Where have cult classics gone?
While midnight movie buffs go through the audience interaction motions with decades-old reels of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “This is Spinal Tap,” newer attempts at finding this generation’s version of those phenomena have mostly failed. Richard Kelly’s bloated, forced “Southland Tales” failed to attract positive attention, and the most recent cult success dates back to 1998’s “The Big Lebowski.”
These movies, rescued from obscurity by devoted audiences, were stale before writer/director/producer/actor/editor Tommy Wiseau brought “The Room” to packed screenings.
“When we released the film way back seven years ago, we submitted it to the Academy Awards,” Wiseau told The Eagle. “We didn’t win, but we followed all of the instructions and had to release the movie for two weeks in the theaters ... We got in trouble with the fire marshal because so many people showed up [to the screening].”
“The Room” is a complicated movie, but it is easy to see why it has an intense following. Protagonist Johnny (Wiseau) loves his fiancée, Lisa, who loves Johnny’s best friend Mark. Johnny’s young friend Denny develops problems with drugs and dealers. On top of that, Lisa accuses Johnny of abuse and her mother discovers she may have breast cancer. And, as if that weren’t enough, Johnny finds out about his future wife’s affair, and Mark resents Lisa for manipulating him.
When asked to explain his film in a sentence, Wiseau did so in only six words.
“Relationships: two is better than three.”
Besides the drama of Johnny’s ill-fated romantic life, “The Room” is full of strange moments of humor and idiosyncrasies that Wiseau’s audiences have latched onto. They scream along with Johnny’s dialogue — especially when he yells “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!” in what is perhaps the film’s most famous line.
Though the film’s residency in Los Angeles began seven years ago, Wiseau originally intended to turn the story of “The Room” into a novel.
“I took acting classes in San Francisco and decided to turn the story into a script,” he said. “I could write the book right now as we speak, but we don’t have time.”
Though the film attracted negative responses from critics, Wiseau is not bothered by their opinions.
“Whatever people say, I’m OK with it as long as it is sincere,” Wiseau said.
“I am on the same page as Shakespeare and Hitchcock because we are dealing with the truth and with the sincere. I didn’t make this room just for me; I made it for you and everybody.”
Wiseau said the other problem with critics is that they don’t look for symbolism.
“Nobody writes about what the Golden Gate bridge means in this movie set in San Francisco,” he said.
He knows that when seeing his movie multiple times in theaters, people will have the chance to analyze the movie more and discover the symbolism that they did not previously notice.
“The Room’s” greatness has been dismissed as an accident. The film’s detractors assume that the comedy that audiences find in the dialogue and acting is unintentional, but in fact the movie was a labor of love. During filming, the crew quit three separate times, and each time Wiseau had to establish a new team. He also changed every cut in the movie three times, leaving much film on the editing room floor.
“I wish I could tell you that everything was an accident, but you have to prepare yourself mentally and physically,” Wiseau said. “When everybody quits on you, you have to keep going.”
Though Wiseau directed the film, he said he tended to like acting more.
“Acting is so much less stressful than directing,” Wiseau said. “With directing, you have to do everything. It was a lot of hard work. Even the words ‘hard work’ do not compute.”
But all of it paid off. The film has been screened across North America and the United Kingdom and will reach D.C.’s Landmark E Street for four showings (Nov. 27 and 28 and Dec. 4 and 5).
Cult cinema has its new champion, and the District will finally experience it the way it should be experienced.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
