. But what I do advocate is that these things should be able to be put into film. Because of the [economic realities of the film business] it is very difficult for something that fits outside of a certain realm of thought to [exist]... When a culture only has one kind of view coming across, that is a very bad thing. And while I'd say that that's not 100 percent happening everywhere, I'd say that it's 99 percent happening and that this film is definitely a reaction to that.
You're alluding to the counter-cultural film movement that you sometimes mention in interviews...
Well, I've stopped using the words "counter-cultural film movement" because it can be confusing etymologically. The fact is that anything that is produced by a human [that is] of an artistic sense - or any sense - is culture. The reason that I said "counter-cultural film movement" is that at a certain time during what was called the "counter-culture" by the hippies, there was a group of people that studios could point at and say "this is who will fund this kind of film." There was a certain amount of interest in things that were challenging at that point. That has disappeared in terms of how films are funded right now. But I think, to get into the specifics of the etymology of what "counter-culture" means, it's probably better to step away from those terms because really the film is a cultural product.
I think a lot of people understand the implications of what I was saying with that, but I think that a more exact way of describing it is: most films that are made right now fit within the boundaries of what is considered "good and evil." In other words, if there's something within a film that is considered good or evil, it has to be commented on within the construct of the film. And if the film has elements within it that are beyond those which are considered good and evil, that film will not get funded, or it will [receive poor distribution], or it will get severely attacked.
For cinephiles or people who are familiar with the type of film vocabulary [that is involved in What Is It?], there's no question that What Is It? falls into the narrative category. It has a story; the main character goes through a series of challenges and events and comes back home. How the story is told, and the way that these things come forth, is not necessarily in the same vocabulary as most films that are being put out right now. [Nonetheless] you could definitely argue that this is a fairly straightforward drama.
I'm very proud of that award [but] it's unlikely that [the film] will play in festivals much now because festivals generally don't pay the filmmaker money. You go to a festival to get promotion, but otherwise you don't get anything from it, and I have a lot of money invested in the film, so I have to be doing it as a commercial enterprise now. I'm distributing this film myself, and I tour around with it, so it is different [than a] regular film distribution process. I'm not planning to go out to DVD with it. I'm planning to continue touring with the film ultimately for years to come. Rather than put it on DVD, I'll have What Is It? only out as a film so that people have to come see it at the movie theatre. It has to be a live theatrical event rather than a home viewing experience. So people should come see it [laughs].
What Is It? plays at the Times Cinema on Friday and Saturday May 5 & 6. Show times both nights are at 8 P.M. and midnight. The 8 o'clock shows feature Crispin's BIG SLIDE SHOW. Admission is $17.
The midnight screenings (without the slideshow) are $10. Each of the four shows is followed by a Q & A session with Crispin, who will then move to the lobby for a book signing. Tickets are currently on sale at the Times box office. No one under 18 admitted.
For more information, go to www.timescinema.com or to www.crispinglover.com