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1
00:00:20,503 --> 00:00:24,127
A cult film to me
is a film of a certain genre
2
00:00:24,162 --> 00:00:27,613
that has a hard-core
following of fans.
3
00:00:27,648 --> 00:00:30,064
The more you see it,
the more you see in it.
4
00:00:30,099 --> 00:00:31,203
It becomes like a friend.
5
00:00:31,238 --> 00:00:32,653
Even the bad parts
of the movie,
6
00:00:32,687 --> 00:00:33,757
they forgive it.
7
00:00:33,792 --> 00:00:35,863
That movie is pretty rocking,
8
00:00:35,897 --> 00:00:37,106
but, God,
nobody knows about it.
9
00:00:37,140 --> 00:00:40,040
My own criteria
is just my own experience.
10
00:00:40,074 --> 00:00:41,765
A movie
that fell through the cracks.
11
00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:43,353
It has to be an accident.
12
00:00:43,388 --> 00:00:45,355
It's a genius,
brilliant movie.
13
00:00:45,390 --> 00:00:48,082
You think it's much,
much better than it is.
14
00:00:48,117 --> 00:00:49,256
We know it when we see it.
15
00:00:49,290 --> 00:00:50,257
That's what makes it interesting.
16
00:00:50,291 --> 00:00:51,568
Everybody's is different.
17
00:00:51,603 --> 00:00:53,329
If people are able
to look at the film
18
00:00:53,363 --> 00:00:55,952
and you hear them say the lines.
19
00:00:55,986 --> 00:00:57,091
It strikes a chord.
20
00:00:57,126 --> 00:00:58,575
I think a cult film
is something
21
00:00:58,610 --> 00:01:00,232
that people think
is something they've discovered
22
00:01:00,267 --> 00:01:01,509
and they like.
23
00:01:01,544 --> 00:01:03,787
It comes at you
in so many different ways.
24
00:01:03,822 --> 00:01:05,513
Usually it's an art film.
25
00:01:05,548 --> 00:01:08,344
Profanity, murder,
bullets, wounds.
26
00:01:08,378 --> 00:01:09,448
It's just funny.
27
00:01:09,483 --> 00:01:11,416
All these films
are really good.
28
00:01:11,450 --> 00:01:13,073
They're just misunderstood.
29
00:01:13,107 --> 00:01:14,695
Some people
would be like, well,
30
00:01:14,729 --> 00:01:18,008
why don't you just let the movie
speak for itself and shut up?
31
00:01:18,043 --> 00:01:19,113
Fuck you.
32
00:01:19,148 --> 00:01:20,459
Every movie is a cult film.
33
00:01:20,494 --> 00:01:22,496
It is the greatest cult film
of all time.
34
00:01:22,530 --> 00:01:28,467
Sexually repressed couple
murders swingers and eats them.
35
00:01:28,502 --> 00:01:30,504
That'll make them go see it.
36
00:01:30,538 --> 00:01:32,437
And then came the "Time Warp."
37
00:02:03,433 --> 00:02:06,022
Why don't we talk about
what's a cult film.
38
00:02:06,056 --> 00:02:07,679
I think in L.A.,
it is a word
39
00:02:07,713 --> 00:02:09,612
I would never say
when I'm trying to get a deal.
40
00:02:09,646 --> 00:02:12,891
Because to Hollywood executives,
"cult film" means
41
00:02:12,925 --> 00:02:14,444
that 20 people that were smarter
than them liked it
42
00:02:14,479 --> 00:02:15,928
and it lost a lot of money.
43
00:02:15,963 --> 00:02:17,551
- That's right.
- That's what a cult movie is.
44
00:02:17,585 --> 00:02:19,139
- Never say that word.
- That's very true,
45
00:02:19,173 --> 00:02:22,072
And I don't think anybody
starts out to make a cult film.
46
00:02:22,107 --> 00:02:23,798
I was thinking
of like cult movies
47
00:02:23,833 --> 00:02:26,180
as you need fellow cultists
48
00:02:26,215 --> 00:02:28,527
to introduce you to something.
49
00:02:28,562 --> 00:02:30,219
Like you need to know
about this.
50
00:02:30,253 --> 00:02:32,082
Someone needs to
turn you on to it.
51
00:02:32,117 --> 00:02:34,257
And with those movies
came out, there was no video.
52
00:02:34,292 --> 00:02:36,570
A cult move...
I guess a midnight movie
53
00:02:36,604 --> 00:02:38,365
that was a hit
was by definition...
54
00:02:38,399 --> 00:02:40,884
that's sort of what
started that in a way.
55
00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:41,989
And then they showed them.
56
00:02:42,023 --> 00:02:43,508
Then it got
a whole new reputation
57
00:02:43,542 --> 00:02:44,957
if it played at midnight.
58
00:02:44,992 --> 00:02:46,131
"Rocky Horror Picture Show"
59
00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:48,409
was obviously a movie
that nobody got,
60
00:02:48,444 --> 00:02:49,824
nobody understood
when it was new.
61
00:02:49,859 --> 00:02:52,068
And then all of a sudden,
it became I guess
62
00:02:52,102 --> 00:02:53,621
probably the most successful
cult film.
63
00:02:53,656 --> 00:02:55,761
- Yes, definitely.
- In terms of midnight shows.
64
00:02:55,796 --> 00:02:58,592
It got the people who were
coming and dressing up
65
00:02:58,626 --> 00:03:00,249
and talking to the screen
and all that kind of stuff,
66
00:03:00,283 --> 00:03:02,009
and that phenomenon
is still going on.
67
00:03:02,043 --> 00:03:04,977
I can't think of another movie
that has audience participation.
68
00:03:05,012 --> 00:03:06,427
Or where you were allowed to,
69
00:03:06,462 --> 00:03:09,050
because before, the ushers
would come, shut up, you know.
70
00:03:09,085 --> 00:03:10,293
And I would complain.
71
00:03:10,328 --> 00:03:11,398
Now there's
audience participation,
72
00:03:11,432 --> 00:03:12,744
people talking on their phone,
73
00:03:12,778 --> 00:03:15,264
which makes me crazy
when I go to movies, right?
74
00:03:15,298 --> 00:03:17,266
But the audience participation
is encouraged,
75
00:03:17,300 --> 00:03:18,577
but when that movie was made,
76
00:03:18,612 --> 00:03:19,992
they didn't know
that was going to happen.
77
00:03:20,027 --> 00:03:22,823
It came out as a regular
Hollywood movie and failed.
78
00:03:22,857 --> 00:03:26,758
And then this started.
Amazingly it caught on.
79
00:03:26,792 --> 00:03:29,209
And their parents
take them to it.
80
00:03:29,243 --> 00:03:31,141
That's the thing. It's safe.
81
00:03:31,176 --> 00:03:32,281
It's a generational thing.
82
00:03:32,315 --> 00:03:33,558
If your kid
is in "Rocky Horror,"
83
00:03:33,592 --> 00:03:35,422
you know where they are.
84
00:03:35,456 --> 00:03:37,493
There with gay people.
It's all right, you know?
85
00:03:37,527 --> 00:03:41,773
It's a safe place to drop off
your kids on Friday night.
86
00:03:41,807 --> 00:03:43,809
Yes, I never knew
what a cult film was
87
00:03:43,844 --> 00:03:46,571
till we became one,
because there wasn't one.
88
00:03:50,022 --> 00:03:52,749
If I had to pick a film,
that's the cult film.
89
00:03:52,784 --> 00:03:56,374
It ran for maybe 20 years
at TLA.
90
00:03:56,408 --> 00:03:58,272
The plot of "The Rocky Horror
Picture Show"
91
00:03:58,307 --> 00:03:59,998
is that a lost
All-American couple
92
00:04:00,032 --> 00:04:04,658
ends up at the doorstep
of a mad scientist.
93
00:04:04,692 --> 00:04:06,073
I wonder if you might help us.
94
00:04:06,107 --> 00:04:08,731
You see, our car broke down
a few miles up the road.
95
00:04:08,765 --> 00:04:10,146
And seek help.
96
00:04:10,180 --> 00:04:11,423
Brad, I'm frightened.
97
00:04:11,458 --> 00:04:13,045
What kind of a place is this?
98
00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,324
He embraces them
99
00:04:15,358 --> 00:04:18,603
and lets them watch him
making his perfect man.
100
00:04:18,637 --> 00:04:20,467
And there is
this kind of shock,
101
00:04:20,501 --> 00:04:21,813
especially
when you first see it.
102
00:04:21,847 --> 00:04:28,371
Just this transvestite
with no fear, no shame.
103
00:04:28,406 --> 00:04:30,477
It really is like a rock star.
104
00:04:45,457 --> 00:04:46,734
The reason people think
105
00:04:46,769 --> 00:04:49,047
it's the greatest cult movie
of all time
106
00:04:49,081 --> 00:04:51,601
is because it's their movie.
They own it.
107
00:04:51,636 --> 00:04:54,880
It's as if they make it every
night they go to the theater.
108
00:04:54,915 --> 00:04:56,710
It was the first film
that the audience
109
00:04:56,744 --> 00:04:59,229
started talking back
to the screen.
110
00:04:59,264 --> 00:05:00,748
How very dare they.
111
00:05:00,783 --> 00:05:02,509
And then people
started dressing up.
112
00:05:02,543 --> 00:05:04,165
Because that's what people do,
113
00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,720
I mean who were going to the
movies at midnight on Friday.
114
00:05:06,754 --> 00:05:09,550
And remember,
it was 1975 or '76,
115
00:05:09,585 --> 00:05:12,035
so most of them
were chemically altered.
116
00:05:12,070 --> 00:05:13,761
So we have now Patricia Quinn
117
00:05:13,796 --> 00:05:17,282
teaching us how to do
the Time Warp. Right.
118
00:05:17,317 --> 00:05:19,767
It's just a jump to the left
119
00:05:19,802 --> 00:05:24,047
and then a step
to the ri-ah-ah-ah-ah-right
120
00:05:24,082 --> 00:05:27,085
with your hands on your hips.
121
00:05:27,119 --> 00:05:30,640
I say, would you get to it,
give it a good thrust.
122
00:05:41,410 --> 00:05:44,171
"Rocky Horror"
paid our rent all the time.
123
00:05:44,205 --> 00:05:47,692
We would have like 30 people in
for a 9:30 screening,
124
00:05:47,726 --> 00:05:50,695
415 people in
for the midnight screening.
125
00:05:50,729 --> 00:05:52,800
It was something... for years
126
00:05:52,835 --> 00:05:54,250
we could always
count on that money.
127
00:05:54,284 --> 00:05:56,425
It has amazing music.
128
00:05:56,459 --> 00:05:59,151
I mean, there are like
nine songs in "Rocky Horror"
129
00:05:59,186 --> 00:06:00,256
that are all standouts
and catchy
130
00:06:00,290 --> 00:06:01,602
and you want to sing them.
131
00:06:07,470 --> 00:06:09,334
So my parents song
is "Science Fiction"
132
00:06:09,369 --> 00:06:11,405
because my dad used to sing it
to me when I was a baby.
133
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,545
He got me into "Rocky"
when I was three.
134
00:06:23,866 --> 00:06:25,902
If I have one favorite song,
probably "Dammit, Janet."
135
00:06:30,769 --> 00:06:35,222
Jim Sharman, the director,
deserves so much credit.
136
00:06:35,256 --> 00:06:36,982
It was a very difficult shoot.
137
00:06:37,017 --> 00:06:38,501
It was cold, it was wet.
138
00:06:38,536 --> 00:06:40,400
Susan came home with pneumonia.
139
00:06:40,434 --> 00:06:42,988
Look, I'm cold, I'm wet,
and I'm just plain scared.
140
00:06:43,023 --> 00:06:45,439
It seemed to go
very smoothly to me.
141
00:06:45,474 --> 00:06:47,855
There weren't any toilets
on the set.
142
00:06:47,890 --> 00:06:50,479
And that the most wonderful
thing was Tim Curry,
143
00:06:50,513 --> 00:06:53,136
to see him create
that character.
144
00:06:53,171 --> 00:06:57,382
And Tim Curry didn't get it
till the first rehearsal
145
00:06:57,417 --> 00:06:58,935
when he put on the high heels.
146
00:06:58,970 --> 00:07:04,320
And the minute he put on
the shoes, he...
147
00:07:04,354 --> 00:07:05,597
It's hard to imagine anyone
148
00:07:05,632 --> 00:07:08,013
other than Tim Curry
in that role.
149
00:07:08,048 --> 00:07:11,431
Tim appealed sexually
to men and women.
150
00:07:11,465 --> 00:07:13,778
That was a very key detail.
151
00:07:13,812 --> 00:07:19,162
Come up to the lab
and see what's on the slab.
152
00:07:19,197 --> 00:07:20,888
Tim Curry is a friend,
153
00:07:20,923 --> 00:07:24,133
and we went to see it
at the height of all that.
154
00:07:24,167 --> 00:07:26,446
He said, let's go down
to the Waverly.
155
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:27,792
There was a whole line,
156
00:07:27,826 --> 00:07:30,450
and he said, let's just
go to the box office.
157
00:07:30,484 --> 00:07:31,727
He went to the box office,
158
00:07:31,761 --> 00:07:33,867
and he said, good evening,
I'm Tim Curry.
159
00:07:33,901 --> 00:07:36,904
And she turned and she said,
160
00:07:36,939 --> 00:07:39,666
Morris,
there's another Tim Curry.
161
00:07:39,700 --> 00:07:41,495
She said, nah, he's not.
Ignore him.
162
00:07:41,530 --> 00:07:44,809
So to put his passport...
gave her the passport.
163
00:07:44,843 --> 00:07:46,017
Looks at the passport
and said,
164
00:07:46,051 --> 00:07:48,295
Morris, this one's
got a passport.
165
00:07:48,329 --> 00:07:52,644
So Morris finally
came out from behind the cage
166
00:07:52,679 --> 00:07:56,027
and looked and said,
oh, shit, you're Tim Curry.
167
00:07:56,061 --> 00:07:59,513
And meanwhile, there are
like three Frank-N-Furters
168
00:07:59,548 --> 00:08:03,206
in line behind
going, it's Tim Curry.
169
00:08:03,241 --> 00:08:05,485
So it was pre-selfies,
170
00:08:05,519 --> 00:08:06,969
so, you know,
nobody could do anything.
171
00:08:07,003 --> 00:08:10,213
But we went in
and they let us in for free
172
00:08:10,248 --> 00:08:11,560
to watch the thing.
173
00:08:11,594 --> 00:08:15,356
And he said, well,
so much for my charisma.
174
00:08:15,391 --> 00:08:16,565
With "Rocky Horror
Picture Show,"
175
00:08:16,599 --> 00:08:20,603
they would throw toast
and especially rice
176
00:08:20,638 --> 00:08:22,260
and all kinds of things
in the theater.
177
00:08:22,294 --> 00:08:26,298
And we would not clean
the theater until the morning,
178
00:08:26,333 --> 00:08:29,232
and during that time,
179
00:08:29,267 --> 00:08:32,546
we developed a really bad
mouse infestation
180
00:08:32,581 --> 00:08:33,892
where they would come out
181
00:08:33,927 --> 00:08:38,034
and have a feast
in the middle of the night.
182
00:08:38,069 --> 00:08:40,554
The beginning crowd was a little
older and it was a little gayer,
183
00:08:40,589 --> 00:08:44,144
and people started
just to find the film.
184
00:08:44,178 --> 00:08:45,352
Then it exploded
185
00:08:45,386 --> 00:08:47,803
like no other cult film
has exploded audience wise.
186
00:08:47,837 --> 00:08:50,771
At one point
there was maybe 170 screens
187
00:08:50,806 --> 00:08:53,256
showing the film around
the country at midnight
188
00:08:53,291 --> 00:08:55,051
many times to sold-out houses.
189
00:08:55,086 --> 00:08:58,607
- I adore the fans.
- They've always been marvelous.
190
00:08:58,641 --> 00:08:59,987
And it changed my life.
191
00:09:00,022 --> 00:09:02,783
That was the very first time
in my entire existence
192
00:09:02,818 --> 00:09:04,129
that I felt like, wow,
193
00:09:04,164 --> 00:09:07,512
this is like where
I'm accepted for who I am.
194
00:09:07,547 --> 00:09:08,789
I'm where I'm supposed to be.
195
00:09:08,824 --> 00:09:09,963
And I think that's an experience
196
00:09:09,997 --> 00:09:11,551
that a lot of people get
from it.
197
00:09:11,585 --> 00:09:15,209
That film has helped so many
people through difficult times,
198
00:09:15,244 --> 00:09:17,487
coming to terms
with their sexuality.
199
00:09:17,522 --> 00:09:20,870
That's been a really moving
aspect of the whole thing.
200
00:09:20,905 --> 00:09:22,872
And of course,
that contributes enormously
201
00:09:22,907 --> 00:09:25,426
to the fact that
it is the cult that it is.
202
00:09:25,461 --> 00:09:30,949
This movie gave you permission
to be who you are.
203
00:09:30,984 --> 00:09:32,537
You know,
don't dream it, be it.
204
00:09:47,138 --> 00:09:49,692
People say to me, what about
"Gone With The Wind?"
205
00:09:49,727 --> 00:09:51,970
I say it went.
206
00:09:52,005 --> 00:09:58,080
We're the only film that
never, ever left the cinema.
207
00:09:58,114 --> 00:10:00,496
I think Richard O'Brien
tapped into something
208
00:10:00,530 --> 00:10:01,946
that already existed
209
00:10:01,980 --> 00:10:04,673
and just gave it shape
and gave it form
210
00:10:04,707 --> 00:10:06,053
in a very theatrical way.
211
00:10:06,088 --> 00:10:08,711
I always hope
that Richard O'Brien
212
00:10:08,746 --> 00:10:13,647
realizes the profound effect
that his little musical
213
00:10:13,682 --> 00:10:15,960
has had on so many people
and continues.
214
00:10:15,994 --> 00:10:20,309
And I honestly don't see it
finishing anytime soon.
215
00:10:25,486 --> 00:10:26,764
Shut the fuck up, Donny.
216
00:10:26,798 --> 00:10:28,662
Where's the fucking money,
you little brat?
217
00:10:28,697 --> 00:10:29,939
What the fuck
are you talking about?
218
00:10:29,974 --> 00:10:31,665
What the fuck is with this guy?
219
00:10:31,700 --> 00:10:33,529
Shut the fuck up, Donny.
220
00:10:33,563 --> 00:10:34,944
Leave me the fuck alone!
221
00:10:34,979 --> 00:10:36,670
Shut the fuck up, Donny.
222
00:10:36,705 --> 00:10:39,569
Every "man, dude,"
every "fuck"
223
00:10:39,604 --> 00:10:42,745
is right where it should be,
you know.
224
00:10:42,780 --> 00:10:44,160
And you don't want
to mess with it.
225
00:10:44,195 --> 00:10:46,991
Do you have to use
so many cuss words?
226
00:10:47,025 --> 00:10:48,648
What the fuck
you talking about?
227
00:10:48,682 --> 00:10:50,442
The plot of "The Big Lebowski."
228
00:10:50,477 --> 00:10:55,827
Well, some guy named The Dude
gets his rug peed on.
229
00:10:55,862 --> 00:10:58,623
The Dude minds.
This will not stand, you know.
230
00:10:58,658 --> 00:11:00,867
This aggression
will not stand, man.
231
00:11:00,901 --> 00:11:03,490
And he goes about
trying to find out who did it,
232
00:11:03,524 --> 00:11:08,115
and that leads to all kinds
of adventures for him.
233
00:11:08,150 --> 00:11:11,463
It's down there somewhere.
Let me take another look.
234
00:11:11,498 --> 00:11:13,017
"The Big Lebowski"
is basically
235
00:11:13,051 --> 00:11:17,055
a satire of Raymond Chandler
gumshoe movies.
236
00:11:17,090 --> 00:11:20,887
I will compensate you
to the tune of 10%.
237
00:11:20,921 --> 00:11:23,096
- 100...
- Thousand, yes.
238
00:11:23,130 --> 00:11:25,995
Bones or clams
or whatever you call them.
239
00:11:26,030 --> 00:11:29,861
They decided to take the least
likely detective figure,
240
00:11:29,896 --> 00:11:32,450
in this case an asshole stoner.
241
00:11:32,484 --> 00:11:33,623
Bummer.
242
00:11:33,658 --> 00:11:36,247
Who bowls
and drinks White Russians,
243
00:11:36,281 --> 00:11:38,663
the least cool drink
in the world,
244
00:11:38,698 --> 00:11:41,114
and is somehow launched
245
00:11:41,148 --> 00:11:45,463
on an odyssey to recover
a kidnapped woman.
246
00:11:45,497 --> 00:11:46,740
Where's Bunny?
247
00:11:46,775 --> 00:11:49,018
Well, I thought
you might know that, man.
248
00:11:49,053 --> 00:11:50,917
He doesn't know
what's going on.
249
00:11:50,951 --> 00:11:52,746
He moves through it in a fog.
250
00:11:52,781 --> 00:11:53,954
You're Bunny.
251
00:11:53,989 --> 00:11:57,751
I'll suck your cock
for $1,000.
252
00:12:01,444 --> 00:12:04,965
"The Big Lebowski" needed to
be seen and re-seen on cable.
253
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,900
It frankly needed to be seen
high to really appreciate it.
254
00:12:08,935 --> 00:12:11,903
Say what you will morally
about marijuana use,
255
00:12:11,938 --> 00:12:13,802
but there are ways in which
256
00:12:13,836 --> 00:12:16,011
they really lend themselves
to cult movies.
257
00:12:20,809 --> 00:12:23,121
Aah! Aah! Oh!
258
00:12:25,848 --> 00:12:27,436
The movie, you know,
when it came out
259
00:12:27,470 --> 00:12:30,059
I think it went over
most people's heads.
260
00:12:30,094 --> 00:12:33,097
I'll fuck you in the ass
next Wednesday instead.
261
00:12:33,131 --> 00:12:34,477
Whoo!
262
00:12:34,512 --> 00:12:37,722
I didn't really get,
263
00:12:37,757 --> 00:12:41,277
you know,
all the nuances initially.
264
00:12:41,312 --> 00:12:43,348
I was a big fan
of the Coen Brothers.
265
00:12:43,383 --> 00:12:46,386
I ran into them many years
before I read the script.
266
00:12:46,420 --> 00:12:48,906
They said, we're writing
something for you.
267
00:12:48,940 --> 00:12:50,562
I said, oh, great.
268
00:12:50,597 --> 00:12:52,530
And then I read this script,
269
00:12:52,564 --> 00:12:55,567
and it wasn't like anything
I'd ever done before.
270
00:12:55,602 --> 00:12:58,881
It seemed like they had,
you know, been spying on me
271
00:12:58,916 --> 00:13:01,159
in my early twenties
or something, you know.
272
00:13:01,194 --> 00:13:03,955
He's the man
for his time and place.
273
00:13:03,990 --> 00:13:08,822
Everyone wants to be
a guy who never grows up.
274
00:13:08,857 --> 00:13:11,135
So the kids see this,
275
00:13:11,169 --> 00:13:14,379
but it's really men who are
25 years older than that,
276
00:13:14,414 --> 00:13:16,692
and they...
especially guys, I think...
277
00:13:16,726 --> 00:13:18,038
you know, relate to that.
278
00:13:18,073 --> 00:13:20,730
It's kind of like
a whole philosophy
279
00:13:20,765 --> 00:13:22,732
and a way of looking at life.
280
00:13:22,767 --> 00:13:26,875
Okay, sir. You're a Lebowski,
I'm a Lebowski.
281
00:13:26,909 --> 00:13:28,083
That's terrific.
282
00:13:28,117 --> 00:13:30,533
Why is it such a cult classic?
283
00:13:30,568 --> 00:13:32,052
It's just a damn good film.
284
00:13:32,087 --> 00:13:33,674
It's so well made.
285
00:13:33,709 --> 00:13:37,333
I'd take "Big Lebowski" over
"Kingpin" any day personally.
286
00:13:37,368 --> 00:13:39,404
No, I really love
"Big Lebowski."
287
00:13:39,439 --> 00:13:41,544
And, you know,
I love "Kingpin," too.
288
00:13:41,579 --> 00:13:43,098
They're different.
They shouldn't be compared
289
00:13:43,132 --> 00:13:45,341
just because
they're about bowling.
290
00:13:45,376 --> 00:13:47,861
Because if you're going
to talk about pure bowling,
291
00:13:47,896 --> 00:13:50,622
we're the better bowling movie.
292
00:13:50,657 --> 00:13:54,074
Talk about a better movie,
they'll win I think.
293
00:13:54,109 --> 00:13:55,282
The kind of acting I admire
294
00:13:55,317 --> 00:13:56,663
looks like
you don't see any effort.
295
00:13:56,697 --> 00:13:58,907
There's just, oh,
it's just spilling out.
296
00:13:58,941 --> 00:14:00,701
And that's what this movie is.
297
00:14:00,736 --> 00:14:02,082
But the spill, each thing
298
00:14:02,117 --> 00:14:05,603
is such a beautiful little
curly cue, you know.
299
00:14:05,637 --> 00:14:08,848
And you just find
more and more cool things
300
00:14:08,882 --> 00:14:10,850
to dig as you watch it.
301
00:14:10,884 --> 00:14:12,610
"The Big Lebowski"
is a cult movie
302
00:14:12,644 --> 00:14:15,475
because it's constantly
surprising you.
303
00:14:17,373 --> 00:14:19,513
There is not a scene
you can predict.
304
00:14:19,548 --> 00:14:20,894
There is not an element
305
00:14:20,929 --> 00:14:22,896
that fits together
with any other element.
306
00:14:22,931 --> 00:14:25,623
You are always being
thrown off track by it
307
00:14:25,657 --> 00:14:27,556
even if you seen it 100 times.
308
00:14:27,590 --> 00:14:30,110
You think I'm fucking around
here? Mark it zero.
309
00:14:30,145 --> 00:14:32,388
And it has some of the most
quotable lines.
310
00:14:32,423 --> 00:14:35,667
You see what happens when
you fuck a stranger in the ass?
311
00:14:35,702 --> 00:14:37,152
It gets funnier as you see it.
312
00:14:37,186 --> 00:14:39,982
And I've seen and people shout.
They know the lines.
313
00:14:40,017 --> 00:14:41,846
Nobody fucks with the Jesus.
314
00:14:41,881 --> 00:14:42,985
And it really hit me
315
00:14:43,020 --> 00:14:44,504
like the third time I saw it
10 years later.
316
00:14:44,538 --> 00:14:46,816
I was like, this is hilarious,
this movie.
317
00:14:46,851 --> 00:14:49,750
I have a bumper sticker
that says...
318
00:14:49,785 --> 00:14:53,927
You know, that's just like
your opinion, man.
319
00:14:53,962 --> 00:14:55,480
I didn't get
"The Big Lebowski."
320
00:14:55,515 --> 00:14:57,793
And then I saw it again
and I got it.
321
00:14:57,827 --> 00:15:00,796
And it's one of those movies
that every time you see it
322
00:15:00,830 --> 00:15:03,212
it makes you laugh and there's
things about it you love
323
00:15:03,247 --> 00:15:05,421
and you repeat
the dialogue lines.
324
00:15:05,456 --> 00:15:06,836
The Dude abides.
325
00:15:06,871 --> 00:15:08,321
The Dude abides, you know.
326
00:15:08,355 --> 00:15:10,323
That's just your opinion, man.
You know what I mean?
327
00:15:10,357 --> 00:15:12,497
It don't matter to Jesus.
You know what I mean?
328
00:15:12,532 --> 00:15:14,465
- I am the walrus.
- I am the walrus, you know.
329
00:15:14,499 --> 00:15:17,951
It goes on and on and on,
and it's really funny.
330
00:15:17,986 --> 00:15:19,953
So favorite scenes, well,
331
00:15:19,988 --> 00:15:23,405
you know, Turturro,
I love watching his stuff.
332
00:15:23,439 --> 00:15:26,477
I have to say,
I've gotten a lot of sex mail
333
00:15:26,511 --> 00:15:29,238
about "The Big Lebowski"
from men and women.
334
00:15:29,273 --> 00:15:31,620
So I don't know what that means.
335
00:15:31,654 --> 00:15:33,484
It must have touched a nerve.
336
00:15:33,518 --> 00:15:35,693
For my own stuff,
I like that scene
337
00:15:35,727 --> 00:15:39,248
with me in the back
of the Big Lebowski's limo.
338
00:15:39,283 --> 00:15:42,493
Hey, careful, man.
There's a beverage here. Hey!
339
00:15:42,527 --> 00:15:45,392
What in God's holy name
are you blathering about?
340
00:15:45,427 --> 00:15:47,739
Well, I'll tell you
what I'm blathering about.
341
00:15:47,774 --> 00:15:51,433
I've got information, man.
New shit has come to light.
342
00:15:51,467 --> 00:15:53,435
New shit has come to light,
you know, that scene.
343
00:15:53,469 --> 00:15:54,470
I like that scene.
344
00:15:54,505 --> 00:15:56,196
My favorite scene
in "The Big Lebowski"
345
00:15:56,231 --> 00:15:59,199
has always been they're
scattering somebody's ashes,
346
00:15:59,234 --> 00:16:01,822
but they didn't check
the forecast that day.
347
00:16:01,857 --> 00:16:03,583
The wind was blowing in,
as they say,
348
00:16:03,617 --> 00:16:06,103
from Wrigley Field.
Got a little messy.
349
00:16:06,137 --> 00:16:08,381
And the... blows on The Dude
350
00:16:08,415 --> 00:16:11,177
and The Dude
gets pissed off at Walter
351
00:16:11,211 --> 00:16:13,075
and Walter hugs him, you know.
352
00:16:13,110 --> 00:16:14,318
There's a warmth.
I almost feel...
353
00:16:14,352 --> 00:16:16,285
like a little tear
will come up, you know.
354
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,288
I get a little ferklempt,
you know, when that happens.
355
00:16:19,323 --> 00:16:21,083
It's a warm feeling, you know.
356
00:16:21,118 --> 00:16:23,534
The movie has so many of those.
357
00:16:23,568 --> 00:16:24,673
Jeffrey.
358
00:16:24,707 --> 00:16:26,882
Maude?
359
00:16:26,916 --> 00:16:28,332
Love me.
360
00:16:29,885 --> 00:16:32,336
That's my robe.
361
00:16:32,370 --> 00:16:34,303
Every once in a while,
I like to invite my family
362
00:16:34,338 --> 00:16:36,547
to come to the set
and see what I've been up to.
363
00:16:36,581 --> 00:16:39,067
And I thought, oh, well,
this will be a good day.
364
00:16:39,101 --> 00:16:40,620
The dream sequence, you know.
365
00:16:40,654 --> 00:16:43,726
It's like a Busby Berkeley
thing, and it'll be fun.
366
00:16:43,761 --> 00:16:45,211
And then when the day came,
367
00:16:45,245 --> 00:16:50,147
I think why the hell did I
invite my wife and my daughters
368
00:16:50,181 --> 00:16:53,046
to see me go through
these girls legs
369
00:16:53,081 --> 00:16:55,014
and look up at their vaginas,
you know?
370
00:16:55,048 --> 00:16:56,774
You know, what was I thinking?
371
00:16:56,808 --> 00:17:01,330
I look up like that
and I see this pubic bush,
372
00:17:01,365 --> 00:17:04,161
these tufts of pubic hair
coming out of this leotard,
373
00:17:04,195 --> 00:17:05,852
and I go, oh, my God.
374
00:17:05,886 --> 00:17:10,339
And the next lady has,
you know, more incredible bush.
375
00:17:10,374 --> 00:17:13,722
And they had gone
to the makeup guy
376
00:17:13,756 --> 00:17:16,345
and gotten crĂŞpe hair and
stuffed it in their leotards,
377
00:17:16,380 --> 00:17:19,762
you know, so it gave everyone
a good laugh except me.
378
00:17:19,797 --> 00:17:21,109
I was kind of horrified.
379
00:17:21,143 --> 00:17:23,801
But I was surprised when
the movie first came out
380
00:17:23,835 --> 00:17:24,940
that it wasn't a big hit,
381
00:17:24,974 --> 00:17:26,942
because it made me laugh,
you know.
382
00:17:26,976 --> 00:17:30,256
I thought it was pretty great,
but it didn't do much.
383
00:17:30,290 --> 00:17:33,569
I think there is something
about turning your friends on
384
00:17:33,604 --> 00:17:36,434
to something that's rare, that
not too many people know about
385
00:17:36,469 --> 00:17:39,472
that's exciting
for both parties, you know.
386
00:17:39,506 --> 00:17:43,131
So I think "Lebowski"
kind of cashes in on that.
387
00:17:43,165 --> 00:17:47,100
Well, I'm always happy to hear
somebody's a big fan of my films
388
00:17:47,135 --> 00:17:49,068
for reasons that
I don't always understand.
389
00:17:49,102 --> 00:17:50,103
But, hey, go for it.
390
00:17:50,138 --> 00:17:53,037
black and stacked.
391
00:17:53,072 --> 00:17:58,698
When Foxy Brown comes to town,
all the brothers gather round.
392
00:17:58,732 --> 00:18:01,942
The assignment was
a black woman revenge movie.
393
00:18:01,977 --> 00:18:04,600
A good revenge story
will always get the audience,
394
00:18:04,635 --> 00:18:06,464
whether it's revenge
in a spaghetti western,
395
00:18:06,499 --> 00:18:07,948
a blaxploitation, biker film,
396
00:18:07,983 --> 00:18:10,986
the good revenge story
always gets the audience hooked.
397
00:18:11,020 --> 00:18:13,575
- What do you want with me?
- My name's Coffin.
398
00:18:13,609 --> 00:18:16,095
Lubelle Coffin's
is my little sister.
399
00:18:16,129 --> 00:18:17,130
Lubelle?
400
00:18:17,165 --> 00:18:18,752
She's a smack addict at 11,
401
00:18:18,787 --> 00:18:20,961
and you gave it to her,
you dirty shake!
402
00:18:20,996 --> 00:18:22,135
Please!
403
00:18:22,170 --> 00:18:24,689
And they coined blaxploitation,
404
00:18:24,724 --> 00:18:28,383
because you get "Boxoffice,"
the exhibitor's magazine
405
00:18:28,417 --> 00:18:32,628
to see what you want to license
for your theater chain.
406
00:18:32,663 --> 00:18:36,115
And so exploitation
means for adult.
407
00:18:36,149 --> 00:18:39,187
It means profanity.
408
00:18:39,221 --> 00:18:41,085
White motherfucker.
409
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:42,811
- What are you doing?
- Put that down.
410
00:18:42,845 --> 00:18:47,367
You want to spit on me
and make me crawl?
411
00:18:47,402 --> 00:18:50,474
I'm going to piss on your grave tomorrow.
412
00:18:52,959 --> 00:18:55,237
Murder, bullets, wounds, gore,
413
00:18:55,272 --> 00:18:58,171
that's exploitation
of, you know, people.
414
00:18:58,206 --> 00:18:59,241
You're showing that.
415
00:18:59,276 --> 00:19:01,554
And so they turned blaxploitation
416
00:19:01,588 --> 00:19:04,591
to explain that
it's for a black audience.
417
00:19:04,626 --> 00:19:07,353
Marketing said a lot of
black people go to the movies,
418
00:19:07,387 --> 00:19:09,113
and they like to see themselves
in the movies.
419
00:19:09,148 --> 00:19:10,804
And so, of course,
they made movies
420
00:19:10,839 --> 00:19:14,532
about what they thought were
the black people of the time,
421
00:19:14,567 --> 00:19:17,432
and they were all criminals
in dashikis
422
00:19:17,466 --> 00:19:20,469
with huge Afro hairdos.
423
00:19:20,504 --> 00:19:22,540
Now, I don't do
no leather work, man.
424
00:19:22,575 --> 00:19:26,199
No whips, ropes, chains,
and none of those fetish freaks.
425
00:19:26,234 --> 00:19:28,477
Just plain sex.
426
00:19:28,512 --> 00:19:30,203
I think
blaxploitation films
427
00:19:30,238 --> 00:19:33,517
would be seen
very differently by all of us
428
00:19:33,551 --> 00:19:38,004
if no one had ever invented
the term "blaxploitation."
429
00:19:38,038 --> 00:19:40,524
It's really horrible word
when you think about it.
430
00:19:40,558 --> 00:19:44,217
It's kind of racist, and it
really makes those movies
431
00:19:44,252 --> 00:19:46,668
sound like they are
the lowest of the low.
432
00:19:46,702 --> 00:19:48,325
Even within
the black community,
433
00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,224
within respectable elements
of the black community,
434
00:19:51,259 --> 00:19:56,919
considered it to be,
you know, demeaning somehow.
435
00:19:56,954 --> 00:19:58,438
Where actually what they were
436
00:19:58,473 --> 00:20:03,132
were pretty interesting
low-budget action films
437
00:20:03,167 --> 00:20:07,758
that were expressing something
brand-new about society.
438
00:20:07,792 --> 00:20:09,449
So you see,
it's this vicious combination
439
00:20:09,484 --> 00:20:11,175
of big business and government
440
00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:13,246
which has kept our sisters prostitutes
441
00:20:13,281 --> 00:20:14,868
and our brothers dope peddlers.
442
00:20:14,903 --> 00:20:15,800
But the interesting thing
443
00:20:15,835 --> 00:20:19,942
was there were
these female heroines,
444
00:20:19,977 --> 00:20:23,187
Cleopatra Jones and Foxy Brown,
445
00:20:23,222 --> 00:20:24,671
and Pam Grier
playing a lot of them,
446
00:20:24,706 --> 00:20:27,985
and obviously they influenced
Quentin Tarantino,
447
00:20:28,019 --> 00:20:31,299
because, you know,
he made movies in that image.
448
00:20:31,333 --> 00:20:32,679
The "we" I see in you and me
449
00:20:32,714 --> 00:20:34,785
got one motherfucking thing
to talk about.
450
00:20:34,819 --> 00:20:39,238
One thing, and that's what
you are willing to do for me.
451
00:20:39,272 --> 00:20:40,687
Those were like
positive depictions.
452
00:20:40,722 --> 00:20:42,758
She was cleaning up
her own neighborhood.
453
00:20:42,793 --> 00:20:46,935
Jesus! You saved
my beautiful black ass.
454
00:20:46,969 --> 00:20:49,248
- You really did.
- Mm-hmm.
455
00:20:49,282 --> 00:20:53,252
How it started was I had done
four films for Roger Corman,
456
00:20:53,286 --> 00:20:55,461
and then did
"Black Mama, White Mama."
457
00:20:55,495 --> 00:20:56,876
And then they said,
oh, my God, her audience
458
00:20:56,910 --> 00:21:00,017
is just, you know,
packed with people
459
00:21:00,051 --> 00:21:02,606
coming four or five times,
buying a lot of concessions.
460
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:04,677
Oh, my, she's just...
461
00:21:04,711 --> 00:21:06,955
And I'm like, I just wanted to
do four or five for tuition.
462
00:21:06,989 --> 00:21:08,163
I'm done.
463
00:21:08,197 --> 00:21:12,512
She's sweet brown sugar
with a touch of spice.
464
00:21:12,547 --> 00:21:14,376
If you see a man anywhere,
send him in,
465
00:21:14,411 --> 00:21:16,620
because I do need a man.
466
00:21:16,654 --> 00:21:19,208
So now you've got
a very pro-feminist movie
467
00:21:19,243 --> 00:21:21,487
and you've got a black film.
468
00:21:21,521 --> 00:21:23,385
Okay, it's not just like
Fred Williamson
469
00:21:23,420 --> 00:21:25,905
we're looking at now,
or Isaac Hayes.
470
00:21:25,939 --> 00:21:27,769
We've got
sexy looking Pam Grier.
471
00:21:27,803 --> 00:21:30,219
So it's sort of two-for-one
of those films.
472
00:21:30,254 --> 00:21:33,050
Black exploitation
was a terminology
473
00:21:33,084 --> 00:21:34,362
that I never really understood.
474
00:21:34,396 --> 00:21:37,330
Like, it means that somebody
was being exploited.
475
00:21:37,365 --> 00:21:38,849
Here now you have black actors
476
00:21:38,883 --> 00:21:40,851
finally working
and making a dollar,
477
00:21:40,885 --> 00:21:43,163
a little more
than they made before.
478
00:21:43,198 --> 00:21:44,475
You have a black audience
479
00:21:44,510 --> 00:21:47,754
that now the blacks in the film
are the heroes.
480
00:21:47,789 --> 00:21:49,480
So I never really
quite understood
481
00:21:49,515 --> 00:21:51,517
who was being exploited.
482
00:21:51,551 --> 00:21:53,553
How much time do you have?
483
00:21:53,588 --> 00:21:57,557
About Pam Grier,
I could go on and on and on.
484
00:21:57,592 --> 00:21:59,628
We all flocked to see her
485
00:21:59,663 --> 00:22:02,321
because of the things that
she brought to those movies.
486
00:22:02,355 --> 00:22:04,323
And every one of those things,
487
00:22:04,357 --> 00:22:06,532
whether it's Foxy Brown
or Coffy,
488
00:22:06,566 --> 00:22:08,810
there is a conviction.
489
00:22:08,844 --> 00:22:10,225
And she's carried
that conviction
490
00:22:10,259 --> 00:22:11,778
in everything she does
since then.
491
00:22:11,813 --> 00:22:15,955
I'm told that you are
a dangerous man, Arturo.
492
00:22:15,989 --> 00:22:17,922
I like that.
493
00:22:17,957 --> 00:22:21,719
When the studio first called
me in and talked about this,
494
00:22:21,754 --> 00:22:24,066
they said that the reason they
wanted to shoot the picture
495
00:22:24,101 --> 00:22:25,413
and get it done quickly
496
00:22:25,447 --> 00:22:28,554
was because Warners
was doing a picture called...
497
00:22:28,588 --> 00:22:31,073
"Cleopatra Jones"
starring Tamara Dobson.
498
00:22:31,108 --> 00:22:34,629
Which was a black woman star
doing an action movie.
499
00:22:34,663 --> 00:22:38,805
The producer had originally
brought the project to AIP,
500
00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:40,635
and AIP
has thought it was great.
501
00:22:40,669 --> 00:22:41,912
They wanted to do it,
502
00:22:41,946 --> 00:22:43,500
and then the producer
went behind their back
503
00:22:43,534 --> 00:22:45,881
and got a better deal
with Warner Bros.,
504
00:22:45,916 --> 00:22:50,783
and so AIP said we want to get
our own out fast, you know.
505
00:22:50,817 --> 00:22:52,854
The studio was asking me
about other actresses,
506
00:22:52,888 --> 00:22:55,926
and my position was
I wrote this for Pam Grier.
507
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,928
She has demonstrated
already her capabilities.
508
00:22:57,962 --> 00:23:00,689
She's made about six or seven
pictures already,
509
00:23:00,724 --> 00:23:02,484
and she's the only one
510
00:23:02,519 --> 00:23:05,107
who really can bring
this character to life.
511
00:23:05,142 --> 00:23:07,627
And the very next day
Jack Hill called me
512
00:23:07,662 --> 00:23:09,284
and said I'm doing a picture
in the Philippines.
513
00:23:09,318 --> 00:23:12,425
Want to come?
I said, uh, yeah.
514
00:23:12,460 --> 00:23:14,185
And he told me about
this girl that he found
515
00:23:14,220 --> 00:23:19,743
who was a receptionist
at American International Films,
516
00:23:19,777 --> 00:23:24,437
was absolutely gorgeous,
dynamic, smart, funny.
517
00:23:24,472 --> 00:23:25,956
He went on and on and on.
518
00:23:25,990 --> 00:23:27,854
I said okay, okay,
I get it, I get it.
519
00:23:27,889 --> 00:23:29,131
All right, let's just do this.
520
00:23:29,166 --> 00:23:32,203
Got to the Philippines,
and I met Pam Grier.
521
00:23:32,238 --> 00:23:33,860
And I went, oh, my God,
522
00:23:33,895 --> 00:23:36,760
everything he said
was absolutely true.
523
00:23:36,794 --> 00:23:38,762
I mean, Pam and I
did six films together.
524
00:23:38,796 --> 00:23:41,730
That was kind of unheard of
at the time.
525
00:23:41,765 --> 00:23:45,458
You philandering
fornicating bastard!
526
00:23:45,493 --> 00:23:48,150
You went off with that
skinny honky for two days
527
00:23:48,185 --> 00:23:51,188
and gonna come back here
and call me honey?
528
00:23:51,222 --> 00:23:56,676
And the first director of that
deal was Jack Hill for "Coffy."
529
00:23:56,711 --> 00:23:59,817
And I was surprised, you know,
because it was urban,
530
00:23:59,852 --> 00:24:03,994
and he included me
in the development process.
531
00:24:04,028 --> 00:24:07,584
It wasn't just her personality
and her authority,
532
00:24:07,618 --> 00:24:09,309
but her knowledge.
533
00:24:09,344 --> 00:24:12,381
I said, okay, Jack,
have you been to the 'hood?
534
00:24:12,416 --> 00:24:14,314
If you haven't, you need to go.
535
00:24:14,349 --> 00:24:16,144
You need to see, feel, and hear.
536
00:24:16,178 --> 00:24:19,147
For example, I worked with her
very closely on the script.
537
00:24:19,181 --> 00:24:23,254
Certain ideas like sharpening
a bobby pin as a deadly weapon.
538
00:24:23,289 --> 00:24:24,393
Who'd ever think of that?
539
00:24:24,428 --> 00:24:25,912
Using wire coat hangers
540
00:24:25,947 --> 00:24:28,501
to twist
so that she got all these hooks.
541
00:24:28,536 --> 00:24:29,744
Hey, what the hell
are you doing?
542
00:24:29,778 --> 00:24:31,504
Get away from there you...
543
00:24:31,539 --> 00:24:32,781
Aah!
544
00:24:32,816 --> 00:24:35,370
- And slicing it.
- I'd never think of that.
545
00:24:35,404 --> 00:24:39,132
And the greatest one was putting
razor blades in her hair
546
00:24:39,167 --> 00:24:42,757
so if she gets into a fight
and somebody grabs her hair,
547
00:24:42,791 --> 00:24:45,000
which women
are liable to do...
548
00:24:45,035 --> 00:24:46,277
- Aah!
- Aah!
549
00:24:48,797 --> 00:24:51,662
After all the other stuff,
I mean, using a gun wrap, okay.
550
00:24:51,697 --> 00:24:53,250
Easy. No problem.
551
00:24:54,803 --> 00:24:58,082
Coffy was kind of clever
that Pam Grier did
552
00:24:58,117 --> 00:25:01,396
because she found unique ways
to kill people with.
553
00:25:01,430 --> 00:25:02,673
Kind of unique, you know.
554
00:25:02,708 --> 00:25:04,399
It's not something
you expect, you know.
555
00:25:04,433 --> 00:25:06,435
So that kind of made it work.
556
00:25:06,470 --> 00:25:07,920
But then you;re too busy
looking at Pam.
557
00:25:07,954 --> 00:25:09,369
You don't really care
what Pam does.
558
00:25:09,404 --> 00:25:11,544
My favorite scene
559
00:25:11,579 --> 00:25:13,719
was Pam's great moment
at the end
560
00:25:13,753 --> 00:25:16,445
when Pam's boyfriend, her lover,
561
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:18,965
is trying to talk her out
of what...
562
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,174
he's just ordered her
to be killed, you know,
563
00:25:21,209 --> 00:25:22,210
and she survived.
564
00:25:22,244 --> 00:25:24,523
And he's trying
to talk her out of it.
565
00:25:24,557 --> 00:25:27,387
Power changed things
for our people.
566
00:25:27,422 --> 00:25:28,941
I want to get all that money
567
00:25:28,975 --> 00:25:31,633
back into the hands
of black people like you and me.
568
00:25:31,668 --> 00:25:33,946
Bullshit.
You're just selling out
569
00:25:33,980 --> 00:25:36,155
to the white gangsters
and businessmen.
570
00:25:36,189 --> 00:25:40,573
You're worse than they are,
and I loved you.
571
00:25:40,608 --> 00:25:42,575
I loved you so much.
572
00:25:42,610 --> 00:25:45,336
People in the audience
are saying, don't listen to him.
573
00:25:45,371 --> 00:25:46,683
Don't listen to him, you know.
574
00:25:46,717 --> 00:25:49,375
So in a sense, what Pam did
with that scene
575
00:25:49,409 --> 00:25:52,274
was so great for her
as an actress
576
00:25:52,309 --> 00:25:54,138
that I really remember that.
577
00:25:54,173 --> 00:25:57,590
However, more than once
women have told me
578
00:25:57,625 --> 00:26:02,561
that like their favorite scene
was when she holds the shotgun.
579
00:26:02,595 --> 00:26:05,356
This is the end
of your rotten life,
580
00:26:05,391 --> 00:26:07,600
you motherfucking dope pusher.
581
00:26:07,635 --> 00:26:11,639
Pam Grier,
that one chick hit squad
582
00:26:11,673 --> 00:26:12,916
who creamed do you as Coffy
583
00:26:12,950 --> 00:26:17,437
is back to do a job on the mob
584
00:26:17,472 --> 00:26:18,956
as Foxy Brown.
585
00:26:18,991 --> 00:26:21,131
Sounds like a public menace.
586
00:26:21,165 --> 00:26:22,235
Sure do.
587
00:26:22,270 --> 00:26:23,754
Aah!
588
00:26:23,789 --> 00:26:27,206
The chick with drive
who don't take no jive.
589
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,829
The studio had such a success
with "Coffy."
590
00:26:29,864 --> 00:26:31,037
When you have to rush out
a sequel
591
00:26:31,072 --> 00:26:33,522
because of a surprise hit,
you know,
592
00:26:33,557 --> 00:26:38,044
you tend to use the ideas that
you rejected for the first one.
593
00:26:38,079 --> 00:26:41,841
"Foxy Brown" is another revenge
story where her boyfriend,
594
00:26:41,876 --> 00:26:46,915
his murder is the result of
a betrayal by her own brother.
595
00:26:46,950 --> 00:26:48,572
Aah!
596
00:26:48,607 --> 00:26:51,057
Now I only got
so much control,
597
00:26:51,092 --> 00:26:53,508
and I'm liable to put one of
these right between your eyes
598
00:26:53,542 --> 00:26:55,096
no matter what mama would say.
599
00:26:55,130 --> 00:26:57,339
And so you have
a real conflict.
600
00:26:57,374 --> 00:27:00,653
And along the way, she has
to pretend to be a hooker
601
00:27:00,688 --> 00:27:01,999
and, you know, the usual things
602
00:27:02,034 --> 00:27:04,657
in order to bring about
what she wants to do.
603
00:27:04,692 --> 00:27:06,728
The younger generations today,
604
00:27:06,763 --> 00:27:08,661
which is like maybe
three generations later,
605
00:27:08,696 --> 00:27:10,180
is still really into it.
606
00:27:10,214 --> 00:27:14,046
And in fact, the other day
I saw on the Internet, eBay,
607
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,532
somebody's doing statuettes
of Coffy and Foxy Brown.
608
00:27:17,566 --> 00:27:20,086
You know, hand-painted and
selling for hundreds of dollars.
609
00:27:20,121 --> 00:27:23,607
You know, who could imagine
such a thing?
610
00:27:23,642 --> 00:27:25,160
Now, of course, you know,
611
00:27:25,195 --> 00:27:27,542
they would probably give her
an Image Award
612
00:27:27,576 --> 00:27:30,649
because of her durability
613
00:27:30,683 --> 00:27:33,721
and the fact that
she has lasted for so long
614
00:27:33,755 --> 00:27:35,067
and because now it's possible
615
00:27:35,101 --> 00:27:36,793
for the generations
who saw those movies
616
00:27:36,827 --> 00:27:40,003
to appreciate
that kind of credibility,
617
00:27:40,037 --> 00:27:41,556
that kind of conviction.
618
00:27:41,590 --> 00:27:43,972
It's just too bad that
she didn't get enough of it
619
00:27:44,007 --> 00:27:47,320
when she was really active
and really doing those movies.
620
00:27:47,355 --> 00:27:50,151
I am among other pioneers.
621
00:27:50,185 --> 00:27:54,880
That for me is...
622
00:27:54,914 --> 00:27:58,228
You know, I don't want to
overuse the word awesome,
623
00:27:58,262 --> 00:28:00,437
awesome sauce,
or anything like that.
624
00:28:00,471 --> 00:28:02,094
It is an honor.
625
00:28:03,647 --> 00:28:04,855
Let me tell you of something
626
00:28:04,890 --> 00:28:07,616
that happened right here
in our own city.
627
00:28:07,651 --> 00:28:09,998
You probably read about it
in the papers.
628
00:28:10,033 --> 00:28:13,346
However I'll give you
the real facts behind the case.
629
00:28:13,381 --> 00:28:16,833
The original "Reefer Madness"
is an agitprop movie.
630
00:28:16,867 --> 00:28:19,905
It was made to warn people off
of smoking marijuana,
631
00:28:19,939 --> 00:28:21,492
which was the devil's weed.
632
00:28:21,527 --> 00:28:25,186
And it's so earnest and so stern
that it's hilarious
633
00:28:25,220 --> 00:28:27,913
because it's almost
the definition of camp.
634
00:28:27,947 --> 00:28:29,604
Failed seriousness.
635
00:28:29,638 --> 00:28:33,090
Isn't it true that you have
acquired a certain harmful habit
636
00:28:33,125 --> 00:28:36,438
through association with
certain undesirable people?
637
00:28:36,473 --> 00:28:40,097
The basic plot of "Reefer
Madness" is a woman and a man.
638
00:28:40,132 --> 00:28:41,927
- Where do you put it?
- You got a hollow leg?
639
00:28:41,961 --> 00:28:45,240
Who are kind of pushing
marijuana on to teenagers.
640
00:28:45,275 --> 00:28:47,139
That's the one
I was telling you about.
641
00:28:47,173 --> 00:28:50,073
Very nice.
642
00:28:50,107 --> 00:28:52,972
It's a propaganda film
put out in the 1930s
643
00:28:53,007 --> 00:28:57,183
to warn parents of the evils
and danger, of peril
644
00:28:57,218 --> 00:29:00,186
of your children
succumbing to the reefer.
645
00:29:03,465 --> 00:29:05,640
Come on, Bill.
646
00:29:05,674 --> 00:29:06,917
It's one of the only movies
647
00:29:06,952 --> 00:29:09,333
that you can see
clear propaganda.
648
00:29:09,368 --> 00:29:12,405
- Rape...
- No, no!
649
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:13,475
Suicide...
650
00:29:13,510 --> 00:29:15,029
Aah!
651
00:29:15,063 --> 00:29:16,375
Reckless driving...
652
00:29:18,515 --> 00:29:19,447
Attempted murder...
653
00:29:20,517 --> 00:29:22,070
Aah!
654
00:29:28,421 --> 00:29:31,735
So originally the propaganda
came out of a church group
655
00:29:31,770 --> 00:29:33,288
that paid for this film.
656
00:29:33,323 --> 00:29:35,290
Good morning, Miss. We're
from the police department.
657
00:29:35,325 --> 00:29:38,811
So then after that,
a producer purchased the film,
658
00:29:38,846 --> 00:29:40,882
and re-cut it
and then pushed it out
659
00:29:40,917 --> 00:29:44,955
onto the exploitation
film circuit into perpetuity.
660
00:29:44,990 --> 00:29:47,716
Shut up! Shut up!
661
00:29:47,751 --> 00:29:49,028
So that in the mid-seventies,
662
00:29:49,063 --> 00:29:51,824
it sort of reemerged
as a cult classic.
663
00:29:51,859 --> 00:29:53,412
There was
this whole group of people
664
00:29:53,446 --> 00:29:57,450
that would go to midnight movies
and smoke weed in the theater.
665
00:29:57,485 --> 00:29:59,107
Buy me some reefers.
666
00:29:59,142 --> 00:30:00,937
I think "Reefer Madness"
became a cult classic
667
00:30:00,971 --> 00:30:03,836
because it is so funny
and so serious
668
00:30:03,871 --> 00:30:05,217
and because everybody
was smoking dope.
669
00:30:05,251 --> 00:30:08,116
Wow. Like if the church group
670
00:30:08,151 --> 00:30:09,773
that put this film out
671
00:30:09,808 --> 00:30:13,328
knew what the film
was being used for,
672
00:30:13,363 --> 00:30:16,193
they're just rolling over
in their graves.
673
00:30:16,228 --> 00:30:18,161
Do I understand
you wish to plead guilty
674
00:30:18,195 --> 00:30:20,646
to a charge of fostering
moral delinquency
675
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:22,027
in the case of William Harper?
676
00:30:22,061 --> 00:30:26,894
Yes, yes, I'm guilty.
I am.
677
00:30:26,928 --> 00:30:29,413
If you're going to watch
"Reefer Madness,"
678
00:30:29,448 --> 00:30:32,934
I highly recommend
you getting high.
679
00:30:32,969 --> 00:30:34,556
That's how to watch it.
680
00:30:34,591 --> 00:30:37,939
The next tragedy
may be that of your daughter
681
00:30:37,974 --> 00:30:39,872
or your son
682
00:30:39,907 --> 00:30:45,498
or yours or yours or yours.
683
00:30:51,056 --> 00:30:54,749
"Freaks."
Something I've seen twice.
684
00:30:54,783 --> 00:30:55,888
You don't see that around.
685
00:30:55,923 --> 00:30:57,683
That is a real cult film for me.
686
00:30:57,717 --> 00:31:01,031
It's primal. The fear is,
oh, this could happen to me.
687
00:31:01,066 --> 00:31:02,377
If somebody is going back
688
00:31:02,412 --> 00:31:04,759
and looking through
the history of cult cinema,
689
00:31:04,793 --> 00:31:07,727
one of the earliest ones has
to be Tod Browning's "Freaks."
690
00:31:07,762 --> 00:31:10,006
There are a lot of great
horror movies of the time,
691
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,284
but if you want one
that is still really shocking,
692
00:31:12,318 --> 00:31:13,768
you know, the first cult movie,
693
00:31:13,802 --> 00:31:16,219
that's the one you go with
and it's "Freaks."
694
00:31:16,253 --> 00:31:18,255
To my mind, it's the scariest
movie of all time
695
00:31:18,290 --> 00:31:20,154
because it's made
with real people.
696
00:31:20,188 --> 00:31:21,983
The authenticity that's there
697
00:31:22,018 --> 00:31:25,193
is at once fascinating,
repulsive, exciting.
698
00:31:25,228 --> 00:31:26,746
It's a dangerous film
699
00:31:26,781 --> 00:31:30,026
where you as the audience
don't quite know what to feel.
700
00:31:30,060 --> 00:31:32,338
It was a film that touched me,
you know,
701
00:31:32,373 --> 00:31:35,514
because you saw something that
was a little bit disturbing.
702
00:31:35,548 --> 00:31:38,966
And then you saw beyond
the disturbing figure
703
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,624
and you saw a person
that was a human being.
704
00:31:42,659 --> 00:31:45,938
I thought "Freaks"
was a spectacular film.
705
00:31:45,973 --> 00:31:49,321
"Freaks" is about a circus,
sort of a PT Barnum-esque circus
706
00:31:49,355 --> 00:31:52,151
of people who have deformities
and maladies.
707
00:31:52,186 --> 00:31:53,290
It was made
in the early thirties,
708
00:31:53,325 --> 00:31:54,843
so it became shocking
and salacious
709
00:31:54,878 --> 00:31:56,431
and it was kind of buried.
710
00:31:56,466 --> 00:31:58,019
People didn't want to go see it.
711
00:31:58,054 --> 00:31:59,331
A tragic love triangle
712
00:31:59,365 --> 00:32:03,507
between a little couple
and this larger woman.
713
00:32:03,542 --> 00:32:07,546
She's the most beautiful
big woman I have ever seen.
714
00:32:07,580 --> 00:32:10,929
Who comes in, breaks up the
couple to get the man's money.
715
00:32:10,963 --> 00:32:14,518
Oh, it's so good to be rubbed.
716
00:32:14,553 --> 00:32:17,659
A fortune,
and I have him like that.
717
00:32:17,694 --> 00:32:18,971
And everything goes wrong.
718
00:32:19,006 --> 00:32:20,731
To me you're a man,
719
00:32:20,766 --> 00:32:24,563
but to her you're only
something to laugh at.
720
00:32:24,597 --> 00:32:27,393
- Let them laugh.
- They're swine.
721
00:32:27,428 --> 00:32:29,671
The other freaks
welcome her in
722
00:32:29,706 --> 00:32:31,397
because, hey, you're nice
to us. Thank you.
723
00:32:31,432 --> 00:32:33,261
We'll make her one of us.
724
00:32:33,296 --> 00:32:34,435
There's the marriage scene
725
00:32:34,469 --> 00:32:35,954
where all of the people
of the circus
726
00:32:35,988 --> 00:32:37,472
are sitting around
the wedding table.
727
00:32:37,507 --> 00:32:40,475
They are welcoming this
normal woman to their table
728
00:32:40,510 --> 00:32:42,719
and saying
you're now one of us.
729
00:32:42,753 --> 00:32:44,755
We accept her, one of us.
730
00:32:44,790 --> 00:32:47,137
Gooble-gobble, gooble-gobble.
731
00:32:47,172 --> 00:32:48,932
And they start chanting
"one of us."
732
00:32:48,967 --> 00:32:50,969
One of us. One of us.
733
00:32:51,003 --> 00:32:52,729
Gooble-gobble, gooble-gobble.
734
00:32:52,763 --> 00:32:54,731
One of us, one of us.
735
00:32:54,765 --> 00:32:56,319
We accept you, one of us.
736
00:32:56,353 --> 00:32:58,355
- One of us.
- One of us.
737
00:32:58,390 --> 00:33:02,221
And I think that must be how
it feels to be in the audience
738
00:33:02,256 --> 00:33:05,190
watching a cult film
with a bunch of other weirdos.
739
00:33:05,224 --> 00:33:07,468
It's one of us.
You have joined our club.
740
00:33:07,502 --> 00:33:12,197
- Freaks! Freaks!
- Get out of here!
741
00:33:12,231 --> 00:33:13,577
Then they find out the plot,
742
00:33:13,612 --> 00:33:17,167
and then they take their
disgusting revenge on her
743
00:33:17,202 --> 00:33:18,375
and make her a freak
just like them,
744
00:33:18,410 --> 00:33:21,482
and it's really upsetting.
745
00:33:21,516 --> 00:33:24,761
My father had told me
about "Freaks" when I was a kid,
746
00:33:24,795 --> 00:33:27,453
and then one day
it was playing at the Elgin.
747
00:33:27,488 --> 00:33:31,595
And so I went to see it,
and having certain expectations
748
00:33:31,630 --> 00:33:34,081
because my father
was like scared of it,
749
00:33:34,115 --> 00:33:35,530
it freaked him out.
750
00:33:35,565 --> 00:33:38,740
But when I saw it, I really
identified with the freaks
751
00:33:38,775 --> 00:33:39,845
and I liked them.
752
00:33:39,879 --> 00:33:41,640
And I love the pinheads.
753
00:33:41,674 --> 00:33:44,298
They were just like
sweet children.
754
00:33:44,332 --> 00:33:47,266
It just felt like
what a great community.
755
00:33:47,301 --> 00:33:50,580
And the fact that those
horrible, horrible
756
00:33:50,614 --> 00:33:52,547
what we're
supposed to identify with
757
00:33:52,582 --> 00:33:55,550
is the like regular
human beings, you know,
758
00:33:55,585 --> 00:33:58,277
the sexy woman
and the strong man, you know,
759
00:33:58,312 --> 00:34:00,072
I thought
they got what they deserved.
760
00:34:00,107 --> 00:34:01,832
It was like, yeah, get her.
761
00:34:01,867 --> 00:34:03,179
Tod Browning was the director
of this movie,
762
00:34:03,213 --> 00:34:04,904
and he was coming off "Dracula,"
763
00:34:04,939 --> 00:34:06,182
which was an enormous hit.
764
00:34:06,216 --> 00:34:08,011
And so he sort of could kind of
do whatever he wanted.
765
00:34:08,046 --> 00:34:09,495
Browning was no slouch.
766
00:34:09,530 --> 00:34:13,637
It is a genuinely terrifying,
wonderfully made picture.
767
00:34:13,672 --> 00:34:17,641
We're aghast because these
nice people are turning deadly
768
00:34:17,676 --> 00:34:19,505
because somebody
has wronged them.
769
00:34:19,540 --> 00:34:22,922
Believe it or not,
there she is.
770
00:34:22,957 --> 00:34:25,822
They take their revenge
and make her one of them.
771
00:34:25,856 --> 00:34:29,791
Tod Browning really is
invested in his characters
772
00:34:29,826 --> 00:34:31,793
and what their lives are like.
773
00:34:31,828 --> 00:34:33,795
He's not inviting you
to laugh at them.
774
00:34:33,830 --> 00:34:35,694
Part of what's fascinating
about "Freaks"
775
00:34:35,728 --> 00:34:36,798
is the way he's like,
776
00:34:36,833 --> 00:34:38,490
and here they are
hanging up their laundry.
777
00:34:38,524 --> 00:34:40,319
And here they are
falling in love.
778
00:34:40,354 --> 00:34:41,562
It's fascinating to me
779
00:34:41,596 --> 00:34:44,461
how we've come this far
since 1932,
780
00:34:44,496 --> 00:34:46,256
and we still don't have movies
781
00:34:46,291 --> 00:34:48,224
that treat people with,
you know,
782
00:34:48,258 --> 00:34:49,742
severe physical disabilities
783
00:34:49,777 --> 00:34:53,091
with that same level of respect
that you see in "Freaks."
784
00:34:53,125 --> 00:34:56,094
- Come on, Venus.
- The bigger lady's baby's born.
785
00:34:56,128 --> 00:34:57,474
I mean, it's almost shocking
786
00:34:57,509 --> 00:34:58,993
that this movie
is still shocking.
787
00:34:59,027 --> 00:35:00,201
"Freaks" ended up being
788
00:35:00,236 --> 00:35:01,582
one of the first cult movies
of all time
789
00:35:01,616 --> 00:35:03,722
mostly through notoriety
I believe.
790
00:35:03,756 --> 00:35:07,208
Like individual censors of
different counties and cities
791
00:35:07,243 --> 00:35:08,658
didn't want to show it,
792
00:35:08,692 --> 00:35:11,488
and so that just drove interest
up through the roof.
793
00:35:11,523 --> 00:35:13,007
And so people would go
and seek it out.
794
00:35:13,041 --> 00:35:15,734
And there would be kind of,
you know, midnight screenings.
795
00:35:15,768 --> 00:35:18,288
Midnight movies
weren't a thing back then.
796
00:35:18,323 --> 00:35:21,188
It's a movie that could
have very easily become lost
797
00:35:21,222 --> 00:35:22,741
or, you know, been destroyed.
798
00:35:22,775 --> 00:35:26,193
It took the actual resiliency
of people who liked the movie
799
00:35:26,227 --> 00:35:27,539
and thought
it was worth preserving
800
00:35:27,573 --> 00:35:30,542
that it has continued
the way it has today.
801
00:35:32,716 --> 00:35:33,924
Aah!
802
00:35:41,069 --> 00:35:48,042
Well, now you're talking
my language, David Lynch land.
803
00:35:48,076 --> 00:35:50,527
I visited it and it's something.
804
00:35:56,671 --> 00:36:00,468
I mean, this did not look like
anything you've ever seen,
805
00:36:00,503 --> 00:36:05,163
and I've seen surrealistic
movies all my life,
806
00:36:05,197 --> 00:36:08,200
so it's like, oh, my God.
807
00:36:08,235 --> 00:36:12,653
This is really
from another place.
808
00:36:12,687 --> 00:36:14,310
David Lynch
has a cult following.
809
00:36:14,344 --> 00:36:15,759
There's no doubt.
810
00:36:15,794 --> 00:36:19,763
He might be the cultiest
director for a lot of reasons.
811
00:36:19,798 --> 00:36:22,352
There are people that will
see anything that he does.
812
00:36:22,387 --> 00:36:24,423
It's a very nightmarish movie,
813
00:36:24,458 --> 00:36:27,633
and it definitely is one
of the ultimate cult movies.
814
00:36:27,668 --> 00:36:31,327
It's the kind of movie that you
see with an audience at midnight
815
00:36:31,361 --> 00:36:34,330
in a grind house
or even an art house,
816
00:36:34,364 --> 00:36:37,229
because a lot of critics,
mainstream critics,
817
00:36:37,264 --> 00:36:40,232
embraced the film
because of its strangeness.
818
00:36:40,267 --> 00:36:42,579
"Eraserhead" is about a man
819
00:36:42,614 --> 00:36:47,895
who cannot come to terms
with marriage and a child.
820
00:36:47,929 --> 00:36:50,311
Period. End of story.
821
00:36:50,346 --> 00:36:52,382
Now, how that is framed
822
00:36:52,417 --> 00:36:55,316
is enough to send you
to the mental ward.
823
00:36:55,351 --> 00:36:56,766
How to describe "Eraserhead?"
824
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:58,526
Well, what does David Lynch
tell us?
825
00:36:58,561 --> 00:37:01,115
He tells us it's a dream
of dark and disturbing things,
826
00:37:01,149 --> 00:37:02,668
and I think that's good enough.
827
00:37:02,703 --> 00:37:05,292
You know, Hollywood with the
whole idea of stars and things,
828
00:37:05,326 --> 00:37:06,569
I sure wasn't into,
you know.
829
00:37:06,603 --> 00:37:07,673
I didn't want big names.
830
00:37:07,708 --> 00:37:10,435
I wanted people
that were obscure
831
00:37:10,469 --> 00:37:12,471
because if you're going
into the netherworld,
832
00:37:12,506 --> 00:37:14,439
you don't want to go in
with Chuck Heston.
833
00:37:16,544 --> 00:37:21,066
"Eraserhead" is about
a guy courting a girl,
834
00:37:21,100 --> 00:37:23,033
and her family's kind of weird.
835
00:37:23,068 --> 00:37:25,553
- We've got chicken tonight.
- Strangest damn things.
836
00:37:25,588 --> 00:37:28,487
They're man-made.
Little damn things.
837
00:37:28,522 --> 00:37:31,421
Smaller than my fist,
and they're new.
838
00:37:32,802 --> 00:37:35,494
And they have this baby
that's deformed.
839
00:37:38,290 --> 00:37:41,086
And there's this pretty lady
living at the end of the hall
840
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:42,743
that this guy
would rather be with
841
00:37:42,777 --> 00:37:45,228
than his wife and the sick baby.
842
00:37:45,263 --> 00:37:47,230
But it's kind of creepier
than that,
843
00:37:47,265 --> 00:37:52,615
and some people really see
deeper things in "Eraserhead,"
844
00:37:52,649 --> 00:37:55,963
which will make it
a cult movie forever.
845
00:37:55,997 --> 00:37:57,585
Anything goes, you know.
846
00:37:57,620 --> 00:37:59,069
Like if somebody sees it
847
00:37:59,104 --> 00:38:01,589
and wants to make
a political film out of it,
848
00:38:01,624 --> 00:38:03,211
you know, they can do that,
you know.
849
00:38:03,246 --> 00:38:06,767
It's fine with me because
it's not fair for me to say,
850
00:38:06,801 --> 00:38:08,078
oh, you didn't get it, you know.
851
00:38:08,113 --> 00:38:10,357
Because the film is so abstract.
852
00:38:10,391 --> 00:38:12,255
I was in the middle of it
853
00:38:12,290 --> 00:38:14,533
and I asked the kid
working for me,
854
00:38:14,568 --> 00:38:17,018
I said, you get David
on the phone.
855
00:38:17,053 --> 00:38:18,986
I want this film.
856
00:38:19,020 --> 00:38:22,645
And he looked at me
and said, you're crazy.
857
00:38:22,679 --> 00:38:25,199
The cultural significance
of "Eraserhead"
858
00:38:25,233 --> 00:38:29,099
is it introduced this genius
filmmaker to the world.
859
00:38:29,134 --> 00:38:31,688
He was soon embraced
by Hollywood
860
00:38:31,723 --> 00:38:33,828
and producers
like Dino de Laurentiis,
861
00:38:33,863 --> 00:38:37,142
who gave him a shot
at "Dune" and "Blue Velvet"
862
00:38:37,176 --> 00:38:39,317
and of course Mel Brooks,
863
00:38:39,351 --> 00:38:41,698
who gave him the keys
to "The Elephant Man,"
864
00:38:41,733 --> 00:38:44,494
which has a lot of "Eraserhead"
in it, you know.
865
00:38:44,529 --> 00:38:46,324
"Eraserhead" and "The Elephant Man"
866
00:38:46,358 --> 00:38:49,361
are very good companion movies
in some ways.
867
00:38:49,396 --> 00:38:50,707
And in some ways,
868
00:38:50,742 --> 00:38:52,433
"Eraserhead" is the last
I think true cult film,
869
00:38:52,468 --> 00:38:54,366
because I don't think
David Lynch made it
870
00:38:54,401 --> 00:38:56,679
trying to like
cash into this audience
871
00:38:56,713 --> 00:38:58,370
or this midnight movie circuit.
872
00:38:58,405 --> 00:39:00,614
I think he made it
as an expression of things
873
00:39:00,648 --> 00:39:02,685
that were very important to him
as an author
874
00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:06,067
and as something
he'd want to see.
875
00:39:06,102 --> 00:39:07,379
It's got special effects.
876
00:39:07,414 --> 00:39:09,036
I mean, the most amazing thing
in "Eraserhead"
877
00:39:09,070 --> 00:39:12,764
is the creation
of that little monster baby,
878
00:39:12,798 --> 00:39:15,180
which really was
sort of as extraordinary
879
00:39:15,214 --> 00:39:16,837
as the one in "Alien."
880
00:39:16,871 --> 00:39:19,391
We came very close to a future
881
00:39:19,426 --> 00:39:21,566
where "Eraserhead" didn't exist.
882
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,878
He premieres it
at a film festival here in L.A.
883
00:39:23,913 --> 00:39:27,054
24 people show up,
and that's it.
884
00:39:27,088 --> 00:39:28,055
It could have died, you know.
885
00:39:28,089 --> 00:39:31,092
The next night,
25 people show up. Okay.
886
00:39:31,127 --> 00:39:32,542
And then from there,
887
00:39:32,577 --> 00:39:35,027
a local theater is convinced
just put it on at midnight,
888
00:39:35,062 --> 00:39:36,995
and it ran for a year.
889
00:39:37,029 --> 00:39:40,412
"Eraserhead" played
seven nights a week.
890
00:39:40,447 --> 00:39:42,656
By the way, most
of the other midnight movies
891
00:39:42,690 --> 00:39:46,591
only played Friday
and Saturday at midnight.
892
00:39:46,625 --> 00:39:48,662
Weirdly I live
in Philadelphia,
893
00:39:48,696 --> 00:39:50,940
and David Lynch
went to art school here
894
00:39:50,974 --> 00:39:52,631
at the Pennsylvania Academy
of Fine Arts,
895
00:39:52,666 --> 00:39:55,876
and he used to live in North
Philadelphia near the morgue.
896
00:39:55,910 --> 00:39:57,533
And that neighborhood
where he lived
897
00:39:57,567 --> 00:39:59,017
is now called the Eraserhood.
898
00:39:59,051 --> 00:40:02,089
So it's 40 years
after "Eraserhead"
899
00:40:02,123 --> 00:40:03,987
there's a neighborhood
named after it.
900
00:40:04,022 --> 00:40:06,404
Henry and Mary
got caught in the past,
901
00:40:06,438 --> 00:40:10,994
and there's not a whole lot
happening that is normal.
902
00:40:11,029 --> 00:40:13,134
Mary?
903
00:40:13,169 --> 00:40:14,826
Mother.
904
00:40:14,860 --> 00:40:17,380
There's this
strange combination
905
00:40:17,415 --> 00:40:19,106
that David Lynch does
906
00:40:19,140 --> 00:40:23,697
of the most bizarre images
and situations
907
00:40:23,731 --> 00:40:25,630
with like regular reactions,
908
00:40:25,664 --> 00:40:30,220
like this like baby thing
that's like suffering.
909
00:40:30,255 --> 00:40:32,499
And he goes, oh, you are sick.
910
00:40:34,501 --> 00:40:37,883
Oh, you are sick.
911
00:40:37,918 --> 00:40:39,471
That's what you would say
912
00:40:39,506 --> 00:40:41,404
if your kid started coughing
and complaining,
913
00:40:41,439 --> 00:40:42,750
and you'd go, stop it.
914
00:40:42,785 --> 00:40:44,303
But it's this monster.
915
00:40:44,338 --> 00:40:46,547
I actually think it's
one of the only cult movies
916
00:40:46,582 --> 00:40:49,481
that really feels like
a work of art.
917
00:40:49,516 --> 00:40:51,345
It's so beautifully crafted.
918
00:40:51,379 --> 00:40:53,381
It really is like a dream.
919
00:41:00,354 --> 00:41:04,289
And then that lady singing
in heaven, everything is fine,
920
00:41:04,323 --> 00:41:11,054
and you just go, what
am I watching and where am I?
921
00:41:11,089 --> 00:41:13,505
I think we would
appreciate "Eraserhead"
922
00:41:13,540 --> 00:41:15,093
as an organic masterpiece,
923
00:41:15,127 --> 00:41:18,096
as something
that seems to have come
924
00:41:18,130 --> 00:41:23,826
directly from the churning mind
of a unique individual
925
00:41:23,860 --> 00:41:28,934
who somehow has a pipeline
from his id to the screen.
926
00:41:28,969 --> 00:41:30,522
"Eraserhead" is this strange combination
927
00:41:30,557 --> 00:41:33,939
of art house and universal
and its emotions.
928
00:41:33,974 --> 00:41:35,423
I think that's the combination
929
00:41:35,458 --> 00:41:37,909
that's made it linger
for so long
930
00:41:37,943 --> 00:41:39,151
is there is something in there.
931
00:41:39,186 --> 00:41:41,084
It's not just cold
and inaccessible.
932
00:41:41,119 --> 00:41:45,537
There's a heart in there
that you can feel.
933
00:41:45,572 --> 00:41:47,435
"Pink Flamingos"
was definitely a midnight hit.
934
00:41:47,470 --> 00:41:50,818
It played for 10 years in some
theaters, the biggest ones.
935
00:41:50,853 --> 00:41:52,751
But how that was marketed
is completely different.
936
00:41:52,786 --> 00:41:54,097
It never opened at once.
937
00:41:54,132 --> 00:41:56,583
It took three years
to open around the country.
938
00:41:56,617 --> 00:41:59,413
We go to the city, we'd start,
we do the press.
939
00:41:59,447 --> 00:42:02,312
It would be one week, and
then it would go to two weeks,
940
00:42:02,347 --> 00:42:03,486
three weeks, four weeks.
941
00:42:03,521 --> 00:42:04,832
And then we moved
to the next city.
942
00:42:04,867 --> 00:42:06,006
I saw "Pink Flamingos"
943
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:07,628
when it was at the height
of his popularity at midnight
944
00:42:07,663 --> 00:42:08,905
when the whole audience
is roaring,
945
00:42:08,940 --> 00:42:10,493
and then I'd see it in court
946
00:42:10,528 --> 00:42:11,701
when I was charged
with obscenity
947
00:42:11,736 --> 00:42:14,290
at 10 A.M. with 12 jurors.
948
00:42:14,324 --> 00:42:15,567
It was obscene.
949
00:42:15,602 --> 00:42:17,189
It was obscene then
at 10:00 in the morning.
950
00:42:17,224 --> 00:42:19,916
It was like, oh, my God.
I'm going to jail forever.
951
00:42:19,951 --> 00:42:21,918
And I never won the case.
952
00:42:21,953 --> 00:42:23,920
Even after the Museum
of Modern Art bought a print,
953
00:42:23,955 --> 00:42:25,819
I thought, well,
here's proof we're art.
954
00:42:25,853 --> 00:42:28,856
Uh-huh. We were guilty
every single time.
955
00:42:28,891 --> 00:42:31,652
So I just paid the fine.
It was cheaper than the lawyer.
956
00:42:31,687 --> 00:42:34,586
Because in a courtroom
at 10 A.M., it is obscene.
957
00:42:37,831 --> 00:42:40,834
"Pink Flamingos"
is an object of modern art.
958
00:42:40,868 --> 00:42:42,283
It transcends cinema.
959
00:42:42,318 --> 00:42:46,011
It is cinema as object,
as statue, as painting.
960
00:42:46,046 --> 00:42:48,566
There are no other films
like "Pink Flamingos."
961
00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:50,429
Kill everyone now.
962
00:42:50,464 --> 00:42:52,604
Condone first-degree murder.
963
00:42:52,639 --> 00:42:55,124
Advocate cannibalism.
Eat shit.
964
00:42:55,158 --> 00:42:58,196
Filth are my politics.
Filth is my life.
965
00:42:58,230 --> 00:42:59,335
I mean, "Pink Flamingos"
966
00:42:59,369 --> 00:43:01,613
has probably soared
to the top of the cult list
967
00:43:01,648 --> 00:43:02,856
because how many movies
968
00:43:02,890 --> 00:43:06,894
have a fat drag queen
eating poodle turds?
969
00:43:06,929 --> 00:43:09,759
Well, I first saw
"Pink Flamingos" when I was 15,
970
00:43:09,794 --> 00:43:13,038
and it just scared
the shit out of me.
971
00:43:13,073 --> 00:43:14,764
And the next packet
you bring me
972
00:43:14,799 --> 00:43:16,732
is getting shoved
right up your little ass.
973
00:43:16,766 --> 00:43:18,112
Can you comprehend that?
974
00:43:18,147 --> 00:43:21,081
It's then kind of rediscovered
975
00:43:21,115 --> 00:43:22,600
in the day when
there was a whole network
976
00:43:22,634 --> 00:43:25,361
of repertory cinemas that
they would program these films.
977
00:43:25,395 --> 00:43:28,640
And there they would find
a totally different audience
978
00:43:28,675 --> 00:43:32,092
that appreciated the film many
times on a very different level
979
00:43:32,126 --> 00:43:33,921
than what
was originally intended.
980
00:43:33,956 --> 00:43:36,475
With "Pink Flamingos,"
you had a crowd coming in,
981
00:43:36,510 --> 00:43:40,203
and they've been warned
about it, they watch it,
982
00:43:40,238 --> 00:43:42,481
and many times it's the only
time they watch the film.
983
00:43:42,516 --> 00:43:43,724
There grossed out, they leave,
984
00:43:43,759 --> 00:43:46,002
they tell more people,
those people come in.
985
00:43:46,037 --> 00:43:48,039
Well, the plot
of "Pink Flamingos"
986
00:43:48,073 --> 00:43:50,628
is that there's two families
in Baltimore
987
00:43:50,662 --> 00:43:52,768
that are vying for the prize
988
00:43:52,802 --> 00:43:55,080
of the filthiest people
in the world.
989
00:43:55,115 --> 00:43:57,151
And they go
to different extremes.
990
00:43:57,186 --> 00:44:00,327
You have the Connie
and Raymond Marble crowd
991
00:44:00,361 --> 00:44:02,916
that kidnaps women,
992
00:44:02,950 --> 00:44:04,849
impregnates them
with their butler.
993
00:44:04,883 --> 00:44:06,851
How would you like
to fuck my chauffeur?
994
00:44:06,885 --> 00:44:09,336
He's got a real horse dick
on him.
995
00:44:09,370 --> 00:44:10,751
Fucking ball of shit!
996
00:44:10,786 --> 00:44:11,994
- I said shut up!
- Just shut up.
997
00:44:12,028 --> 00:44:13,409
I'm talking
when I come down here.
998
00:44:13,443 --> 00:44:16,274
And then sells the babies off
to lesbian couples.
999
00:44:16,308 --> 00:44:18,172
But they're almost
like a one-hit wonder.
1000
00:44:18,207 --> 00:44:21,313
They don't have much else
in the way of filth.
1001
00:44:21,348 --> 00:44:23,177
Where Divine and her family,
1002
00:44:23,212 --> 00:44:25,835
they have all kinds
of depravities
1003
00:44:25,870 --> 00:44:28,527
and a whole group of sickos.
1004
00:44:28,562 --> 00:44:29,977
And of course they win
1005
00:44:30,012 --> 00:44:33,118
by not only capturing and
executing Raymond and Connie,
1006
00:44:33,153 --> 00:44:36,363
but they also at the end
prove without a doubt
1007
00:44:36,397 --> 00:44:38,917
at the last scene that they are
the filthiest people.
1008
00:44:38,952 --> 00:44:41,057
At least Divine is the filthiest
person in the world.
1009
00:44:43,473 --> 00:44:46,442
When I got to know Divine,
I asked him how he did it.
1010
00:44:46,476 --> 00:44:50,515
And he said, well,
we fed the poodle prime steak
1011
00:44:50,549 --> 00:44:52,655
all week
before we shot the scene.
1012
00:44:52,690 --> 00:44:54,208
So I guess it got to the point
1013
00:44:54,243 --> 00:44:57,004
where I thought anything that
comes out of that dog is prime.
1014
00:44:57,039 --> 00:44:59,455
So it's the only way
I could face it.
1015
00:44:59,489 --> 00:45:00,836
I think "Pink Flamingos"
1016
00:45:00,870 --> 00:45:02,976
is considered one of the great
cult films of all time
1017
00:45:03,010 --> 00:45:06,013
because it continually
tops itself.
1018
00:45:06,048 --> 00:45:08,188
It starts out
pretty bat shit crazy
1019
00:45:08,222 --> 00:45:11,329
with people you don't see
every day, especially in 1971.
1020
00:45:11,363 --> 00:45:14,297
They were not dying
their pubic hair red in 1971.
1021
00:45:14,332 --> 00:45:16,299
And you have
this sort of carnival,
1022
00:45:16,334 --> 00:45:17,887
and it's just, it's hypnotic.
1023
00:45:17,922 --> 00:45:19,095
In other words,
we want to know
1024
00:45:19,130 --> 00:45:20,476
how we can play her the most.
1025
00:45:20,510 --> 00:45:22,892
How we can make her life
as miserable as possible.
1026
00:45:22,927 --> 00:45:26,240
It's really her mother
Edie the Egg Lady
1027
00:45:26,275 --> 00:45:28,242
that's probably
the craziest one,
1028
00:45:28,277 --> 00:45:32,246
her in a pigpen craving eggs
from her beloved Egg Man.
1029
00:45:32,281 --> 00:45:34,628
I'm in here.
I hear The Egg Man.
1030
00:45:34,662 --> 00:45:36,768
In here.
In here, Mr. Egg Man.
1031
00:45:36,803 --> 00:45:40,289
Eggs! Eggs!
Oh, help! God! God!
1032
00:45:40,323 --> 00:45:43,810
He was using people like Edie
and, you know, Mink Stole,
1033
00:45:43,844 --> 00:45:48,021
and Mary Vivian Pearce
was so exotic.
1034
00:45:48,055 --> 00:45:49,298
Does murder make you happy?
1035
00:45:49,332 --> 00:45:52,094
Murder merely relieves
tension, Mr. Curzan.
1036
00:45:52,128 --> 00:45:55,787
For murder to bring happiness
one must already be happy.
1037
00:45:55,822 --> 00:45:57,927
What's not to like?
1038
00:45:57,962 --> 00:45:59,273
Well, I think John Waters
1039
00:45:59,308 --> 00:46:02,483
was definitely making movies
for a cult audience,
1040
00:46:02,518 --> 00:46:03,726
and he knew it.
1041
00:46:03,761 --> 00:46:06,073
But there was nothing calculated
about it.
1042
00:46:06,108 --> 00:46:10,733
I mean, I literally watch
this movie not even as a comedy.
1043
00:46:10,768 --> 00:46:13,805
I couldn't believe
I shared a planet
1044
00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:15,462
with the people in this movie.
1045
00:46:15,496 --> 00:46:18,948
Oh, my God.
What a horrible photograph.
1046
00:46:18,983 --> 00:46:23,056
My first wanted poster
and I have to look just awful.
1047
00:46:23,090 --> 00:46:25,679
And here you have a couple
intersecting cults.
1048
00:46:25,713 --> 00:46:27,129
You have the cult
of John Waters,
1049
00:46:27,163 --> 00:46:30,373
who is this brilliant
comic satiric visionary,
1050
00:46:30,408 --> 00:46:32,065
and then you have the cult
of Divine.
1051
00:46:32,099 --> 00:46:35,102
Why, I haven't fallen in love
for three whole days.
1052
00:46:35,137 --> 00:46:36,897
I'm just itching
to find somebody
1053
00:46:36,932 --> 00:46:38,519
with a little imagination.
1054
00:46:38,554 --> 00:46:41,108
John Waters is this weirdo kid
1055
00:46:41,143 --> 00:46:43,766
who wants to be a filmmaker,
is passionate about it,
1056
00:46:43,801 --> 00:46:45,768
and gets
all of his friends involved.
1057
00:46:45,803 --> 00:46:48,012
It becomes
their neighborhood project.
1058
00:46:48,046 --> 00:46:50,221
He was making movies
really for himself.
1059
00:46:50,255 --> 00:46:53,880
I mean, they expressed
who he was, his vision.
1060
00:46:53,914 --> 00:46:55,295
He befriends a kid
named Glenn,
1061
00:46:55,329 --> 00:46:57,193
who is going to grow up
to become Divine.
1062
00:46:57,228 --> 00:47:00,334
And he sees in Glenn what Glenn
doesn't even see it himself yet.
1063
00:47:00,369 --> 00:47:03,027
John Waters is able
to elevate his friend,
1064
00:47:03,061 --> 00:47:07,341
this quiet guy that nobody knew,
into a superstar.
1065
00:47:07,376 --> 00:47:11,311
I had no idea that Divine
was really a man.
1066
00:47:11,345 --> 00:47:14,141
I just got caught up
in the illusion of it,
1067
00:47:14,176 --> 00:47:18,352
and I thought it was kind of
a horror movie, but mesmerizing.
1068
00:47:18,387 --> 00:47:21,148
So of course I had to go back
and see it again and again.
1069
00:47:21,183 --> 00:47:23,392
To me, like, my foundational
memory of "Pink Flamingos"
1070
00:47:23,426 --> 00:47:24,703
is dragging
a bunch of my friends
1071
00:47:24,738 --> 00:47:25,877
to go see it
in the movie theater
1072
00:47:25,912 --> 00:47:27,258
when I was in high school.
1073
00:47:27,292 --> 00:47:29,260
And when we left,
they turned to me and they said,
1074
00:47:29,294 --> 00:47:31,779
you never get
to pick the movie again.
1075
00:47:31,814 --> 00:47:34,368
The one scene
that sticks out for me,
1076
00:47:34,403 --> 00:47:37,889
when they start licking
the furniture and the staircase
1077
00:47:37,924 --> 00:47:40,374
of Connie and Raymond
Marble's house.
1078
00:47:40,409 --> 00:47:44,137
That's to kind of put their
filth into the house there,
1079
00:47:44,171 --> 00:47:45,966
and I was like,
what the hell is this?
1080
00:47:46,001 --> 00:47:47,795
And you have these situations
1081
00:47:47,830 --> 00:47:49,107
which are
increasingly ridiculous,
1082
00:47:49,142 --> 00:47:52,455
but logical into its own world.
1083
00:47:52,490 --> 00:47:54,941
So it's really a masterpiece
of satiric writing.
1084
00:47:54,975 --> 00:47:57,184
He really made them feel
like documentaries.
1085
00:47:57,219 --> 00:47:59,566
It's an encounter
with the absurd.
1086
00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:02,017
And, of course, like all
of John Waters movies,
1087
00:48:02,051 --> 00:48:05,641
it's people who think they're
living in a Hollywood fantasy
1088
00:48:05,675 --> 00:48:08,506
and who are really living
in a tract house in Baltimore.
1089
00:48:08,540 --> 00:48:11,026
That is what I think
gives it its appeal
1090
00:48:11,060 --> 00:48:12,510
is the people realizing
1091
00:48:12,544 --> 00:48:15,651
they're trying to make
a great big Hollywood epic,
1092
00:48:15,685 --> 00:48:18,067
but they're doing it
for a dollar and a half.
1093
00:48:22,485 --> 00:48:24,418
It's a little bit of
a different kind of cult film
1094
00:48:24,453 --> 00:48:25,833
because it wasn't
a midnight cult film,
1095
00:48:25,868 --> 00:48:27,594
it was a mainstream cult film.
1096
00:48:27,628 --> 00:48:29,976
Harold was born with
a silver spoon in his mouth.
1097
00:48:30,010 --> 00:48:31,425
He lives in the lap of luxury,
1098
00:48:31,460 --> 00:48:35,464
has a mother who is completely
obsessed with status.
1099
00:48:35,498 --> 00:48:38,156
I had them take away
that monstrous thing of yours
1100
00:48:38,191 --> 00:48:40,262
and send this one round instead.
1101
00:48:40,296 --> 00:48:43,127
He hates that.
He's depressive.
1102
00:48:43,161 --> 00:48:48,063
And in an attempt to piss
her off and get her attention,
1103
00:48:48,097 --> 00:48:51,135
he stages
these elaborate phony suicides.
1104
00:48:51,169 --> 00:48:53,171
Harold, please!
1105
00:48:53,206 --> 00:48:55,242
That never quite
piss her off enough.
1106
00:48:55,277 --> 00:48:58,038
I suppose you think
that's very funny, Harold.
1107
00:48:58,073 --> 00:48:59,212
So he keeps doing them.
1108
00:48:59,246 --> 00:49:03,147
I can't stand
much more of this.
1109
00:49:04,562 --> 00:49:07,634
And he goes
to other people's funerals
1110
00:49:07,668 --> 00:49:09,808
just to be around death.
1111
00:49:09,843 --> 00:49:11,293
Yeah, it's a delightful movie
1112
00:49:11,327 --> 00:49:13,053
about the unlikely story
1113
00:49:13,088 --> 00:49:15,780
of an older lady
and a younger fella.
1114
00:49:15,814 --> 00:49:16,884
Ah-choo!
1115
00:49:16,919 --> 00:49:18,265
And of course
it appealed to me,
1116
00:49:18,300 --> 00:49:21,337
yes, that alienated,
you know, kid
1117
00:49:21,372 --> 00:49:25,169
and, you know, feeling he had
to find his own authentic way
1118
00:49:25,203 --> 00:49:30,519
outside of his family's
bourgeois identity.
1119
00:49:30,553 --> 00:49:33,349
That's kind of up my alley
a little bit.
1120
00:49:33,384 --> 00:49:35,179
It is time you settled down
1121
00:49:35,213 --> 00:49:36,870
and stopped flitting away
your talents
1122
00:49:36,904 --> 00:49:38,906
on these little
amateur theatrics,
1123
00:49:38,941 --> 00:49:41,426
these little
divertissements.
1124
00:49:41,461 --> 00:49:44,326
no matter how psychologically
purging they may be.
1125
00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:45,637
I mean, him trying
to kill himself,
1126
00:49:45,672 --> 00:49:48,916
and then he meets
this free spirit, you know,
1127
00:49:48,951 --> 00:49:51,229
who happens to be,
you know, much older,
1128
00:49:51,264 --> 00:49:54,612
and like she helps him
come into his own.
1129
00:49:54,646 --> 00:49:55,923
Like some licorice?
1130
00:49:55,958 --> 00:49:57,201
No, thank you.
1131
00:49:57,235 --> 00:49:59,065
Three reasons
that "Harold and Maude"
1132
00:50:01,584 --> 00:50:04,035
Ruth Gordon, Ruth Gordon,
Ruth Gordon.
1133
00:50:04,070 --> 00:50:06,658
You have in this film
a character,
1134
00:50:06,693 --> 00:50:10,731
an actor so perfect
you want to hang out with her.
1135
00:50:10,766 --> 00:50:12,181
You might want to date her.
1136
00:50:12,216 --> 00:50:15,253
Definitely Maude is
the coolest person you've met.
1137
00:50:15,288 --> 00:50:16,461
I always get the sense
1138
00:50:16,496 --> 00:50:18,912
that she could maybe see
where, you know,
1139
00:50:18,946 --> 00:50:21,397
where his life would go
if he doesn't have this kind of,
1140
00:50:21,432 --> 00:50:22,709
you know, friendship
or relationship
1141
00:50:22,743 --> 00:50:24,849
where he's able
to express himself.
1142
00:50:24,883 --> 00:50:26,437
One of the most interesting
things about his performance
1143
00:50:26,471 --> 00:50:29,750
is the way if you watch him
reacting to Ruth Gordon,
1144
00:50:29,785 --> 00:50:31,856
there's such a kind of
fascination he shows
1145
00:50:31,890 --> 00:50:34,410
just with his, you know, kind of
silent reactions with her
1146
00:50:34,445 --> 00:50:37,206
that it really
sells the relationship.
1147
00:50:37,241 --> 00:50:39,622
That he's genuinely really
beguiled by this woman
1148
00:50:39,657 --> 00:50:41,624
and that she's really
breaking through to him
1149
00:50:41,659 --> 00:50:43,247
in a way
that other people haven't.
1150
00:50:43,281 --> 00:50:45,145
We were one of the few people
to leave the theater
1151
00:50:45,180 --> 00:50:47,113
because the theater
was completely empty.
1152
00:50:47,147 --> 00:50:49,736
And we were thinking
right away,
1153
00:50:49,770 --> 00:50:52,325
oh, we've got to tell people
about this movie.
1154
00:50:52,359 --> 00:50:56,329
This is a completely
disarming film,
1155
00:50:56,363 --> 00:50:59,746
and there's nothing like it.
1156
00:50:59,780 --> 00:51:05,407
Did no business, and then
sometime in the seventies,
1157
00:51:05,441 --> 00:51:06,615
people started playing it.
1158
00:51:06,649 --> 00:51:09,100
This is even before like video,
I think.
1159
00:51:09,135 --> 00:51:11,068
Like I remember I was at college
1160
00:51:11,102 --> 00:51:13,139
and they played
"Harold and Maude."
1161
00:51:13,173 --> 00:51:15,106
And it was like
a two, three year old movie
1162
00:51:15,141 --> 00:51:17,108
and just a little masterpiece.
1163
00:51:17,143 --> 00:51:18,282
But at the time, I mean,
1164
00:51:18,316 --> 00:51:20,284
it had a devoted following
of people.
1165
00:51:20,318 --> 00:51:21,871
But also its repeatability.
1166
00:51:21,906 --> 00:51:24,495
They would come to the film
and they'd see it many times.
1167
00:51:24,529 --> 00:51:26,842
No interaction.
They just loved the film.
1168
00:51:26,876 --> 00:51:28,671
It's interesting
that "The Graduate"
1169
00:51:28,706 --> 00:51:30,259
came out a few years before
and did very well.
1170
00:51:30,294 --> 00:51:31,605
It was a huge hit.
1171
00:51:31,640 --> 00:51:34,056
But you can see some connection
between the two.
1172
00:51:34,091 --> 00:51:35,264
This is the sickest,
most perverted thing
1173
00:51:35,299 --> 00:51:36,817
that ever happened to me.
1174
00:51:36,852 --> 00:51:38,819
And you do what you want,
but I'm getting the hell out.
1175
00:51:38,854 --> 00:51:40,787
It's not as much
of a generational statement
1176
00:51:40,821 --> 00:51:41,788
as "The Graduate,"
1177
00:51:41,822 --> 00:51:43,479
so it kind of got lost
for a little while
1178
00:51:43,514 --> 00:51:45,688
before, you know, it's
audience eventually found it.
1179
00:51:45,723 --> 00:51:49,382
And what's his name plays
the song at the end, you know.
1180
00:51:49,416 --> 00:51:50,624
The music of Cat Stevens
1181
00:51:50,659 --> 00:51:53,455
I think had a lot to do
with it also.
1182
00:52:04,569 --> 00:52:07,848
Cat Stevens is the third star
of "Harold and Maude."
1183
00:52:07,883 --> 00:52:10,161
I love the whole movie,
but my favorite scene
1184
00:52:10,196 --> 00:52:12,439
is a moment that's so subtle
1185
00:52:12,474 --> 00:52:14,717
I didn't even notice it
the first time I saw the movie.
1186
00:52:14,752 --> 00:52:17,237
So Harold and Maude
just had a long fun day,
1187
00:52:17,272 --> 00:52:21,276
and Harold says to Maude,
you're beautiful.
1188
00:52:21,310 --> 00:52:24,002
And she says, oh, you make me
feel like a schoolgirl.
1189
00:52:24,037 --> 00:52:27,834
And he takes her hand, and while
she's talking, he looks down.
1190
00:52:27,868 --> 00:52:34,392
And for a second, he sees a
tattoo of a number on her arm.
1191
00:52:34,427 --> 00:52:37,568
And in that moment, you realize
1192
00:52:37,602 --> 00:52:40,674
that she's been through
something horrible
1193
00:52:40,709 --> 00:52:44,747
and that she's seen death
and that she's experienced loss.
1194
00:52:44,782 --> 00:52:52,652
And this is why she now
lives her life for love
1195
00:52:52,686 --> 00:52:56,449
and for experience
and for the things that matter.
1196
00:52:56,483 --> 00:53:01,212
And I find it very moving.
A very moving moment.
1197
00:53:01,247 --> 00:53:02,489
That's one of the movies
1198
00:53:02,524 --> 00:53:05,872
people will say
I've seen 20, 30 times.
1199
00:53:05,906 --> 00:53:10,946
And if you see it 30 times,
you bring 30 new people with it.
1200
00:53:13,983 --> 00:53:19,541
The cult movie that set
the dial at 11, "Spinal Tap."
1201
00:53:19,575 --> 00:53:21,059
I've never been on a movie set
1202
00:53:21,094 --> 00:53:25,236
that people don't know
a lot of lines from "Spinal Tap"
1203
00:53:25,271 --> 00:53:28,343
or met a musician who couldn't
recite the whole movie.
1204
00:53:28,377 --> 00:53:29,758
I remember Steve Tyler,
1205
00:53:29,792 --> 00:53:31,622
the first time we were
face-to-face with Steve Tyler,
1206
00:53:31,656 --> 00:53:34,694
he went, oh, too close,
too close.
1207
00:53:34,728 --> 00:53:39,837
We are Spinal Tap from the UK.
You must be the USA.
1208
00:53:39,871 --> 00:53:46,188
This movie was the first
of its kind, a mockumentary.
1209
00:53:46,223 --> 00:53:50,434
You put a greased naked woman
on all fours
1210
00:53:50,468 --> 00:53:53,747
with a dog collar
around her neck and a leash
1211
00:53:53,782 --> 00:53:58,649
and a man's arm extended out up
to here holding on to the leash
1212
00:53:58,683 --> 00:54:02,239
and pushing a black glove
in her face to sniff it.
1213
00:54:02,273 --> 00:54:03,757
You don't find that offensive?
1214
00:54:03,792 --> 00:54:05,863
No. You should've seen
the cover they wanted to do.
1215
00:54:05,897 --> 00:54:07,554
I think I was on a date
when I saw it,
1216
00:54:07,589 --> 00:54:09,832
and I think the date
at the end of the movie
1217
00:54:09,867 --> 00:54:15,321
said, so is that a real...
are they a real group?
1218
00:54:15,355 --> 00:54:19,221
She didn't get
the mock of the mentary.
1219
00:54:19,256 --> 00:54:20,774
People came up to me afterwards,
1220
00:54:20,809 --> 00:54:22,880
and they said,
why would you make a movie
1221
00:54:22,914 --> 00:54:27,988
about a band
that nobody's ever heard of
1222
00:54:28,023 --> 00:54:30,059
and a band that's so bad?
1223
00:54:37,550 --> 00:54:38,930
Why wouldn't you make a movie
1224
00:54:38,965 --> 00:54:40,518
about the Rolling Stones
or the Beatles or something?
1225
00:54:40,553 --> 00:54:41,795
And I tried to explain it
to them.
1226
00:54:41,830 --> 00:54:43,901
Yeah, you ever watch
"Saturday Night Live?"
1227
00:54:43,935 --> 00:54:45,212
They do takeoffs.
1228
00:54:45,247 --> 00:54:46,593
And satire's strange.
1229
00:54:46,628 --> 00:54:48,975
It's one of those things
where it takes a while
1230
00:54:49,009 --> 00:54:52,254
for people to really understand
what's going on.
1231
00:54:52,289 --> 00:54:53,945
I understand, Nigel,
you and David
1232
00:54:53,980 --> 00:54:58,605
originally started the band
back in... when was it? 1964?
1233
00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:00,918
- So we became The Originals,
- Right.
1234
00:55:00,952 --> 00:55:03,058
And we had to change
our name, actually.
1235
00:55:03,092 --> 00:55:05,440
Well, there was another
group in the East End
1236
00:55:05,474 --> 00:55:06,751
called The Originals.
1237
00:55:13,620 --> 00:55:18,038
I think that people who love
the film loved it right away.
1238
00:55:18,073 --> 00:55:19,937
And I've had a lot of people
tell me stories
1239
00:55:19,971 --> 00:55:21,007
about going to see it
1240
00:55:21,041 --> 00:55:23,699
in a half empty
or completely empty theater.
1241
00:55:23,734 --> 00:55:25,839
It has to be the audience
finding the film
1242
00:55:25,874 --> 00:55:27,841
rather than the film
finding the audience.
1243
00:55:27,876 --> 00:55:30,982
Nobody even heard
of that before.
1244
00:55:31,017 --> 00:55:32,950
This movie defined it.
1245
00:55:32,984 --> 00:55:38,058
It, you know, it started
a whole stream of this style.
1246
00:55:38,093 --> 00:55:39,819
We want the parody
1247
00:55:39,853 --> 00:55:42,649
not just to be of the world
that we're satirizing,
1248
00:55:42,684 --> 00:55:45,272
but we wanted to do a parody
of the style,
1249
00:55:45,307 --> 00:55:47,102
of the handheld style.
1250
00:55:47,136 --> 00:55:50,277
And the best way to do that
would be to improvise it.
1251
00:55:50,312 --> 00:55:51,589
The Boston gig
has been canceled.
1252
00:55:51,624 --> 00:55:52,797
What?
Yeah.
1253
00:55:52,832 --> 00:55:53,833
I wouldn't worry about it, though.
1254
00:55:53,867 --> 00:55:55,248
It's not a big college town.
1255
00:55:55,282 --> 00:55:59,010
So the script wasn't a script.
1256
00:55:59,045 --> 00:56:00,391
It was actually an outline.
1257
00:56:00,426 --> 00:56:02,117
And we actually tried
to write the screenplay.
1258
00:56:02,151 --> 00:56:03,774
We spent about half a day.
1259
00:56:03,808 --> 00:56:05,776
We did shoot it
like a documentary.
1260
00:56:05,810 --> 00:56:08,779
And documentaries,
as you'll find out
1261
00:56:08,813 --> 00:56:10,194
as you put this together,
you know,
1262
00:56:10,228 --> 00:56:13,887
90% of everything I'm saying
is going to go away.
1263
00:56:13,922 --> 00:56:15,475
Who's in here?
No one.
1264
00:56:15,510 --> 00:56:17,960
And then in here,
there's a little guy. Look.
1265
00:56:17,995 --> 00:56:20,411
So it's a complete catastrophe.
No, you're right.
1266
00:56:20,446 --> 00:56:22,689
The best thing
obviously is it goes to 11.
1267
00:56:22,724 --> 00:56:24,622
Who's ever going to...
We use that.
1268
00:56:24,657 --> 00:56:27,211
It's in our vernacular now.
It's ridiculous.
1269
00:56:27,245 --> 00:56:28,626
So it's very, very special
1270
00:56:28,661 --> 00:56:30,801
because if you can see...
Yeah.
1271
00:56:30,835 --> 00:56:33,942
The numbers all go to 11.
1272
00:56:33,976 --> 00:56:37,566
What we do is if we need
that extra push over the cliff,
1273
00:56:37,601 --> 00:56:38,671
you know what we do?
1274
00:56:38,705 --> 00:56:40,466
Put it up to 11.
11. Exactly.
1275
00:56:40,500 --> 00:56:41,674
One louder.
1276
00:56:41,708 --> 00:56:42,951
Why don't you
just make 10 louder
1277
00:56:42,985 --> 00:56:45,367
and make 10
to be the top number
1278
00:56:45,402 --> 00:56:47,542
and make that a little louder?
1279
00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:51,546
These go to 11.
1280
00:56:51,580 --> 00:56:56,171
I'm at this fundraiser
and Elon Musk comes.
1281
00:56:56,205 --> 00:56:57,483
This is years and years ago.
1282
00:56:57,517 --> 00:57:00,762
And he's got this new car
that he shows me.
1283
00:57:00,796 --> 00:57:02,729
He says, look at this car.
It was the Tesla.
1284
00:57:02,764 --> 00:57:04,490
It was the first Tesla ever.
1285
00:57:04,524 --> 00:57:05,939
He says, look at this.
1286
00:57:05,974 --> 00:57:07,354
I said, oh, that's
a really cool looking car.
1287
00:57:07,389 --> 00:57:08,977
He says,
let me show you something.
1288
00:57:09,011 --> 00:57:10,185
He takes me in the car
1289
00:57:10,219 --> 00:57:14,465
and the volume on the radio
goes to 11 in the Tesla.
1290
00:57:14,500 --> 00:57:16,363
And the air-conditioning
goes to 11.
1291
00:57:16,398 --> 00:57:18,711
He says, I love "Spinal Tap."
I just put that in there.
1292
00:57:18,745 --> 00:57:20,816
That was like
the biggest kick of all.
1293
00:57:20,851 --> 00:57:22,508
There's something so potent
1294
00:57:22,542 --> 00:57:25,752
about the fantasy
of wanting to be in a rock band,
1295
00:57:25,787 --> 00:57:30,067
wanting to be a rock star,
wanting to command arenas,
1296
00:57:30,101 --> 00:57:34,174
that even this group
of chuckleheads
1297
00:57:34,209 --> 00:57:36,349
with their petty rivalries
1298
00:57:36,383 --> 00:57:39,214
and their ridiculous
star mannerisms,
1299
00:57:39,248 --> 00:57:43,321
somehow or other we find them
so compelling as human beings,
1300
00:57:43,356 --> 00:57:44,737
we want to stay with them.
1301
00:57:44,771 --> 00:57:46,946
We don't want that Odyssey
to end.
1302
00:57:49,017 --> 00:57:53,262
You had in director Rob Reiner
someone who loved actors,
1303
00:57:53,297 --> 00:57:56,783
who loved performers, who
wanted them to make him laugh,
1304
00:57:56,818 --> 00:57:59,890
who let them go on and on
and find the characters
1305
00:57:59,924 --> 00:58:02,996
and the conflicts
in front of your eyes.
1306
00:58:03,031 --> 00:58:06,137
I was casting
for "Princess Bride."
1307
00:58:06,172 --> 00:58:10,556
You know, Sting
came in to meet with me.
1308
00:58:10,590 --> 00:58:14,456
He says, I've seen "Spinal Tap"
like 50 times.
1309
00:58:14,491 --> 00:58:16,734
He says, and every time
I watch it,
1310
00:58:16,769 --> 00:58:18,840
I don't know whether
to laugh or cry.
1311
00:58:18,874 --> 00:58:21,705
It's genius.
I mean, it really is.
1312
00:58:21,739 --> 00:58:25,329
That is the most accurate
music film ever made.
1313
00:58:25,363 --> 00:58:28,781
People said they wore out
the, you know, the videotape
1314
00:58:28,815 --> 00:58:30,748
when they watched it
on tour buses and stuff.
1315
00:58:30,783 --> 00:58:32,716
We got a lot
of that kind of stuff.
1316
00:58:32,750 --> 00:58:35,339
Because we were
close to the bone.
1317
00:58:35,373 --> 00:58:39,895
Even the ridiculous parts
are exactly true life.
1318
00:58:55,290 --> 00:58:59,570
This is to me the epitome
of why "Spinal Tap" is good.
1319
00:58:59,605 --> 00:59:00,951
Stonehenge.
1320
00:59:00,985 --> 00:59:03,470
Best production values
we've ever had on stage.
1321
00:59:03,505 --> 00:59:04,748
But we haven't got
the equipment.
1322
00:59:04,782 --> 00:59:06,715
So we had this idea
for Stonehenge,
1323
00:59:06,750 --> 00:59:09,269
and were going to do
the theme of it
1324
00:59:09,304 --> 00:59:10,719
and he writes it on the napkin
1325
00:59:10,754 --> 00:59:13,791
and it says 18 inches,
it's supposed to be 18 feet.
1326
00:59:13,826 --> 00:59:15,275
And the little thing
comes down from the ceiling
1327
00:59:15,310 --> 00:59:18,140
and the dwarf stands around it,
duh, duh, duh.
1328
00:59:18,175 --> 00:59:22,110
And then Black Sabbath,
they come out with a tour
1329
00:59:22,144 --> 00:59:25,009
and they have
a Stonehenge theme.
1330
00:59:25,044 --> 00:59:29,289
And our movie comes out
about a week or two later
1331
00:59:29,324 --> 00:59:31,291
after they start the tour.
1332
00:59:31,326 --> 00:59:33,086
And they get furious at us
1333
00:59:33,121 --> 00:59:37,228
like we stole the idea
of Stonehenge from them.
1334
00:59:37,263 --> 00:59:38,851
I mean, it's moronic.
1335
00:59:38,885 --> 00:59:41,198
It took us three years
to make this movie.
1336
00:59:41,232 --> 00:59:44,581
I mean, what do they think,
we shot the movie, edited it,
1337
00:59:44,615 --> 00:59:48,274
put it together, and got it in
the theater like in a minute?
1338
00:59:48,308 --> 00:59:50,966
I mean, that's the epitome
of how dumb those people are,
1339
00:59:51,001 --> 00:59:52,347
and that's why I think
1340
00:59:52,381 --> 00:59:56,731
we were successful
in capturing their true nature.
1341
00:59:56,765 --> 00:59:58,595
It's such a fine line
between stupid and...
1342
00:59:58,629 --> 00:59:59,734
- And clever.
- Yeah.
1343
00:59:59,768 --> 01:00:01,287
It's just
that little turnabout.
1344
01:00:01,321 --> 01:00:04,842
My favorite scene, the one
that makes me laugh consistently
1345
01:00:04,877 --> 01:00:06,948
is Nigel's solo stuff.
1346
01:00:06,982 --> 01:00:09,744
There's about a nine minute
version of just that,
1347
01:00:09,778 --> 01:00:11,124
which is all funny, by the way.
1348
01:00:11,159 --> 01:00:13,368
They just kind of
grabbed the middle of it.
1349
01:00:15,750 --> 01:00:19,063
The Fred Willard stuff
at the Air Force Base kills me
1350
01:00:19,098 --> 01:00:22,860
because, you know, none of us
knew what he was going to say.
1351
01:00:22,895 --> 01:00:24,655
Now let me explain a bit
about what's going on.
1352
01:00:24,690 --> 01:00:27,140
This is our monthly
At Ease weekend.
1353
01:00:27,175 --> 01:00:29,418
It gives us a chance
to kind of let down our hair,
1354
01:00:29,453 --> 01:00:32,076
although I see you all
have a head start on us.
1355
01:00:32,111 --> 01:00:34,665
These haircuts wouldn't pass
military muster, believe me.
1356
01:00:34,700 --> 01:00:35,873
Although I shouldn't talk.
1357
01:00:35,908 --> 01:00:37,426
My hair is getting
a little shaggy, too.
1358
01:00:37,461 --> 01:00:38,669
Better not get too close to you.
1359
01:00:38,704 --> 01:00:39,877
They'll think
I'm part of the band.
1360
01:00:39,912 --> 01:00:41,085
It was a great experience.
1361
01:00:41,120 --> 01:00:42,466
I mean, it was just
five weeks shooting,
1362
01:00:42,500 --> 01:00:46,366
but it was 2 1/2 years
getting the script together
1363
01:00:46,401 --> 01:00:47,954
and writing the backstory
1364
01:00:47,989 --> 01:00:51,026
so that we'd be improvising
from the same bank of memories.
1365
01:00:51,061 --> 01:00:55,203
And then another year and a half
cutting the film.
1366
01:00:55,237 --> 01:00:59,725
So it wasn't like working with
some other director, you know,
1367
01:00:59,759 --> 01:01:01,865
and it wasn't like
working with Rob
1368
01:01:01,899 --> 01:01:03,383
in any other film I don't think.
1369
01:01:03,418 --> 01:01:05,696
We were all the first
generation of rock 'n roll,
1370
01:01:05,731 --> 01:01:06,904
all of us.
1371
01:01:06,939 --> 01:01:08,665
We were about all
around the same age.
1372
01:01:08,699 --> 01:01:11,426
And so we love rock 'n' roll,
1373
01:01:11,460 --> 01:01:15,775
but we're also satirists
and we can also make fun of it.
1374
01:01:15,810 --> 01:01:17,950
And I think one of the things
that kind of worked...
1375
01:01:17,984 --> 01:01:19,227
and somebody was saying,
you know,
1376
01:01:19,261 --> 01:01:20,780
there are heavy metal bands
that watch it
1377
01:01:20,815 --> 01:01:23,196
that, you know,
they're being made fun of,
1378
01:01:23,231 --> 01:01:24,715
but they still enjoy it,
you know.
1379
01:01:24,750 --> 01:01:27,097
Because there's a reverence
to the music
1380
01:01:27,131 --> 01:01:29,030
at the same time
that we're making fun of it.
1381
01:01:30,445 --> 01:01:33,862
I think that, plus the fact
that it's just funny.
1382
01:01:39,799 --> 01:01:43,596
One thing cult movies can be
is truly subversive.
1383
01:01:43,630 --> 01:01:46,633
That's probably part of the
appeal of a lot of cult movies.
1384
01:01:46,668 --> 01:01:48,566
I mean, you knew Russ Meyer.
1385
01:01:48,601 --> 01:01:51,017
I knew Russ, but I have to say
about "Faster, Pussycat,"
1386
01:01:51,052 --> 01:01:53,951
which is probably the biggest
cult movie that he ever made,
1387
01:01:53,986 --> 01:01:55,781
when that movie came out,
it was a bomb.
1388
01:01:55,815 --> 01:01:57,196
It did not work at all.
1389
01:01:57,230 --> 01:01:59,888
He had made all these
other movies before
1390
01:01:59,923 --> 01:02:01,234
that were huge hits.
1391
01:02:01,269 --> 01:02:03,409
He started the nudie cutie,
you know,
1392
01:02:03,443 --> 01:02:07,102
and then this one, there
wasn't any really nudity in it
1393
01:02:07,137 --> 01:02:08,655
and it was about three lesbians.
1394
01:02:08,690 --> 01:02:10,381
So it was not a hit.
1395
01:02:10,416 --> 01:02:11,520
Ahead of its time.
1396
01:02:11,555 --> 01:02:13,315
But when I saw it
at the drive-in, I went insane.
1397
01:02:13,350 --> 01:02:14,869
And we went and watched it
every single night.
1398
01:02:14,903 --> 01:02:16,422
And the fact that
in "Female Trouble"
1399
01:02:16,456 --> 01:02:19,252
Divine yells every line,
that's because of Tura Santana.
1400
01:02:19,287 --> 01:02:22,531
And then later, I wrote about it
in my book "Shock Value,"
1401
01:02:22,566 --> 01:02:24,602
and I said, not only is it
the best film ever made,
1402
01:02:24,637 --> 01:02:27,847
it's the best film
that will be made in the future.
1403
01:02:27,882 --> 01:02:30,712
Now, that's a good blurb, right?
So he used it.
1404
01:02:30,747 --> 01:02:33,232
And I did help
make that one a success
1405
01:02:33,266 --> 01:02:36,200
because it was not a hit
when it first came out.
1406
01:02:36,235 --> 01:02:37,305
And today you watch that movie,
1407
01:02:37,339 --> 01:02:39,238
it is a brilliant,
brilliant movie.
1408
01:02:39,272 --> 01:02:41,240
The dialogue,
written by Jack Moran,
1409
01:02:41,274 --> 01:02:43,242
who wrote Russ's best movies,
1410
01:02:43,276 --> 01:02:45,313
it's so good, it's so good.
1411
01:02:45,347 --> 01:02:47,556
And that opening line when
they're watching the go-go girls
1412
01:02:47,591 --> 01:02:51,422
and that man's going,
go, baby, go! Go! Go!
1413
01:02:51,457 --> 01:02:52,699
There's nothing better.
1414
01:02:52,734 --> 01:02:55,150
Go, baby, go!
1415
01:02:55,185 --> 01:02:57,912
- Come on, let's go!
- Go, baby!
1416
01:02:57,946 --> 01:03:03,331
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to violence.
1417
01:03:03,365 --> 01:03:04,919
I can put
into basically one word
1418
01:03:04,953 --> 01:03:06,748
why "Faster, Pussycat,
Kill! Kill!"
1419
01:03:06,783 --> 01:03:09,371
anarchy.
1420
01:03:09,406 --> 01:03:13,479
See Russ Meyer's
"Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"
1421
01:03:13,513 --> 01:03:17,966
There's three exclamation
marks in different places
1422
01:03:18,001 --> 01:03:20,141
in just the title.
1423
01:03:20,175 --> 01:03:22,143
faster.
1424
01:03:22,177 --> 01:03:23,869
pussycat.
1425
01:03:23,903 --> 01:03:25,491
Kill! Kill!
1426
01:03:25,525 --> 01:03:29,840
It's the sort of perfect title
for an exploitation movie.
1427
01:03:29,875 --> 01:03:31,393
I can watch like
the first half hour
1428
01:03:31,428 --> 01:03:33,740
of "Faster, Pussycat"
over and over again.
1429
01:03:33,775 --> 01:03:39,022
It was probably the first
women's kick ass movie.
1430
01:03:39,056 --> 01:03:40,955
But the fight,
the way he directed it,
1431
01:03:40,989 --> 01:03:42,888
wasn't the least bit choreographed.
1432
01:03:42,922 --> 01:03:44,165
But you've got to be real.
1433
01:03:44,199 --> 01:03:46,063
But I don't want you
to hurt each other.
1434
01:03:46,098 --> 01:03:47,651
You're not stunt women.
1435
01:03:47,685 --> 01:03:48,894
It's just weird.
1436
01:03:48,928 --> 01:03:51,172
It's a movie about
these Amazon women,
1437
01:03:51,206 --> 01:03:53,174
and it's-it's-it's...
1438
01:03:53,208 --> 01:03:56,349
It's about three
sexed up, violent women.
1439
01:03:56,384 --> 01:03:59,525
As they ride their hot rods
around the desert
1440
01:03:59,559 --> 01:04:04,012
looking for ways to quench
their insatiable lust for kicks.
1441
01:04:04,047 --> 01:04:05,324
And their adventures
1442
01:04:05,358 --> 01:04:08,603
as they run into this
sort of defective family
1443
01:04:08,637 --> 01:04:09,811
out in the desert.
1444
01:04:09,846 --> 01:04:11,157
What's with
the strong-armed bit,
1445
01:04:11,192 --> 01:04:12,952
or couldn't you tell
I was a girl?
1446
01:04:12,987 --> 01:04:16,542
Ain't no doubt
about your gender, girly.
1447
01:04:16,576 --> 01:04:19,476
They let 'em vote, smoke,
and drive.
1448
01:04:19,510 --> 01:04:20,926
Even put 'em in pants.
1449
01:04:20,960 --> 01:04:23,273
You can't even tell
brother from sister
1450
01:04:23,307 --> 01:04:25,551
unless you meet 'em head-on.
1451
01:04:25,585 --> 01:04:32,523
The movie, I think of it as
a first run "Thelma & Louise."
1452
01:04:34,767 --> 01:04:36,389
Go get her.
1453
01:04:36,424 --> 01:04:41,118
So I got to get wet because
Lady Godiva wants to swim?
1454
01:04:41,153 --> 01:04:43,810
It started to become popular
on college campuses.
1455
01:04:43,845 --> 01:04:46,089
Around the same time, 1983,
1456
01:04:46,123 --> 01:04:48,919
a punk rock band
called The Cramps
1457
01:04:48,954 --> 01:04:52,405
covered the main title song,
1458
01:04:52,440 --> 01:04:55,201
and that introduced the movie
to yet a whole new audience.
1459
01:04:55,236 --> 01:04:57,065
It's such a strange
little film
1460
01:04:57,100 --> 01:04:59,205
with such mean women in it.
1461
01:04:59,240 --> 01:05:01,932
- Yes, ma'am?
- What can I do for you today?
1462
01:05:01,967 --> 01:05:04,245
- Just your job, squirrel.
- Fill it up.
1463
01:05:04,279 --> 01:05:05,902
You know,
that's what I believe in.
1464
01:05:05,936 --> 01:05:07,179
Seeing America first.
1465
01:05:07,213 --> 01:05:10,389
You won't find it
down there, Columbus.
1466
01:05:10,423 --> 01:05:12,115
First of all, I made a picture
called "Motorpsycho!"
1467
01:05:12,149 --> 01:05:13,495
and it had three bad boys.
1468
01:05:13,530 --> 01:05:16,360
It was successful.
It was a drive-in type picture.
1469
01:05:16,395 --> 01:05:18,949
And then I said, well, why don't
we do it with three girls?
1470
01:05:18,984 --> 01:05:21,331
And so Tura Santana
was the only girl
1471
01:05:21,365 --> 01:05:23,264
who could possibly play Varla.
1472
01:05:23,298 --> 01:05:27,164
And not only possessing,
you know, a capacious bosom,
1473
01:05:27,199 --> 01:05:29,270
she knew karate and judo.
1474
01:05:29,304 --> 01:05:31,928
You couldn't double this girl
anyway with her figure.
1475
01:05:31,962 --> 01:05:34,447
Her mother was a Cherokee Indian
1476
01:05:34,482 --> 01:05:36,656
and her father
was a Japanese chef in Chicago.
1477
01:05:36,691 --> 01:05:39,314
It's probably the closest thing
that I've come
1478
01:05:39,349 --> 01:05:41,075
to doing a horror film,
you know.
1479
01:05:41,109 --> 01:05:44,768
She's like the evil
horrific person.
1480
01:05:44,802 --> 01:05:46,425
You know she's going to die.
1481
01:05:46,459 --> 01:05:48,461
A lot of the directors
of today
1482
01:05:48,496 --> 01:05:51,775
cite that film as a great
inspiration for their careers.
1483
01:05:51,809 --> 01:05:53,259
Russ Meyer, Federico Fellini,
1484
01:05:53,294 --> 01:05:56,469
they created their own genres
and were their own genres.
1485
01:05:56,504 --> 01:05:58,955
It's weird to compare Fellini
and Russ Meyer,
1486
01:05:58,989 --> 01:06:01,474
but in a way somehow
I feel it makes sense.
1487
01:06:01,509 --> 01:06:02,924
I don't think
I'm going out on a limb
1488
01:06:02,959 --> 01:06:04,477
when I tell you that Russ Meyer
1489
01:06:04,512 --> 01:06:08,412
had an obsession
with big breasts.
1490
01:06:08,447 --> 01:06:10,725
Now's where you cut to a montage
1491
01:06:10,759 --> 01:06:14,108
of all the Russ Meyer films
that show big breasts.
1492
01:06:14,142 --> 01:06:16,006
But merely
to write Russ Meyer off
1493
01:06:16,041 --> 01:06:18,871
as merely a common
exploitation filmmaker
1494
01:06:18,905 --> 01:06:20,321
is to do his legacy
1495
01:06:20,355 --> 01:06:21,736
and his contribution
to the world of cinema
1496
01:06:21,770 --> 01:06:23,082
a dramatic disservice.
1497
01:06:23,117 --> 01:06:24,601
Because when you watch
his movies,
1498
01:06:24,635 --> 01:06:27,707
they're just colorful and fun
and pop and comic book,
1499
01:06:27,742 --> 01:06:29,157
and they're just great.
1500
01:06:29,192 --> 01:06:31,573
You know, serious filmmakers
started to figure out
1501
01:06:31,608 --> 01:06:32,781
that Russ Meyer
1502
01:06:32,816 --> 01:06:35,612
was not just your average
exploitation filmmaker.
1503
01:06:35,646 --> 01:06:39,271
There was something much
more artful going on here.
1504
01:06:39,305 --> 01:06:44,759
Russ Meyer is the only filmmaker
who wrote, directed, cast,
1505
01:06:44,793 --> 01:06:49,557
shot, edited,
and distributed his own films.
1506
01:06:49,591 --> 01:06:54,251
So his singular voice
is what you get
1507
01:06:54,286 --> 01:06:56,150
when you watch
a Russ Meyer film.
1508
01:06:56,184 --> 01:07:00,637
- Easy, baby.
- You're almost a fire hazard.
1509
01:07:00,671 --> 01:07:01,534
Give your hips a rest.
1510
01:07:01,569 --> 01:07:04,261
My motor
never runs down, baby.
1511
01:07:04,296 --> 01:07:05,573
"Faster, Pussycat! Kill!
Kill!" is another one
1512
01:07:05,607 --> 01:07:07,609
that I remember seeing
in the early days
1513
01:07:07,644 --> 01:07:09,128
of like right when I moved
to New York City
1514
01:07:09,163 --> 01:07:10,198
because that's where
you could see everything.
1515
01:07:10,233 --> 01:07:11,372
And I went to see it
1516
01:07:11,406 --> 01:07:13,339
and it was just phenomenal.
1517
01:07:13,374 --> 01:07:16,653
For a film like that
1518
01:07:16,687 --> 01:07:20,346
on that budget, $45,000?
1519
01:07:20,381 --> 01:07:25,386
You can't shoot my cat
for $45,000.
1520
01:07:25,420 --> 01:07:27,664
But again,
it's a director, Russ Meyer,
1521
01:07:27,698 --> 01:07:30,908
with intense vision
that nobody else has.
1522
01:07:36,224 --> 01:07:37,812
And I think Russ Meyer,
you know,
1523
01:07:37,846 --> 01:07:43,231
takes these very sort of extreme
sexualized violence images
1524
01:07:43,266 --> 01:07:45,371
and he does them
in a really slick way,
1525
01:07:45,406 --> 01:07:48,581
and I think that's,
you know, alluring
1526
01:07:48,616 --> 01:07:50,169
and it's almost like a drug.
1527
01:07:50,204 --> 01:07:53,379
You just want more
because you're so stimulated.
1528
01:07:54,380 --> 01:07:57,659
Me Jane, you Tarzan.
1529
01:07:57,694 --> 01:08:00,248
Now why don't you drop
that tree you're holding
1530
01:08:00,283 --> 01:08:02,595
and let's grab a vine
and swing a little, huh?
1531
01:08:02,630 --> 01:08:06,220
Because it's not just because
it's chicks with big boobs.
1532
01:08:06,254 --> 01:08:08,463
Yeah, that's like everything.
Who cares?
1533
01:08:08,498 --> 01:08:10,810
The cinematography
is phenomenal.
1534
01:08:10,845 --> 01:08:13,330
I mean, the beautiful
stark black and white imagery,
1535
01:08:13,365 --> 01:08:15,953
it looks as beautiful
as any John Ford western.
1536
01:08:15,988 --> 01:08:19,578
Some of the dialogue, which
isn't what you'd call elegant,
1537
01:08:19,612 --> 01:08:22,581
but when one of them says
"like a velvet fist
1538
01:08:22,615 --> 01:08:24,445
wrapped in iron,"
or something like that...
1539
01:08:24,479 --> 01:08:26,999
In California, they're called
accessories to the crime.
1540
01:08:27,033 --> 01:08:29,070
Oh, you're cute.
1541
01:08:29,105 --> 01:08:31,693
Like a velvet glove cast in iron
1542
01:08:31,728 --> 01:08:35,456
and like the gas chamber,
Varla, a real fun gal.
1543
01:08:35,490 --> 01:08:37,630
I've never heard that
anywhere else.
1544
01:08:37,665 --> 01:08:39,287
I've never read that
anywhere else.
1545
01:08:39,322 --> 01:08:42,014
And I'm seeing it
in a movie like this?
1546
01:08:42,048 --> 01:08:43,395
These women are villains,
1547
01:08:43,429 --> 01:08:46,812
but because they're so sexy,
1548
01:08:46,846 --> 01:08:48,607
it confuses the brain.
1549
01:08:48,641 --> 01:08:50,471
And the thing that Russ Meyer
1550
01:08:50,505 --> 01:08:53,750
was bringing
into the world of cinema
1551
01:08:53,784 --> 01:08:54,785
really for the first time,
1552
01:08:54,820 --> 01:08:58,513
which is this, you know,
not just feminism,
1553
01:08:58,548 --> 01:09:04,519
but this all out female fury
1554
01:09:04,554 --> 01:09:07,108
that just couldn't be contained.
1555
01:09:07,143 --> 01:09:09,731
That was way ahead of its time.
1556
01:09:09,766 --> 01:09:11,285
Are you trying
to say something?
1557
01:09:11,319 --> 01:09:14,460
- I never try anything.
- I just do it.
1558
01:09:14,495 --> 01:09:18,119
I am tied to this chair
for life.
1559
01:09:18,154 --> 01:09:19,465
Better you
should be nailed to it.
1560
01:09:19,500 --> 01:09:24,263
They all had this...
1561
01:09:24,298 --> 01:09:26,023
these personal idiosyncrasies.
1562
01:09:26,058 --> 01:09:27,646
Of directors I've worked with,
1563
01:09:27,680 --> 01:09:32,651
Russ would be way up at the top
1564
01:09:32,685 --> 01:09:36,102
because of his no-nonsense,
his speed.
1565
01:09:36,137 --> 01:09:37,794
He was quick.
1566
01:09:37,828 --> 01:09:39,796
You had to pick up quick.
1567
01:09:39,830 --> 01:09:43,144
That title
and that movie combined
1568
01:09:43,179 --> 01:09:46,803
is just cult movie gold.
1569
01:09:55,950 --> 01:09:59,125
It's better to be part of
something than to be left out.
1570
01:09:59,160 --> 01:10:03,406
What Martin Scorsese did for
The Band in "The Last Waltz"
1571
01:10:03,440 --> 01:10:04,579
is what Penelope Spheeris does
1572
01:10:04,614 --> 01:10:08,825
for X and Black Flag
in those bands.
1573
01:10:08,859 --> 01:10:11,310
I always say I was born a punk
and I'll die a punk.
1574
01:10:11,345 --> 01:10:12,553
1, 2, 3, 4!
1575
01:10:22,218 --> 01:10:24,254
A cult film is a film
1576
01:10:24,289 --> 01:10:30,674
that is profoundly special
and informative
1577
01:10:30,709 --> 01:10:34,506
in a way that normal,
mainstream, stupid,
1578
01:10:34,540 --> 01:10:38,579
common denominator idiots
can't understand.
1579
01:10:38,613 --> 01:10:40,788
Can a documentary
be a cult film? Absolutely.
1580
01:10:40,822 --> 01:10:44,481
Because the Penelope Spheeris
movies were about cult music.
1581
01:10:44,516 --> 01:10:46,897
And we got arrested
the other night at Blackie's
1582
01:10:46,932 --> 01:10:50,556
for playing punk rock music.
1583
01:10:50,591 --> 01:10:52,869
Well, I think what made
"The Decline"
1584
01:10:52,903 --> 01:10:58,771
become such a lasting cult film
is just the fact
1585
01:10:58,806 --> 01:11:04,501
that it was one of the very few
documents of that era.
1586
01:11:04,536 --> 01:11:06,779
You know, everybody's
got an iPhone today
1587
01:11:06,814 --> 01:11:08,367
and everybody
can shoot everything,
1588
01:11:08,402 --> 01:11:09,886
so there ain't going to be
nothing special about it,
1589
01:11:09,920 --> 01:11:10,921
you know what I mean?
1590
01:11:10,956 --> 01:11:15,547
Each teenage generation
needs an identity.
1591
01:11:15,581 --> 01:11:19,275
They want to be different than
the generations before them.
1592
01:11:19,309 --> 01:11:22,726
They need to carve out something
that is special for them,
1593
01:11:22,761 --> 01:11:26,351
and punk rock did that for
that generation of young people.
1594
01:11:26,385 --> 01:11:28,905
We were trying
to change something.
1595
01:11:28,939 --> 01:11:31,908
The music industry,
the way we live, you know,
1596
01:11:31,942 --> 01:11:35,394
to be accepted
any way we want to, you know.
1597
01:11:35,429 --> 01:11:37,431
I think Penelope
had an agenda,
1598
01:11:37,465 --> 01:11:40,951
and I understand it
at this point.
1599
01:11:40,986 --> 01:11:44,507
At that point, seeing it,
I didn't understand it.
1600
01:11:50,927 --> 01:11:52,998
The punk rock scene in L.A.
was splitting,
1601
01:11:53,032 --> 01:11:55,518
and there was all this,
you know, violent...
1602
01:11:55,552 --> 01:11:58,555
recent violent influx.
1603
01:12:03,146 --> 01:12:05,148
It was hurtful because we had
1604
01:12:05,182 --> 01:12:08,841
a pretty eclectic,
cool scene going
1605
01:12:08,876 --> 01:12:12,017
for three years prior to that,
from '77 to '80.
1606
01:12:12,051 --> 01:12:15,883
So seeing it
just as this weird, violent,
1607
01:12:15,917 --> 01:12:21,164
dark, nihilistic scene
is true at that point,
1608
01:12:21,198 --> 01:12:23,925
but it dismisses everything
that came before it.
1609
01:12:31,968 --> 01:12:37,629
Not only music
but, you know, clothing trends
1610
01:12:37,663 --> 01:12:40,873
and culture and morals
and everything else.
1611
01:12:40,908 --> 01:12:43,220
And the timing of it
is so crucial.
1612
01:12:43,255 --> 01:12:44,636
I mean,
the punk scene almost died
1613
01:12:44,670 --> 01:12:46,741
by the time the movie
came out, you know.
1614
01:12:46,776 --> 01:12:49,848
Darby Crash, one of her stars,
literally died that same year.
1615
01:12:49,882 --> 01:12:53,783
And what she wound up filming
was this time capsule
1616
01:12:53,817 --> 01:12:55,612
that showed people
what was happening,
1617
01:12:55,647 --> 01:12:57,131
the madness that was happening.
1618
01:13:00,445 --> 01:13:02,481
The homemade tattoos
1619
01:13:02,516 --> 01:13:05,415
and the people
moshing in the pits
1620
01:13:05,450 --> 01:13:06,761
and beating each other up.
1621
01:13:06,796 --> 01:13:08,763
It's almost like
capturing a butterfly
1622
01:13:08,798 --> 01:13:10,869
and just imprisoning it
in film
1623
01:13:10,903 --> 01:13:12,905
so we can all see
what that was like.
1624
01:13:12,940 --> 01:13:15,425
When I go to concerts,
it's like my friends
1625
01:13:15,460 --> 01:13:17,807
get beat up by my friends,
you know.
1626
01:13:17,841 --> 01:13:20,741
Then it's like, fuck, you know.
1627
01:13:20,775 --> 01:13:22,743
Because like they're not
beating up the right people.
1628
01:13:22,777 --> 01:13:25,228
They're not beating up
the fucking posers.
1629
01:13:25,262 --> 01:13:28,404
They're beating up
just like just my friends.
1630
01:13:28,438 --> 01:13:29,922
It's fucked, you know.
1631
01:13:29,957 --> 01:13:32,787
At the core of it,
it was questioning everything.
1632
01:13:32,822 --> 01:13:36,239
And it started with music,
yeah, okay,
1633
01:13:36,273 --> 01:13:40,036
no more guitar solos,
no more love songs, you know.
1634
01:13:40,070 --> 01:13:41,796
No more being nice,
1635
01:13:41,831 --> 01:13:44,661
no more like
posing for the camera. No.
1636
01:13:44,696 --> 01:13:46,732
It was all fuck the camera,
you know.
1637
01:13:46,767 --> 01:13:50,115
I like making
a spectacle of myself.
1638
01:13:50,149 --> 01:13:51,565
I'm a total rebel.
1639
01:13:51,599 --> 01:13:54,878
I rebel against everything.
1640
01:13:54,913 --> 01:13:58,779
I guess I'm an alcoholic.
1641
01:13:58,813 --> 01:14:01,471
It was so liberating
for women back then
1642
01:14:01,506 --> 01:14:05,579
because all of a sudden
you didn't have to be, you know,
1643
01:14:05,613 --> 01:14:07,132
a Barbie doll, you know.
1644
01:14:07,166 --> 01:14:10,653
Matter of fact, kind of
the uglier and fatter
1645
01:14:10,687 --> 01:14:13,414
and bigger
your combat boots were,
1646
01:14:13,449 --> 01:14:15,451
the better and cooler you were.
1647
01:14:15,485 --> 01:14:16,900
And then I would go
to punk rock shows,
1648
01:14:16,935 --> 01:14:18,246
and I would go, you know what?
1649
01:14:18,281 --> 01:14:19,524
I'm going to document this,
1650
01:14:19,558 --> 01:14:21,698
because something feels
important about this.
1651
01:14:21,733 --> 01:14:26,600
I didn't know that its effect
would be as heavy as it is
1652
01:14:26,634 --> 01:14:28,222
and it would last this long,
1653
01:14:28,256 --> 01:14:31,536
but I did feel instinctively
it was important.
1654
01:14:31,570 --> 01:14:35,850
It wasn't that difficult to get
the first "Decline" financed
1655
01:14:35,885 --> 01:14:38,681
because my friend said
he knew a guy
1656
01:14:38,715 --> 01:14:40,165
that wanted to do a porno movie,
1657
01:14:40,199 --> 01:14:44,100
and I said, well, I'm not
going to do a porno movie,
1658
01:14:44,134 --> 01:14:45,342
but how about punk rock?
1659
01:14:45,377 --> 01:14:47,241
And so I took him
to a Germs concert
1660
01:14:47,275 --> 01:14:53,178
and I told him it would be
$12,000 on Super 8.
1661
01:14:53,212 --> 01:14:58,701
And it ended up costing
10 times that on 16.
1662
01:14:58,735 --> 01:15:00,737
Penelope's Spheeris's
style of filmmaking,
1663
01:15:00,772 --> 01:15:02,567
you get the sense
that she's just in the room.
1664
01:15:02,601 --> 01:15:06,191
She's making a documentary as
punk as the people themselves.
1665
01:15:06,225 --> 01:15:08,711
In that film,
we were presenting ourselves
1666
01:15:08,745 --> 01:15:13,681
as who we were,
which were Bohemians.
1667
01:15:13,716 --> 01:15:14,820
Well, we're not rich.
1668
01:15:14,855 --> 01:15:16,235
We got enough money
to pay our rent
1669
01:15:16,270 --> 01:15:17,754
and, you know,
1670
01:15:17,789 --> 01:15:20,377
we bought the ink and the pins.
1671
01:15:20,412 --> 01:15:23,311
We weren't wondering, is this
going to be good for my image?
1672
01:15:23,346 --> 01:15:24,761
A lot of people do assume
1673
01:15:24,796 --> 01:15:27,764
that a lot of the bands
might not have been happy
1674
01:15:27,799 --> 01:15:30,629
with their performance
or their portrayal.
1675
01:15:30,664 --> 01:15:32,942
Too bad.
Show me in the contract
1676
01:15:32,976 --> 01:15:34,702
where it says
that the band member
1677
01:15:34,737 --> 01:15:37,049
has the right to tell me
how I can cut the movie.
1678
01:15:37,084 --> 01:15:40,363
So we were all high
and, you know, doing tattoos,
1679
01:15:40,397 --> 01:15:44,954
and we just thought it would be,
you know, a weird environment,
1680
01:15:44,988 --> 01:15:48,647
but not completely
out of the ordinary.
1681
01:15:48,682 --> 01:15:51,650
I might have brought over
some beer,
1682
01:15:51,685 --> 01:15:54,066
but I not did bring over
the heroin, okay?
1683
01:15:54,101 --> 01:15:57,173
So anybody that accuses me
of getting 'em loaded
1684
01:15:57,207 --> 01:16:02,074
so I could film them and they
would look stupid can fuck off.
1685
01:16:02,109 --> 01:16:06,251
Because, yeah, I brought
a sixpack, I'll cop to that.
1686
01:16:06,285 --> 01:16:09,703
We could not get a theater
to screen the film in
1687
01:16:09,737 --> 01:16:11,739
because the theater owners
1688
01:16:11,774 --> 01:16:14,639
said no one would come
to the screening
1689
01:16:14,673 --> 01:16:16,882
because nobody cared
about punk rock.
1690
01:16:16,917 --> 01:16:20,921
And so I actually
was able to talk the guy
1691
01:16:20,955 --> 01:16:23,889
that ran the Hollywood Theater
on Hollywood Boulevard
1692
01:16:23,924 --> 01:16:27,652
into letting us have
just one midnight screening.
1693
01:16:27,686 --> 01:16:29,792
Yeah, it was
a 1,200 seat theater
1694
01:16:29,826 --> 01:16:32,346
and 3,000 people showed up.
1695
01:16:32,380 --> 01:16:36,350
And honestly, it was
almost 300 motorcycle cops
1696
01:16:36,384 --> 01:16:37,972
had been sent out,
1697
01:16:38,007 --> 01:16:42,045
and Chief Daryl Gates
wrote us a letter
1698
01:16:42,080 --> 01:16:44,945
and said don't show this movie
in Los Angeles again.
1699
01:16:44,979 --> 01:16:46,153
And almost the film itself
1700
01:16:46,187 --> 01:16:47,775
becomes like this punk totem,
you know.
1701
01:16:47,810 --> 01:16:49,259
It was hard to see.
1702
01:16:49,294 --> 01:16:52,124
People are passing around
VHS tapes from one to another.
1703
01:16:52,159 --> 01:16:53,954
You had to be cool
and underground
1704
01:16:53,988 --> 01:16:56,370
to be able to see the film
in the first place.
1705
01:16:56,404 --> 01:17:01,099
Even Dave Grohl said he
was like handed "The Decline,"
1706
01:17:01,133 --> 01:17:03,653
the first "Decline"
like contraband by his cousin.
1707
01:17:03,688 --> 01:17:06,138
It was like, don't tell our
parents, but here, look at this.
1708
01:17:06,173 --> 01:17:09,832
I don't really see a movement
that's happened since then
1709
01:17:09,866 --> 01:17:13,076
that has had such an impact
1710
01:17:13,111 --> 01:17:15,527
and made such a difference,
you know.
1711
01:17:15,561 --> 01:17:19,704
Yeah, once you take a picture,
the picture's there.
1712
01:17:19,738 --> 01:17:21,982
I didn't know
when I made "The Decline"
1713
01:17:22,016 --> 01:17:25,813
that it was going to have
such a lasting effect.
1714
01:17:25,848 --> 01:17:29,299
And I didn't set out
to make history.
1715
01:17:29,334 --> 01:17:33,096
I didn't set out
to have the film be inducted
1716
01:17:33,131 --> 01:17:37,307
into the Library of Congress
National Film Registry,
1717
01:17:37,342 --> 01:17:38,688
which it was last year.
1718
01:17:38,723 --> 01:17:44,556
These kids identified with it,
and it made them who they were,
1719
01:17:44,590 --> 01:17:46,178
and for that,
they were grateful.
1720
01:17:46,213 --> 01:17:49,630
And for that, I'm grateful,
you know, that I could help.
1721
01:17:50,666 --> 01:17:52,115
Precinct 13.
1722
01:17:52,150 --> 01:17:55,187
Cut off. Isolated
in the middle of the city
1723
01:17:55,222 --> 01:17:57,086
as a human wave
of street killers
1724
01:17:57,120 --> 01:17:59,260
turns the night
into a nightmare.
1725
01:17:59,295 --> 01:18:02,988
The movie is about
a young police officer
1726
01:18:03,023 --> 01:18:05,784
who has a desk job
at the precinct.
1727
01:18:05,819 --> 01:18:08,476
And suddenly he's thrown out
to the wolves.
1728
01:18:08,511 --> 01:18:11,617
Basically a modern
cowboys and Indians movie.
1729
01:18:11,652 --> 01:18:17,071
It's a siege film in which
a precinct is under attack
1730
01:18:17,106 --> 01:18:19,591
by a bunch of gang members.
1731
01:18:19,625 --> 01:18:22,456
He has to deal
with the bad guys.
1732
01:18:22,490 --> 01:18:24,078
He has to shoot and kill people.
1733
01:18:24,113 --> 01:18:25,735
He doesn't know
who he's killing.
1734
01:18:25,770 --> 01:18:28,565
He is being threatened.
Maybe he's going to be killed.
1735
01:18:28,600 --> 01:18:31,983
If "Assault on Precinct 13" is
considered a great cult movie,
1736
01:18:32,017 --> 01:18:34,019
it's because
it delivers the goods.
1737
01:18:34,054 --> 01:18:36,125
A lot of movies promise things
1738
01:18:36,159 --> 01:18:38,679
from the trailer
or from the poster.
1739
01:18:38,714 --> 01:18:40,785
I think the tagline in it
1740
01:18:40,819 --> 01:18:43,753
was "a white-hot night of hate"
in the movie,
1741
01:18:43,788 --> 01:18:45,030
and this really delivers.
1742
01:18:45,065 --> 01:18:46,480
John Carpenter talked openly
1743
01:18:46,514 --> 01:18:49,621
about it being "Rio Bravo"
as an inspiration.
1744
01:18:49,655 --> 01:18:52,797
"Assault on Precinct 13"
is one of the great cult movies
1745
01:18:52,831 --> 01:18:56,007
because it still remains
pretty shocking.
1746
01:18:56,041 --> 01:18:57,871
With that little girl,
Kim Richards,
1747
01:18:57,905 --> 01:19:00,459
gets blown away
eating her ice cream cone...
1748
01:19:00,494 --> 01:19:01,978
I wanted vanilla twist.
1749
01:19:02,013 --> 01:19:05,948
And it was a real shot
to the solar plexus.
1750
01:19:05,982 --> 01:19:08,640
When we submitted it
to the MPAA,
1751
01:19:08,674 --> 01:19:11,781
we thought it would get
a PG rating.
1752
01:19:11,816 --> 01:19:13,472
There was no PG-13 at the time.
1753
01:19:13,507 --> 01:19:19,271
We were very surprised
if not outright shocked
1754
01:19:19,306 --> 01:19:21,998
to hear it had gotten
an X rating.
1755
01:19:22,033 --> 01:19:26,762
Basically, the MPAA
demanded that scene be cut.
1756
01:19:26,796 --> 01:19:28,764
There was no coverage
on that scene
1757
01:19:28,798 --> 01:19:30,420
in case there was a problem.
1758
01:19:30,455 --> 01:19:32,043
We had not anticipated this.
1759
01:19:32,077 --> 01:19:33,803
It was just shot the one way.
1760
01:19:33,838 --> 01:19:35,909
There was no way
to cut around it.
1761
01:19:35,943 --> 01:19:38,497
What we did
is we took one of the prints
1762
01:19:38,532 --> 01:19:42,398
and we cut about
two little pieces of film
1763
01:19:42,432 --> 01:19:44,814
which added up to about
a second and a half of footage,
1764
01:19:44,849 --> 01:19:46,816
and resubmitted that
to the MPAA
1765
01:19:46,851 --> 01:19:48,887
and got the R rating on it.
1766
01:19:48,922 --> 01:19:50,406
Roger Corman
does this all the time.
1767
01:19:50,440 --> 01:19:54,030
He takes the movie that
the MPAA has demanded cuts
1768
01:19:54,065 --> 01:19:57,723
and it just puts it out the way
it was originally edited.
1769
01:19:57,758 --> 01:19:59,346
The experience
making this movie
1770
01:19:59,380 --> 01:20:03,695
was one that I hope
I would have every time I work.
1771
01:20:03,729 --> 01:20:05,524
It's a goddamn siege.
1772
01:20:05,559 --> 01:20:06,836
When I got cast in that movie,
1773
01:20:06,871 --> 01:20:09,666
I knew nothing about
who John Carpenter was.
1774
01:20:09,701 --> 01:20:11,668
He didn't know who I was.
I didn't know who he was.
1775
01:20:11,703 --> 01:20:13,878
But we hit it off immediately.
1776
01:20:13,912 --> 01:20:15,155
I was not surprised
1777
01:20:15,189 --> 01:20:17,847
that John Carpenter
would become successful.
1778
01:20:17,882 --> 01:20:20,125
I think what convinced
the investors
1779
01:20:20,160 --> 01:20:23,404
was that he had sold a script
to Barbra Streisand.
1780
01:20:23,439 --> 01:20:26,925
That's not a small thing
for a guy just out of USC to do.
1781
01:20:26,960 --> 01:20:28,409
The toughest challenge for me
1782
01:20:28,444 --> 01:20:31,654
was the fact that my character
was not really a soldier.
1783
01:20:31,688 --> 01:20:34,622
He was working in an office,
a clerk wearing a uniform.
1784
01:20:34,657 --> 01:20:38,419
And now you're faced with
a gang that's coming at you
1785
01:20:38,454 --> 01:20:42,389
with 19 guys with God knows
what coming to kill you.
1786
01:20:42,423 --> 01:20:46,945
I got three shots.
That's enough.
1787
01:20:46,980 --> 01:20:49,948
Can't argue
with a confident man.
1788
01:20:49,983 --> 01:20:52,606
The precise calibration
of comedy,
1789
01:20:52,640 --> 01:20:54,366
this very dry kind of comedy...
1790
01:20:54,401 --> 01:20:56,644
- You're not a psychopath.
- You're not stupid.
1791
01:20:56,679 --> 01:20:58,163
I am an asshole.
1792
01:20:58,198 --> 01:21:05,101
And the suspense make
for something that over time
1793
01:21:05,136 --> 01:21:07,207
appealed to audiences
more and more,
1794
01:21:07,241 --> 01:21:10,003
and they really got it
more and more as time went on.
1795
01:21:13,592 --> 01:21:16,112
It cost about $285,000.
1796
01:21:16,147 --> 01:21:18,528
It took a very long time
to make money.
1797
01:21:18,563 --> 01:21:20,565
It just played around
in grind houses,
1798
01:21:20,599 --> 01:21:25,501
and it did get into this
one big theater in Los Angeles.
1799
01:21:25,535 --> 01:21:26,743
The first week
1800
01:21:26,778 --> 01:21:29,436
it played with Jack Hill's
"Switchblade Sisters."
1801
01:21:29,470 --> 01:21:30,886
That's a great double feature,
isn't it?
1802
01:21:30,920 --> 01:21:32,611
That's a terrific
double feature.
1803
01:21:32,646 --> 01:21:36,546
So apparently it was
gaining kind of momentum
1804
01:21:36,581 --> 01:21:38,686
with the home video,
1805
01:21:38,721 --> 01:21:42,173
and in the Los Angeles area,
it played on Z Channel.
1806
01:21:42,207 --> 01:21:44,037
There was like a cinema tech
1807
01:21:44,071 --> 01:21:46,211
on the TV station
that was phenomenal.
1808
01:21:46,246 --> 01:21:50,353
There's never been anything
like it before or since.
1809
01:21:50,388 --> 01:21:54,979
It was treated as like
a cult classic at that time.
1810
01:21:55,013 --> 01:21:57,119
You cannot intend
to make a cult movie.
1811
01:21:57,153 --> 01:21:58,914
"Assault on Precinct 13."
1812
01:21:58,948 --> 01:22:00,260
We got a war going on
down here,
1813
01:22:00,294 --> 01:22:02,020
and we can't find
the damn thing.
1814
01:22:02,055 --> 01:22:04,885
Anybody trying to
intentionally make a cult movie
1815
01:22:04,920 --> 01:22:06,300
is bound to fail.
1816
01:22:06,335 --> 01:22:09,441
It feels like it's kind of
turned a corner to me,
1817
01:22:09,476 --> 01:22:12,962
that it's not just a cult film,
1818
01:22:12,997 --> 01:22:16,448
but it's really become like
a classic film in some sense.
1819
01:22:16,483 --> 01:22:20,383
After 40 years,
I am still so amazed
1820
01:22:20,418 --> 01:22:24,387
at this new generation of fans
from everywhere
1821
01:22:24,422 --> 01:22:26,942
coming to see this movie
and appreciating what I did.
1822
01:22:26,976 --> 01:22:28,564
That is something, I mean,
1823
01:22:28,598 --> 01:22:31,739
I can't tell you how much,
how deeply I appreciate that.
1824
01:22:31,774 --> 01:22:33,534
I could never live it down.
1825
01:22:33,569 --> 01:22:38,125
I feel like I've done something
that could never be repeated.
1826
01:22:38,160 --> 01:22:41,922
One of the cult directors
that I knew personally
1827
01:22:41,957 --> 01:22:47,100
was Sam Fuller, who was quite
a character, an ex-newspaperman.
1828
01:22:47,134 --> 01:22:49,343
He had a style
that was a little primitive,
1829
01:22:49,378 --> 01:22:51,587
but he was a great filmmaker
1830
01:22:51,621 --> 01:22:54,693
and he had a great nose
for tabloid stories.
1831
01:22:54,728 --> 01:22:56,247
The cult of his movies
1832
01:22:56,281 --> 01:22:59,975
is based entirely
on who made them, on him.
1833
01:23:00,009 --> 01:23:01,114
"The Naked Kiss" is about
1834
01:23:01,148 --> 01:23:02,356
when you kiss someone
the first time,
1835
01:23:02,391 --> 01:23:04,496
you can tell
they're a child molester.
1836
01:23:04,531 --> 01:23:08,086
You can feel it
from the one little kiss,
1837
01:23:08,121 --> 01:23:09,605
and that is what it's about.
1838
01:23:09,639 --> 01:23:15,473
Under the guise of a small
town, very sentimental movie,
1839
01:23:15,507 --> 01:23:16,681
because it's got
little crippled children in it.
1840
01:23:16,715 --> 01:23:18,303
It's still berserk-ish
in parts.
1841
01:23:18,338 --> 01:23:20,996
Oh, when she's in love
and those shots in Venice.
1842
01:23:21,030 --> 01:23:24,102
Oh, my God.
It's jaw-dropping.
1843
01:23:24,137 --> 01:23:26,139
It is. It's kind of schizophrenic.
1844
01:23:26,173 --> 01:23:27,519
But it's a dark movie.
1845
01:23:27,554 --> 01:23:31,075
And also,
the people in his movies
1846
01:23:31,109 --> 01:23:33,353
are not quite beautiful.
1847
01:23:33,387 --> 01:23:36,528
Like they fit his genre.
1848
01:23:36,563 --> 01:23:39,393
I think that's the added appeal.
1849
01:23:39,428 --> 01:23:41,085
And that opening credits
scene, though,
1850
01:23:41,119 --> 01:23:42,810
is one of the best
opening credits ever.
1851
01:23:42,845 --> 01:23:44,157
Because it's this hooker,
1852
01:23:44,191 --> 01:23:47,298
and he rips her wig off
and then she's bald.
1853
01:23:47,332 --> 01:23:49,472
And then she beats him over
the face with her pocketbook
1854
01:23:49,507 --> 01:23:50,818
and then picks up
a fire extinguisher
1855
01:23:50,853 --> 01:23:52,027
and squirts it in his face.
1856
01:23:52,061 --> 01:23:53,511
It is great.
1857
01:23:55,996 --> 01:24:00,414
"The Naked Kiss" begins
with a tall blonde prostitute
1858
01:24:00,449 --> 01:24:02,037
in the midst
of beating up her pimp.
1859
01:24:02,071 --> 01:24:04,625
Well, I think a lot of Sammy's
pictures became cult films
1860
01:24:04,660 --> 01:24:07,387
because they were really
out there.
1861
01:24:07,421 --> 01:24:11,667
That opening sequence
is pretty startling.
1862
01:24:20,607 --> 01:24:21,642
You parasite!
1863
01:24:21,677 --> 01:24:23,679
I'm taking
only what's coming to me.
1864
01:24:23,713 --> 01:24:26,371
Hearing with the likes
of Martin Scorsese
1865
01:24:26,406 --> 01:24:30,203
on "the Tonight Show," say
the opening of "The Naked Kiss"
1866
01:24:30,237 --> 01:24:32,826
was the greatest opening
I've ever seen.
1867
01:24:32,860 --> 01:24:37,106
"Naked Kiss" is an extremely
low budget Samuel Fuller film.
1868
01:24:37,141 --> 01:24:38,314
It tells the story
1869
01:24:38,349 --> 01:24:40,420
of a prostitute
that gets into trouble,
1870
01:24:40,454 --> 01:24:44,009
and she decides to start
a new life for herself.
1871
01:24:44,044 --> 01:24:45,563
She flees and she ends up
1872
01:24:45,597 --> 01:24:47,530
in a town
that doesn't know who she is,
1873
01:24:47,565 --> 01:24:51,155
and she gets a job
working with handicapped kids
1874
01:24:51,189 --> 01:24:53,778
and she becomes
kind of respectable,
1875
01:24:53,812 --> 01:24:55,297
although people seem to think
1876
01:24:55,331 --> 01:24:56,677
there's something strange
about her.
1877
01:24:56,712 --> 01:24:59,611
A hooker moving in
with the town virgin.
1878
01:24:59,646 --> 01:25:00,647
What an act!
1879
01:25:00,681 --> 01:25:03,270
I saw a broken down
piece of machinery,
1880
01:25:03,305 --> 01:25:05,686
nothing but the buck,
the bed, and the bottle
1881
01:25:05,721 --> 01:25:06,929
for the rest of my life.
1882
01:25:06,963 --> 01:25:11,140
She becomes the fiancée
of this top guy in society.
1883
01:25:12,417 --> 01:25:15,420
And there's something
weird about him.
1884
01:25:15,455 --> 01:25:18,354
And basically
he's a child molester.
1885
01:25:18,389 --> 01:25:20,356
Well, Sammy's pictures
could be very shocking,
1886
01:25:20,391 --> 01:25:23,635
and the subject matter is dark.
1887
01:25:23,670 --> 01:25:25,879
You are playing
the first pedophile
1888
01:25:25,913 --> 01:25:27,777
in the history of our business.
1889
01:25:27,812 --> 01:25:30,746
And he said,
that's why I want you.
1890
01:25:30,780 --> 01:25:32,127
You're just perfect.
1891
01:25:32,161 --> 01:25:33,956
He said, you won't get
the recognition
1892
01:25:33,990 --> 01:25:35,302
for the job you did
1893
01:25:35,337 --> 01:25:39,996
and the guts you had
to play this character
1894
01:25:40,031 --> 01:25:42,861
until 30, 40 years
down the road.
1895
01:25:42,896 --> 01:25:47,038
Now you know why I could never
marry a normal woman.
1896
01:25:47,072 --> 01:25:49,385
That's why I love you.
1897
01:25:49,420 --> 01:25:52,354
You understand my sickness.
1898
01:25:52,388 --> 01:25:57,428
And it's basically her,
who has no credibility,
1899
01:25:57,462 --> 01:25:59,913
against the main guy in town.
1900
01:25:59,947 --> 01:26:02,122
I'm going to keep asking you
the same question
1901
01:26:02,157 --> 01:26:03,434
until you tell me the truth.
1902
01:26:03,468 --> 01:26:04,918
Why did you kill him?
1903
01:26:04,952 --> 01:26:07,058
He was molesting a child.
1904
01:26:07,092 --> 01:26:11,373
Oh, I got the same taste
the first time Grant kissed me.
1905
01:26:11,407 --> 01:26:15,549
It's what we call a naked kiss.
1906
01:26:15,584 --> 01:26:17,413
It's the sign of a pervert.
1907
01:26:17,448 --> 01:26:19,415
"Naked Kiss"
became a cult classic
1908
01:26:19,450 --> 01:26:22,832
because it was a different side
of the director Sam Fuller
1909
01:26:22,867 --> 01:26:24,938
that people weren't
that familiar with.
1910
01:26:24,972 --> 01:26:27,423
Sam Fuller was a tough guy.
1911
01:26:27,458 --> 01:26:30,633
He was a former journalist,
a tabloid writer.
1912
01:26:30,668 --> 01:26:35,155
And Sammy made pictures that
were like newspaper headlines.
1913
01:26:35,190 --> 01:26:37,364
Hit you in the face.
1914
01:26:42,576 --> 01:26:45,338
And he made a lot
of terrific film noirs
1915
01:26:45,372 --> 01:26:47,409
and a lot of war films.
1916
01:26:47,443 --> 01:26:49,549
I was in the hands
of Sammy Fuller,
1917
01:26:49,583 --> 01:26:51,861
and his reputation preceded him.
1918
01:26:51,896 --> 01:26:54,899
This was the Sam Fuller
that pushed the envelope,
1919
01:26:54,933 --> 01:26:58,247
that went places
where the other Sam Fuller,
1920
01:26:58,282 --> 01:27:01,181
the studio Sam Fuller,
did not go.
1921
01:27:01,216 --> 01:27:03,287
This was
the independent Sam Fuller.
1922
01:27:03,321 --> 01:27:05,496
When I think about
my love for Sammy
1923
01:27:05,530 --> 01:27:07,601
and appreciation
of working with him
1924
01:27:07,636 --> 01:27:10,259
and he's gone and left us,
but I'm so grateful
1925
01:27:10,294 --> 01:27:11,847
to have had the opportunity
to work with him.
1926
01:27:11,881 --> 01:27:15,437
Sam Fuller made an art form
out of the B Movie.
1927
01:27:15,471 --> 01:27:18,267
And he made films like
"Shock Corridor."
1928
01:27:18,302 --> 01:27:21,166
Somebody do something
about my head!
1929
01:27:21,201 --> 01:27:23,962
His masterpiece
is "The Naked Kiss."
1930
01:27:29,071 --> 01:27:30,935
I consider "The Warriors"
1931
01:27:30,969 --> 01:27:34,283
the "Rocky Horror"
of gang movies, you know.
1932
01:27:34,318 --> 01:27:36,043
Can you dig it?
1933
01:27:36,078 --> 01:27:38,943
Can you dig it?
1934
01:27:38,977 --> 01:27:41,256
Can you dig it?
1935
01:27:46,433 --> 01:27:47,469
The plot of "The Warriors"
1936
01:27:47,503 --> 01:27:49,471
actually
is a pretty simple plot.
1937
01:27:49,505 --> 01:27:52,646
It's a movie about
a meeting of all these gangs,
1938
01:27:52,681 --> 01:27:55,856
very colorful gangs in New York.
1939
01:27:55,891 --> 01:27:56,961
And during this meeting,
1940
01:27:56,995 --> 01:27:58,997
like the leader
of one of the gangs is killed.
1941
01:28:00,516 --> 01:28:03,726
A gang is blamed for
something that they didn't do.
1942
01:28:03,761 --> 01:28:07,972
It's the innocent
falsely accused...
1943
01:28:08,006 --> 01:28:10,319
There he is! That's him!
1944
01:28:10,354 --> 01:28:11,976
After a tragedy occurs...
1945
01:28:12,010 --> 01:28:13,564
They think we shot Cyrus.
1946
01:28:13,598 --> 01:28:16,152
Every gang in the city
must be looking for us.
1947
01:28:16,187 --> 01:28:17,740
Holy shit.
1948
01:28:20,674 --> 01:28:22,538
The Warriors has to get back
1949
01:28:22,573 --> 01:28:25,507
and take the subway
across New York.
1950
01:28:25,541 --> 01:28:30,235
And an hour it is C-I,
the big Coney.
1951
01:28:30,270 --> 01:28:33,480
They have to fight their way
back to their home turf.
1952
01:28:33,515 --> 01:28:36,656
And everyone
is out to destroy them.
1953
01:28:36,690 --> 01:28:38,865
So the Warriors encounter
all of these gangs
1954
01:28:38,899 --> 01:28:40,211
throughout the movie.
1955
01:28:40,245 --> 01:28:42,213
For instance,
the Gramercy Riffs,
1956
01:28:42,247 --> 01:28:44,560
who are
the African-American gang.
1957
01:28:44,595 --> 01:28:47,425
In the Turnbull ACs, which
are like a skinhead gang.
1958
01:28:47,460 --> 01:28:48,771
And the Baseball Furies,
1959
01:28:48,806 --> 01:28:51,360
who almost have makeup
like the band KISS.
1960
01:28:51,395 --> 01:28:53,224
I'll shove that bat
up your ass
1961
01:28:53,258 --> 01:28:55,468
and turn you into a popsicle.
1962
01:28:58,919 --> 01:29:01,612
And then they have encounters
with The Lizzies,
1963
01:29:01,646 --> 01:29:04,511
who entrap some
of the Warriors.
1964
01:29:04,546 --> 01:29:05,685
And we have a rollerskating gang
1965
01:29:05,719 --> 01:29:07,997
who they encounter
in a subway station,
1966
01:29:08,032 --> 01:29:11,069
and they have an ultimate battle
with them in a bathroom.
1967
01:29:12,277 --> 01:29:14,003
Aah!
1968
01:29:18,905 --> 01:29:20,355
And then they meet
The Orphans,
1969
01:29:20,389 --> 01:29:21,563
who were like a low class,
1970
01:29:21,597 --> 01:29:22,909
way down on the totem pole gang.
1971
01:29:22,943 --> 01:29:25,187
You see what you get, Warriors?
1972
01:29:25,221 --> 01:29:28,466
You see what you get
when you mess with The Orphans?
1973
01:29:32,367 --> 01:29:33,713
You know, it's funny.
1974
01:29:33,747 --> 01:29:37,648
My scenes in The Orphans
is that it was a small part.
1975
01:29:37,682 --> 01:29:42,135
However, people remember that,
especially my line.
1976
01:29:42,169 --> 01:29:44,206
"We're going to rain on you
Warriors," you know.
1977
01:29:44,240 --> 01:29:47,899
I've said that maybe
a million times since 1978.
1978
01:29:47,934 --> 01:29:50,488
"We're going to rain on you
Warriors," you know.
1979
01:29:50,523 --> 01:29:53,008
We're going to rain
on you, Warriors!
1980
01:29:54,492 --> 01:29:56,598
Let's go.
1981
01:29:56,632 --> 01:29:58,358
When that thing blew,
1982
01:29:58,393 --> 01:30:01,396
it was a real explosion,
you know.
1983
01:30:01,430 --> 01:30:03,777
So the hood of the car
wound up on the roof.
1984
01:30:03,812 --> 01:30:06,918
But they forgot to take
the glass, the windshield out.
1985
01:30:06,953 --> 01:30:11,578
And I'm watching this glass
rain down on these extras.
1986
01:30:11,613 --> 01:30:14,857
I do think that what unites
the cult films that I like
1987
01:30:14,892 --> 01:30:16,790
is they have a quality
of danger, you know.
1988
01:30:16,825 --> 01:30:18,309
Whether it's "Clockwork Orange"
1989
01:30:18,343 --> 01:30:20,345
or, you know,
this quality of edge.
1990
01:30:20,380 --> 01:30:22,140
And I think clearly that's
what people sort of like
1991
01:30:22,175 --> 01:30:23,625
about "The Warriors."
1992
01:30:23,659 --> 01:30:26,041
You know, I've gone to
screenings of "The Warriors,"
1993
01:30:26,075 --> 01:30:27,836
a few with fans.
1994
01:30:27,870 --> 01:30:31,702
It's hilarious, because
they're talking to the screen,
1995
01:30:31,736 --> 01:30:33,945
they're say the line
before it comes out.
1996
01:30:33,980 --> 01:30:37,742
So they've been rediscovered
by people, you know,
1997
01:30:37,777 --> 01:30:40,814
and it's easier to do now
because you've got, you know,
1998
01:30:40,849 --> 01:30:44,646
all kinds of alternative means
of finding it.
1999
01:30:44,680 --> 01:30:45,819
The best scene
in "The Warriors"
2000
01:30:45,854 --> 01:30:48,822
is actually a very quiet scene.
2001
01:30:48,857 --> 01:30:52,964
Swan and Mercy on the subway
when the prom couple comes in.
2002
01:30:52,999 --> 01:30:54,897
It's like really,
really late at night
2003
01:30:54,932 --> 01:30:59,281
and they're dirty and they're
tired and they're beaten up.
2004
01:30:59,315 --> 01:31:03,630
And then a group of four
students get on the train.
2005
01:31:03,665 --> 01:31:06,564
Everything that
needs to be said and expressed
2006
01:31:06,599 --> 01:31:08,221
is done without words.
2007
01:31:16,885 --> 01:31:19,197
Everybody's favorite moment
in "The Warriors."
2008
01:31:19,232 --> 01:31:23,339
Warriors, come out to play.
2009
01:31:23,374 --> 01:31:24,893
David Patrick Kelly
owns that movie.
2010
01:31:24,927 --> 01:31:31,140
Warriors, come out to play.
2011
01:31:31,175 --> 01:31:33,004
The Warriors chant
2012
01:31:33,039 --> 01:31:36,007
has been a blessing
and a burden over the years.
2013
01:31:36,042 --> 01:31:38,423
And there was nothing
in the script, of course,
2014
01:31:38,458 --> 01:31:42,807
and Walter
wanted to up the ante.
2015
01:31:42,842 --> 01:31:44,947
And he just said
we need something here.
2016
01:31:44,982 --> 01:31:48,779
And it was from a guy
who lived next to me
2017
01:31:48,813 --> 01:31:50,953
who was a scary guy,
2018
01:31:50,988 --> 01:31:55,613
who I didn't know much about,
but he would say to me...
2019
01:31:55,648 --> 01:31:58,167
I'd say, Rich, how you doing?
2020
01:31:58,202 --> 01:32:00,480
And he'd say, Dave...
2021
01:32:00,515 --> 01:32:04,001
Dave... Dave...
2022
01:32:04,035 --> 01:32:05,554
And that's all he'd say.
2023
01:32:05,589 --> 01:32:08,005
And I thought that was the
creepiest thing I'd ever heard,
2024
01:32:08,039 --> 01:32:09,627
so I put that in.
2025
01:32:09,662 --> 01:32:11,422
We rehearsed it
and then we did it.
2026
01:32:11,456 --> 01:32:13,079
I've never done it again.
2027
01:32:13,113 --> 01:32:16,841
Come out to play.
2028
01:32:16,876 --> 01:32:18,981
I go to the Coney Island
Film Festival every year,
2029
01:32:19,016 --> 01:32:21,743
and at midnight
they play "The Warriors."
2030
01:32:21,777 --> 01:32:24,228
And people come out
dressed up as The Furies
2031
01:32:24,262 --> 01:32:28,025
and all the different gangs
and even a few Orphans, too.
2032
01:32:28,059 --> 01:32:33,030
We did a cast reunion
in Coney Island,
2033
01:32:33,064 --> 01:32:36,896
and 7,500, 8,000 people
showed up.
2034
01:32:36,930 --> 01:32:38,483
It was humbling to me,
I thought.
2035
01:32:38,518 --> 01:32:40,037
I get back home
2036
01:32:40,071 --> 01:32:41,935
and 10 minutes later
the phone rings
2037
01:32:41,970 --> 01:32:44,282
and a gentleman
on the other end said,
2038
01:32:44,317 --> 01:32:47,216
I'm President Reagan's
press secretary
2039
01:32:47,251 --> 01:32:50,116
and he wanted you to know
how much he enjoyed
2040
01:32:50,150 --> 01:32:52,394
a screening of "The Warriors"
at Camp David.
2041
01:32:52,428 --> 01:32:57,537
People sort of claim that
violence was connected to it.
2042
01:32:57,572 --> 01:32:59,884
But if you look
at the film now
2043
01:32:59,919 --> 01:33:02,024
and compare it
to what we see today,
2044
01:33:02,059 --> 01:33:04,095
it's really, really lightweight.
2045
01:33:04,130 --> 01:33:08,479
Paramount overreacted
by pulling all the publicity,
2046
01:33:08,513 --> 01:33:09,722
and the movie just kind of died
2047
01:33:09,756 --> 01:33:11,931
after about three weeks
to a month.
2048
01:33:11,965 --> 01:33:14,623
Had "The Warriors"
had a successful run
2049
01:33:14,658 --> 01:33:16,970
and continued
to do good box office
2050
01:33:17,005 --> 01:33:20,974
and become a successful
first-run movie,
2051
01:33:21,009 --> 01:33:24,460
would it have become
a cult classic movie?
2052
01:33:24,495 --> 01:33:25,945
I don't know that it would have.
2053
01:33:27,187 --> 01:33:29,638
For someone who hasn't seen
"Point Break,"
2054
01:33:29,673 --> 01:33:31,744
the plot of the movie is this.
2055
01:33:31,778 --> 01:33:35,851
There's four renegade kids
who love skydiving.
2056
01:33:35,886 --> 01:33:37,370
They skydive a lot.
2057
01:33:37,404 --> 01:33:38,923
When they're not skydiving,
2058
01:33:38,958 --> 01:33:42,202
they put on the masks
of presidents and rob banks.
2059
01:33:42,237 --> 01:33:46,379
It's Keanu Reeves' mission
to find them and arrest them.
2060
01:33:46,413 --> 01:33:49,520
He's being told
that they might be surfers,
2061
01:33:49,554 --> 01:33:53,662
and the kind of finds these guys
who teach him how to surf
2062
01:33:53,697 --> 01:33:56,216
and who are
kind of Zen philosophers.
2063
01:33:56,251 --> 01:33:59,288
Hey, you're not going to start
chanting or anything, are you?
2064
01:33:59,323 --> 01:34:01,636
I might.
2065
01:34:01,670 --> 01:34:03,810
He realizes these surfer dudes
2066
01:34:03,845 --> 01:34:08,125
are actually the presidents
who are robbing everywhere.
2067
01:34:08,159 --> 01:34:10,714
And so the cop,
the agent, the FBI agent
2068
01:34:10,748 --> 01:34:12,888
has to become them
in order to arrest them.
2069
01:34:12,923 --> 01:34:14,234
It's very much a movie
2070
01:34:14,269 --> 01:34:17,790
about American masculinity
seen from the outside.
2071
01:34:17,824 --> 01:34:19,654
You gotta go down.
2072
01:34:19,688 --> 01:34:23,105
You crossed the line and people
trusted you and they died.
2073
01:34:23,140 --> 01:34:24,797
"Point Break"
was always thought of
2074
01:34:24,831 --> 01:34:27,006
as like surfers robbing banks
2075
01:34:27,040 --> 01:34:28,835
to support their endless summer.
2076
01:34:28,870 --> 01:34:31,389
The tagline in our mind
even as I was writing it
2077
01:34:31,424 --> 01:34:32,839
was 100% pure adrenaline.
2078
01:34:32,874 --> 01:34:34,703
Everybody freeze!
2079
01:34:34,738 --> 01:34:38,017
But when director Ridley Scott
was going to helm of the film,
2080
01:34:38,051 --> 01:34:41,676
it was going to be James Garner,
you know,
2081
01:34:41,710 --> 01:34:44,299
fresh off the "Rockford Files"
to play Pappas
2082
01:34:44,333 --> 01:34:46,542
and it was going to be
Charlie Sheen
2083
01:34:46,577 --> 01:34:50,408
I believe fresh off of "Platoon"
to play Johnny Utah.
2084
01:34:50,443 --> 01:34:51,962
And that was locked and loaded.
2085
01:34:51,996 --> 01:34:55,413
But then the studio
changed hands
2086
01:34:55,448 --> 01:34:57,450
and Ridley left picture.
2087
01:34:57,484 --> 01:34:59,555
So the film fell apart
2088
01:34:59,590 --> 01:35:02,144
and it was made four years later
2089
01:35:02,179 --> 01:35:05,561
by Jim Cameron
and Kathryn Bigelow.
2090
01:35:05,596 --> 01:35:07,149
Jim Cameron rewrote me.
2091
01:35:07,184 --> 01:35:09,358
He did the final polish
on "Point Break."
2092
01:35:09,393 --> 01:35:12,810
So a lot of kudos to Jim,
who's the master.
2093
01:35:12,845 --> 01:35:15,226
He turbocharged
a lot of the action.
2094
01:35:15,261 --> 01:35:17,884
Kathryn was determined that
it was going to be Keanu Reeves,
2095
01:35:17,919 --> 01:35:19,748
and she is quite a force.
2096
01:35:19,783 --> 01:35:21,370
- You mad?
- Yeah, I'm mad!
2097
01:35:21,405 --> 01:35:22,371
- Good and mad?
- Yeah!
2098
01:35:22,406 --> 01:35:23,441
What you want to do about it?
2099
01:35:23,476 --> 01:35:24,822
Feels good, doesn't it?
2100
01:35:24,857 --> 01:35:27,238
- Like you're still alive, right?
- Yeah!
2101
01:35:27,273 --> 01:35:29,206
They should release it again
on the big screen,
2102
01:35:29,240 --> 01:35:32,071
because it'll work
again and again and again
2103
01:35:32,105 --> 01:35:33,831
because it's that powerful.
2104
01:35:33,866 --> 01:35:36,420
I mean, when Kathryn
shoots her arrow, whap,
2105
01:35:36,454 --> 01:35:38,284
100 yards away,
2106
01:35:38,318 --> 01:35:42,115
that arrow will go right smack
dab in the center of the target.
2107
01:35:42,150 --> 01:35:45,429
And she did that with me,
you know.
2108
01:35:45,463 --> 01:35:46,948
She did it with everybody.
2109
01:35:46,982 --> 01:35:48,846
She's strong.
2110
01:35:48,881 --> 01:35:49,985
I want to work with her again.
2111
01:35:50,020 --> 01:35:51,228
I'm going to call her.
2112
01:35:51,262 --> 01:35:53,023
Kathryn,
just been talking about us.
2113
01:35:53,057 --> 01:35:56,233
When's the next gig? Edit.
2114
01:35:56,267 --> 01:35:58,960
The linear thrust was a story
about these four kids.
2115
01:35:58,994 --> 01:36:00,789
He's a fucking federal agent.
2116
01:36:00,824 --> 01:36:02,964
I should have shot him
when I had the chance.
2117
01:36:02,998 --> 01:36:05,000
I'll deal
with that fucking cop.
2118
01:36:05,035 --> 01:36:07,520
And my little buddy Keanu.
2119
01:36:09,625 --> 01:36:10,903
Pappas.
2120
01:36:10,937 --> 01:36:12,663
Angelo Pappas.
2121
01:36:12,697 --> 01:36:15,010
- Punk. Quarterback punk.
- Hmm.
2122
01:36:15,045 --> 01:36:17,599
Either you love
to hate the bad guy,
2123
01:36:17,633 --> 01:36:19,014
they're deliciously evil
2124
01:36:19,049 --> 01:36:21,051
and you just can't get enough
of their evilness.
2125
01:36:21,085 --> 01:36:25,296
Or they are like a Swayze
in that you really relate.
2126
01:36:25,331 --> 01:36:27,402
You do care,
2127
01:36:27,436 --> 01:36:30,232
and because you care,
it makes it fascinating.
2128
01:36:30,267 --> 01:36:32,165
Every scene I do
is my favorite.
2129
01:36:32,200 --> 01:36:35,548
Every scene the people I'm
working with are my favorite.
2130
01:36:35,582 --> 01:36:37,274
That's the way it goes.
2131
01:36:37,308 --> 01:36:40,311
You satisfy yourself
before making a judgment,
2132
01:36:40,346 --> 01:36:42,451
and when you're
satisfying yourself,
2133
01:36:42,486 --> 01:36:43,832
there is no judgment.
2134
01:36:43,867 --> 01:36:44,902
You just go.
2135
01:36:48,285 --> 01:36:51,115
"Point Break"
has the best running scene
2136
01:36:51,150 --> 01:36:53,221
in the history of movies.
2137
01:36:53,255 --> 01:36:55,326
Look out!
2138
01:36:55,361 --> 01:36:56,534
Hey!
2139
01:36:59,365 --> 01:37:00,193
Aah!
2140
01:37:00,228 --> 01:37:02,333
It's brilliant stuff, man.
2141
01:37:02,368 --> 01:37:03,956
It's going
tick, tick, tick, tick.
2142
01:37:03,990 --> 01:37:05,543
It's clipping, man.
2143
01:37:05,578 --> 01:37:06,682
Tick-tick-tick-tick-
2144
01:37:06,717 --> 01:37:09,168
tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.
2145
01:37:10,721 --> 01:37:11,756
Oh!
2146
01:37:11,791 --> 01:37:13,344
People remember the lines.
2147
01:37:13,379 --> 01:37:15,657
I'm so hungry I could eat
the ass end out of a dead rhino.
2148
01:37:15,691 --> 01:37:17,521
I should've had you get me
three of these things.
2149
01:37:17,555 --> 01:37:19,074
You gonna jump or jerk off?
2150
01:37:19,109 --> 01:37:20,386
I'm not a crook.
2151
01:37:20,420 --> 01:37:22,698
Caught my first tube
this morning.
2152
01:37:22,733 --> 01:37:24,148
Sir.
2153
01:37:24,183 --> 01:37:26,668
Swayze did all his stunts
for the most part.
2154
01:37:26,702 --> 01:37:27,911
He did the skydiving.
2155
01:37:27,945 --> 01:37:30,396
If you look,
the shot that blows my mind
2156
01:37:30,430 --> 01:37:34,814
is the one when he jumps off
the airplane at the end.
2157
01:37:34,849 --> 01:37:36,609
Adios, amigo.
2158
01:37:36,643 --> 01:37:39,715
Well, guess what?
That's Swayze saying a line
2159
01:37:39,750 --> 01:37:43,167
and rolling backward
and falling out of an airplane.
2160
01:37:43,202 --> 01:37:45,790
That takes
a big pair of cojones.
2161
01:37:45,825 --> 01:37:47,516
He's the man.
2162
01:37:47,551 --> 01:37:51,175
There's a thing... I think it's
all over the United States now.
2163
01:37:51,210 --> 01:37:52,763
It's called "Point Break Live."
2164
01:37:52,797 --> 01:37:55,628
And it's these actors,
they're Shakespearean actors,
2165
01:37:55,662 --> 01:37:57,112
they're awesome actors.
2166
01:37:57,147 --> 01:37:59,149
and they re-create
"Point Break" live.
2167
01:37:59,183 --> 01:38:02,014
They pull somebody out of the
audience to play Keanu Reeves,
2168
01:38:02,048 --> 01:38:04,948
and it is hilarious.
2169
01:38:04,982 --> 01:38:06,190
Yeah, my knee got folded
2170
01:38:06,225 --> 01:38:08,675
about 90 degrees
in the wrong way.
2171
01:38:10,781 --> 01:38:12,921
I'm so honored that
you picked "Point Break"
2172
01:38:12,956 --> 01:38:14,543
as one of the greatest
cult films of all time.
2173
01:38:14,578 --> 01:38:17,063
It sounds arrogant to say
it doesn't surprise me,
2174
01:38:17,098 --> 01:38:19,134
because I just hear it
from so many people.
2175
01:38:19,169 --> 01:38:22,206
I started getting letters
from people all over the world,
2176
01:38:22,241 --> 01:38:25,278
sincere, heartfelt letters
2177
01:38:25,313 --> 01:38:27,660
that the film
had changed their life.
2178
01:38:27,694 --> 01:38:30,249
"Point Break" is one
of the greatest films made.
2179
01:38:30,283 --> 01:38:32,009
It's not a cult film,
2180
01:38:32,044 --> 01:38:34,943
it's not a dramady,
a psychodrama.
2181
01:38:34,978 --> 01:38:37,773
It's not a farce
or tragedy or vaudeville.
2182
01:38:37,808 --> 01:38:40,535
It's a movie of its own
with its own identity,
2183
01:38:40,569 --> 01:38:43,434
and it moves in that direction
all the way through it.
2184
01:38:43,469 --> 01:38:46,196
The beginning, the middle, the
climax, the end, the resolution,
2185
01:38:46,230 --> 01:38:47,542
it's all the same.
2186
01:38:47,576 --> 01:38:50,441
I think "Point Break"
was a game changer
2187
01:38:50,476 --> 01:38:53,755
not as much to cinema
as it was to surfing.
2188
01:38:53,789 --> 01:38:54,963
It was a game mover.
2189
01:38:54,998 --> 01:38:56,275
You don't change the game
in art.
2190
01:38:56,309 --> 01:38:57,966
And let me tell you this, buddy.
2191
01:38:58,001 --> 01:38:59,278
Art is only the search.
2192
01:38:59,312 --> 01:39:01,038
It is not the final form.
2193
01:39:01,073 --> 01:39:02,591
It is forever and unlimited,
2194
01:39:02,626 --> 01:39:06,630
and you can't beat that
because it won't be beaten.
2195
01:39:06,664 --> 01:39:08,183
Hear that?
164535