That was awesome!

Park City

Just got out of our Teeth screening. Wow... what a film. I'm not even sure where to begin. This was a film that Kit and I put down on our early list of potential to-see films and once we started hearing all of the amazingly positive buzz, we had to see it. I'm so glad we did.

The story is based off vagina dentate mythology and follows a Christian high school girl caught up in her school’s purity campaign. Starting from a very innocent state (she’s not even aware of her own body), she discovers by complete accident that she’s very anatomically unique, a state of being that is both victimizing and empowering. Her boyfriend is becoming aggressive and her bad stepbrother is the poster child for immoral teenage conduct. The film, full of symbolism and metaphor, defies categorization, becoming part horror film and part dark comedy that is fundamentally a story of a heroine overcoming male evil and finding self-empowerment.

The film is extremely well executed - from the performances, to the cut, music, photography, etc. I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to see change and I can't come up with a single thing. Not only is the story powerful, funny and intelligent, but it's also a joy to watch. There's a lot of graphic and disturbing stuff (as one might guess from the subject matter), but it all fits so well into the world of the film that, although shocking to an extent, it works extremely well and doesn't leave you feeling burned. It took serious balls to do this film. Mitchell Lichtenstein, the director, was fortunate enough to do it completely with private funding, allowing him to make the film he wanted without worrying about what people would think.

I doubt very much that this film will ever be distributed in its current state... which is really a shame since I'd hate to see anything changed. Yes... there's a lot of graphic, disturbing stuff, but it all serves a purpose and really sets the film apart. Hopefully this film will find a way to a larger audience. While this is not a film for the feint of heart, I absolutely recommend this to anyone who's ready for a film that defies the usual boundaries and really pushes the envelope of what can be done on film.

Screening before Teeth was a short film entitled Songbird. Simple premise: woman loves her dove, woman hates her evil slob of a husband and his angry mutt of a dog, husband hates dove, dove sings during dinner, husband bites head off dove, woman chops head off husband's dog and cooks it for dinner, husband vomits up head of dove, woman puts head back on dove and dove comes back to life, woman leaves husband. It's a relatively simple story, but what makes the film interesting is that it's enacted without a single piece of dialog and in a style that can really only be described as live action stop motion. Although the sets, actors and props are all real, they all move like they're done through claymation. It's really a very nice look.