If you've ever
wondered when the next John Waters or Pedro Aldomovar will appear to claim the
crown as new cult queen, you may have already missed the underground coronation
of Ms. Anna Biller in the role. While everyone was expecting the next cult fave
 to
be male-created as usual (and face it, midnight movies are sadly as sexist as
Hollywood lamestream in this regard; from Rocky Horror to
Eraserhead to The Wall to Evil Dead and beyond, it's not
exactly a great track record), flickmaker Anna Biller quietly stepped into the
throne room and was graciously awarded the title (at least if her appreciative
fans are any indication). If you're new to her work, don't fret it; that's what
makes a cult a cult... the chance to participate before it becomes just another
McMovie™.
But fear not,
devotees of cult cinema, as Ms. Biller is already working on her next
independent feature called Viva (no it's not about the "quicker picker
upper" paper towel, Rosie, but a sly, sexual parody) and has no intent to
relinquish her unique perspective for a Happy Meal® tie-in just yet. So
whether you're a convert or just a willing newcomer, spend some time inside the
mind of the creative genius behind what are truly some of the most formidably
subversive comedic short flix to be made since Jane Campion's earliest work.
Her site isn't called "LifeofaStar.com" in jest.
BijouFlix: : Let's start with what you're
not, at least in terms of your flix. You're not into explosions, c.g.i.,
flaccid storylines and marketing overcoming the inherent project's
shortcomings. Instead, you hand make every element of your productions save
celluloid and processing. This makes you, like, what... a filmmaker, or
something? Seriously, do you ever feel like an alien craftswoman when you see
current Hollywood 'product,' or do you love (somehow) current cinema,
too?
Anna Biller: I think the
difference between my work and that of most films today is, I'm totally
obsessive about style. I think style is more important to a film than story.
Not only that, the style tells the story more effectively than the dialogue. If
you can paint the details of a scenario so that every element in the picture is
telling the
 story, you can tell a really interesting story in just one frame.
You need to consider color symbolism in a color film, montage, use of
close-ups, what people wear, how people stand or how action is blocked, what
objects are around and what associations people have with those objects, etc.
What many filmmakers don't realize is, whether or not they're
consciously controlling the visual elements of their picture, those elements
are there and produce meaning. And sloppiness about detail takes you out of the
film. Rather than thinking about what's going on, you start thinking, "that's
not the kind of dress she would be wearing," or you think, "this film is so
lame!" Or maybe the lighting or the editing are so blah that they don't bring
out the drama in the script.
 Nowadays soft lighting is popular, and
people are often backlit from a window or something, and you don't get this
wonderful hard-edged portrait like you did in the old movies with their
traditional three-point lighting. Or maybe the music is unskillfully written or
distracting or isn't used effectively to punch up the drama, or maybe it's too
familiar. It's very difficult to make a film that's of a piece. You either have
to have a team of very skilled craftspeople all working together under a
competent and demanding and very seductive or powerful director, or you have to
do everything yourself. And either way, it involves a great deal of object
fetish, line-reading fetish, word fetish, setting fetish, casting fetish,
fetishes of all kinds. When I see a great movie I can't listen to it at all,
I'm so busy absorbing the details. And if they're overwhelmingly rich, I
usually don't understand a single thing about the plot until I see the film
again.
What about
influences? It's an obvious question, and yet, there are so many in your
flicks. Or, you know, there are so many I can project into your projection,
rather. But for my private example, I almost feel the ghosts of Nick Ray circa
JOHNNY GUITAR and Fritz Lang in his RANCHO NOTORIOUS (should've been called
RAUNCHO, but what the hell!) working over your shoulder, whispering hints. Not
to rob you of your due originality, but: who are some of your private demi-gods
of celluloid, and - more importantly -- why, if you know why or care to
articulate?
Gosh, I guess I'm sort of a scavenger. When I'm
working on a film, I only watch
 movies that relate stylistically to the film I'm working on. You're
spot-on about Johnny Guitar and Rancho Notorious, those movies
had a great influence on me. The scene in the saloon where Lucy gets a job is
taken right out of Johnny Guitar, when Sterling Hayden as Johnny Guitar
blows into town and enters the lonely saloon and has a showdown with the
Dancing Kid. I'm always thrilled when people get the references, because my
films are so much about the movies that they emulate. And I think this is clear
to anyone with a sense of film history.
So in terms of influences, I go
through phases. My favorite period for films is the 1930's, especially for
musicals and costume dramas. That's the stuff that provided most of the
inspiration for "Three Examples of Myself as Queen" - that, and The 5,000
Fingers of Dr. T, and Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend , and
'60's TV, and French art films. But I'm always finding new stuff to get excited
about. Michael Powell is my all-time favorite director. The Hammer horror films
were very inspiring when I was working on "Incubus," those and Technicolor
Westerns and John Houston's Moulin Rouge. I love Mae West and Zsa Zsa
Gabor, the big fabulous sassy blondes. I think they've been a big influence on
my stage musicals. Recently I've segued rather dramatically into the 60's and
70's for inspiration, as I'm making a movie set in the early '70's [Viva
-- Ed.]. I've been watching a lot of Radley Metzger films, some Kon
Ichikawa, Herschell Gordon Lewis' Suburban Roulette. I've found all of
this stuff extremely fresh and inspirational.
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