May 14, 2025 • 47 mins
If you've ever wondered how a single film can completely transform a filmmaker's creative outlook, our conversation with Josh Hughes about Yorgos Lanthimos' "Dogtooth" offers a fascinating glimpse into that transformative power. Josh explains how this unsettling Greek masterpiece forced him to reconsider not just what can be created in cinema, but what should be created—a distinction that would fundamentally reshape his approach to storytelling.
What makes our discussion particularly unique is Josh's environment—he joins us from his literally haunted house in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where a woman named Marie passed away in the 1940s in the very room he's recording from. As a screenwriter, editor, and ghost tour guide, Josh brings a perspective that beautifully connects the supernatural with boundary-pushing cinema, both realms that challenge our comfort zones and expand our understanding of reality.
"Dogtooth" itself presents a disturbing scenario: parents who completely isolate their adult children from society, teaching them incorrect definitions for words and preventing any outside cultural influence. We explore the film's unflinching approach to taboo subjects, from incestuous exploration between siblings who don't know better to violent outbursts against perceived threats. The eldest daughter's journey toward rebellion provides the narrative's backbone, culminating in an ambiguous ending that appears hopeful but carries deeply pessimistic implications when examined closely.
Our conversation expands beyond the film to consider broader questions about artistic discomfort, parental influence, and media consumption. Josh reflects on his relatively unrestricted access to films growing up—a stark contrast to the characters in "Dogtooth"—and how this shaped his encyclopedic knowledge and love of cinema. We also discuss the importance of embracing international films despite subtitle hesitation, with Josh noting how Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" helped normalize subtitled content for mainstream American audiences.
Ready to explore uncomfortable cinema and perhaps discover how it might transform your own creative perspective? Subscribe to Film Nuts podcast, leave a review, and join our Discord community to continue the conversation about films that push boundaries and challenge conventions.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This film significantly changed my outlook
on what you can actually makein a film and I always like to
say if I were ever to win somelarge award, like an Oscar or
something, I would include it inmy speech because it really was
a turning point for my careerof not only what can you make
but more so.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
what should I be making?
Hey folks, welcome back to theFilm Nuts podcast.
I'm your host storyteller andfilmmaker, taylor D Adams.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
So for today's film, we'retalking about a movie that tests
our comfort levels, so much sothat the film itself is not even
(00:54):
rated.
Dogtooth, directed by YogoSalentimos, is an absurdist,
violent satire about control andhow it can corrupt, and despite
how uncomfortable or tabooDogtooth might seem, it was an
inspiring film.
For my guest today, josh Hughesis an editor and screenwriter
who claims that this moviechanged the way he thought about
(01:16):
filmmaking.
There is a lot to unpack inthis film, but today Josh and I
chat about parental manipulation, what we were and were not
allowed to watch as kids, andwhat it's like living in a
haunted house.
I assume y'all have seenDogtooth because you are joining
us today, but just in case,this film is all in Greek and
here is your trigger warning fortalks of animal abuse and
(01:38):
incest.
It feels kind of weird to saythat.
I hope you enjoyed the showafter I just said that.
But anyway, here's Josh Hughestalking about Dogtooth on the
Film Nuts podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I went into college thinking I was going to be like
the next Tarantino, like areally cool, crazy big idea
director man, and I realized onmy first short film that I did
not like directing.
I particularly didn't even likebeing on set and over the years
(02:09):
I really enjoyed thepre-production side of things,
typically with writing andputting films together, getting
things ready and post-productionediting.
So I like to get my ideas onpaper.
Everyone else can go film itand then send me a hard drive
and putting it together in postproduction.
So that's kind of been my focus, I'd say the past, like six,
seven years.
(02:29):
So recently as of January, ashort film that I wrote with my
frequent collaborator out ofAlabama is in post-production on
my end.
We just got V2 of that.
So we're going to be meetingthis week to start to get things
closer to a fine cut.
I've also been writing a featurethese past couple months.
(02:50):
I just hit page 72 last night.
So in the feature film, world72 is getting pretty close to
end.
We're in the third act now andI'm also writing a book.
Um, and I'm also writing a book, you know, uh, here locally in
waukesha, wisconsin.
Uh, I am a, um, a ghost walktour guide in the summer months
(03:11):
and, um, the company came to meand said take all your stories,
write them down, find somephotos.
Um, we'll copy, edit for you,we'll publish it, we'll give you
hard copies to go sell and andthen, once they recoup their
money, we can just split theprofits.
And it's like being a publishedauthor with not having to find,
you know, like a publishingcompany, or getting it printed
(03:32):
or paying those costs.
Um, it was an easy decision tobe like yes, let's do this, you
know there's a lot there I wantto.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I want to ask you about.
That's awesome, um, okay.
So the first first thing I wantto ask you about is so what is
it like to write something, sendit out into the world and then
you get the footage back and isit different than what you wrote
down?
Is it similar, like?
What is that process?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
you know, it's both.
It's sometimes it's way betterthan you had in your mind's eye,
other times it's like what isthis that I'm looking at?
I would say, with this shortfilm, um, the director and I we
have, um, we have very similarideas and visions for everything
, and that just goes about hoursof talking and talking and
(04:20):
talking about the idea, um, andI would say there's only like
maybe one or two moments whereI'm like I wish we would have
gotten a closeup of this or Iwish there would have been more
coverage of this.
But really we have such similartastes in film, we, we, we
already know the aesthetic, thestyle of shots, the framing
going into it.
And I would say for this short,long legs was a big inspiration
(04:42):
for how we wanted shots framedgoing into it, so it came out
exactly the way I expected.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's awesome.
Yeah, long legs yeah, that wasI enjoyed.
I enjoyed that movie last year.
That was really good.
Um, but I now I have to ask youabout giving ghost tours, all
right, so how did that happen?
How did that start?
What got you into that?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Um, so I grew up about five minutes from where I
currently live and it was from avery young age that I was just
starting to experience thingsthat I didn't quite know what
they were.
So back then you had to go tothe card catalog in the school
library, dig through and find abook about ghosts, right, and
(05:23):
that's really kind of led me onthis lifelong journey to further
understand and explore not justghost stories but paranormal
investigation, actually beingable to communicate with
something that is no longeralive.
And a really fun fact is thatit depends who you ask fun facts
.
But this room that I'm in rightnow my office is actually where
a woman passed away here in the1940s, and about four years
(05:48):
after living here, my wife and Istarted to experience bizarre
things in the house and then,contacting a former owner, he
was also able to say that, yes,we experienced those same exact
things, and he was the one whotold me that she passed away in
this room.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So yeah, it was always my dream to own a haunted
house.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I guess that's a dream come true, right this.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
This is a first.
I've never had anyone do apodcast session from a haunted
house.
This is fucking cool.
Uh, now we were havingtechnical difficulties earlier.
I wonder if your friendly ghostwas trying to interfere with
your conversation with me.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
There's been some interesting things that have
happened over the years.
Nothing malevolent, nothingevil.
It's as the former owner put it, it's a Casper type spirit
that's kind of looking after usand our family so you know,
that's kind of like the morepersonal side to it.
But I just enjoy history.
(06:52):
I enjoy weird history, um, youknow, murders, aliens, ghosts.
So Waukesha has a lot of creepytales to tell.
Uh, and it's my home and I liketo kind of pride myself as
being the local um Waukeshaexperts on the paranormal.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Wow, this is really cool.
Um, do you know your, yourspirit's name?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yes, it's, uh, marie.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Marie.
All right, well, I have herobituary printed out.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
So oh wow, she was just a very old woman, but uh,
yeah, right here in this room.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Wow.
Well, marie, if you'relistening, I hope you enjoy the
show.
Um hope you enjoy the show Hopeyou enjoy.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
The show.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You're live.
Wow, this is nuts.
Wow, man, I kind of want tojust talk to you for an hour
about that.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
But the reason why we're having you on today is you
wanted to talk about Dogtooththis film significantly changed
my outlook on what you canactually make in a film,
significantly changed my outlookon what you can actually make
in a film, and I always like tosay, if I were ever to win some
large award, like an oscar orsomething, I would.
I would include it in my speechbecause it really was a turning
(07:54):
point for my career of not onlywhat can you make or but like
more.
So what should I be making andum?
yeah, you know it's, some peoplesay, like when I was a kid I
saw this movie on TV, or Ilistened to the Beatles for the
first time and wanted to be anartist.
It was like when I saw that,that was just like boom cemented
.
It's changing your career pathforever.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I kind of bring this up.
So I don't like to presumeabout what my audience knows or
does not know, what movies theyhave seen and have not seen.
But I had not heard of Dogtoothuntil recently.
Tell me how you got introducedto this completely Greek film.
This is a foreign film outsideof the United States and for it
(08:38):
to be such a seminal work foryou, to kind of reference, how
did you first come about it?
Come about seeing it?
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I think I was working with a short film Either I was
editing or writing orcollaborating with the director
here and as he saw the draftsthat I was presenting him, he
said you know, there's thesefilms that I've seen that I
think your writing reminds me of.
You should take a look at them,and I was just writing in a
(09:09):
bizarre way.
You know different storylines,different thinking.
And he said you should watchDogtooth and I'd never heard of
it.
And I went down to the library,which is a free movie store,
found a copy.
I told my wife this is tooweird for you.
I'm going to go in the bedroomand watch this for a couple
hours.
Copy.
I told my wife this is tooweird for you.
I'm going to go in the bedroomand watch this for a couple
hours.
I can vividly remember movingour sofa into the middle of the
(09:31):
room, popping in the DVD andjust being in complete awe of
just even the first scene.
It's so unique how this moviestarts that it instantly grabs
you and makes you want to watchthe rest of it.
The new words of the day arethe following Sea Motorway Exit
(09:56):
Caravan.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Sea is the leather city throne and so it's.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It's that first new experience, that first learning
about it was just like you know,it was like kind of like a
magical journey, uh, even justto where we are today, me
remembering it and talking toyou about it.
It was it was like maybe thatfirst time you go to disney
world, or that first time youhave a sip of beer, whatever
that magical first memory youhave.
It's like, wow, that's what itwas.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
It was just a surreal viewing experience yeah, wow,
um, yeah, there are plenty ofmovies that I'll be like.
I know my partner does not wantto watch this.
I'm gonna watch it by myself.
I could definitely could seethis as being possibly one of
those things Probably the mostsexually explicit movie I've
ever seen.
That's not technicallyclassified as pornography, which
(10:55):
I was not expecting when Istarted to watch this film, but
so, like when you're watching,you're talking about the first
scene and how it grabbed aholdof you.
What was, what was the ridelike for you as you were going
through this movie from start tofinish?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Well, as you know, um , or maybe the listeners don't
know.
You know it starts off withthese three uh siblings in a
bathroom and they're listeningto a tape recorder and it's all
these words that we would know,like sofa, highway bird, you
know things like that, um, butthe tape is telling them that
these know.
Like sofa, highway bird, youknow things like that.
But the tape is telling themthat these words like sofa means
something completely different.
(11:32):
And then you're like why is that?
Why?
Why are these people beingtaught words that we all know is
meaning something?
And then these kids who arewell into their teenage years
start making up games that arejust so simple and boring that
would be meant for like children.
These kids who were well intotheir teenage years, um, start
making up games that that arejust so simple and boring.
That would be meant for likechildren, um, and it was just
(11:53):
like wow, this is so different.
And the fact that it was inGreek, um, didn't make any
difference.
You know, there's subtitles arethere?
um but it was one of thosemovies where, if you don't like
subtitles, it doesn't matterLike you're there for this
experience.
And that really kind of keptthrough as you learn why these
(12:14):
kids are being taught differentwords.
The family living in thiscompound, you know you have a
prostitute coming over to helpservice the male member of the
family.
And really it's like it'sreally contained, but it's such
a big world and that's allcreated by Yorgos Lanthimos and
the style of writing anddirecting that he has.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, was this?
Was this the first Yorgos movieyou have seen, or was it?
Did this come later for you?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I think my wife and I watched uh killing of a sacred
deer and that was interestingbecause we were just like why
are these people acting so weird?
It doesn't make sense why youhave these hollywood actors
acting different than what we'reused to, and as I did my
research.
I'm like, oh, it's his, that'shis style, okay, cool.
(13:04):
And the reason I watched DogTooth Alone is because she
wasn't quite fond of the way hewas doing things, which I agree.
It is an acquired taste.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
But I think ever since then.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I've watched Lobster.
The two of us watched theFingert, which was quite
enjoyable.
I will say his recent films.
I haven't been that fond of.
I did not like God.
What was the newest one thatshe won Best Actress for?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Emma Stone.
Well, there was Poor Things,but then there was Kinds of
Kindness which came out afterthat.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Poor Things, Poor Things.
I really did not like at all.
I watched it and it through it,but just not my cup of tea.
So while I do love most of hisfilms, that one you probably
couldn't pay me to watch again.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Oh, okay, I actually really enjoy that one, but I
haven't.
I haven't seen kinds ofkindness, so but I don't know
anything about that, but thelobster the lobster was the
first one that I saw.
That I saw uh by your guys.
My partner and I went and sawit and we were, we were hooked.
Uh, that made us fans, uh, tocheck out his work.
We were in.
It was an instant favorite ofours.
(14:15):
Uh, no pun intended.
Um, so so are you talking?
You talked a little bit abouthow, generally, how watching
this film kind of redefined toyou what could be done in a
movie.
Can you go into a little bitmore detail about how, how that
movie kind of inspired you andyour work?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well, I will say much like the lobster, it's that
really like attention grabbingopen.
You know, like like the lobster, you got a woman driving and
she pulls over the side of theroad and kills a cow.
It's like what?
Why?
Why does she do this?
What's happening I want to knowmore.
And that's the same thing withdog tooth is like you've got
(14:56):
this just like very interesting,bizarre, different opening.
But what's kind of a commonthread through all his movies,
especially dog tooth, is thatit's not weird, just to be weird
.
There's a purpose for all theweirdness.
You know it is bizarre.
You know it doesn't.
It probably wouldn't make sensein the real world but it's very
(15:16):
, very believable because of theworld building that he does.
So whenever I struggle withlike an opening scene in my
writing or editing, I alwayskind of reference some of his
movies, especially dog tooth,because he really knows how to
open a film, um, and in themthat carries throughout so like
as it gets weirder, especiallyin dog tooth.
(15:36):
Um, you believe it because thisis how the characters have acted
the whole time.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
This is the storyline that he's telling, and you
can't wait to see how it ends,because usually it's in a very
interesting way as well yeah, soI mean, when you were, when you
were watching this film, um,you were seeing things that were
unusual, uh, kind of wonderingwhy things were happening.
You know, curious about the uhintention of being weird.
(16:02):
Um, so would you, is it fair tosay that kind of viewing this
kind of made you uncomfortable,but in kind of a curious way
that's an interesting way to putit.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Um, I, I think you know and I I have been kind of
putting all this films together,so far um, but especially with
Dogtooth it's, I think there's abit of like taboo interest in
it as well, because the Greekfilm industry does things
different than we would do herein America, right Like there's
(16:35):
full-frontal male nudity.
There's sexual explicit scenesthat you would not see in
American films, and while thatwasn't, the reason I was
watching it.
It just kind of added on top oflike all these uncomfortable
things that were happening andjust made it like a really like
emotional rollercoaster ofweirdness.
It's just so many differentthings being thrown at you,
(16:55):
that's.
It does make you a bituncomfortable, but it's a
comfortable uncomfortable whereit's not like it's going to keep
me up at night for a few dayslike some horror movies do so.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So how important is it for people to experience
things that make themuncomfortable?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
you know I go back to a short film that I wrote in
college.
It was one of the first shortfilms and it was, um, I would
say it was graphic you.
It was about a student thatstalks and kills a co-ed and I
remember my teacher said youknow, I was revolted by this
story.
I threw it away and I was a bitperplexed because I said isn't
(17:40):
the purpose of a film to have anemotional reaction.
To have an emotional reactionlike you're supposed to have,
either an uncomfortable or apositive or a comedic or a
horrific reaction like that'sthis the purpose of watching a
movie?
Or listening to a song writingpoetry, whatever it may be like
you want to have emotion comeout of that.
(18:00):
So, um, I've kind of kept on tothat experience as well,
because it's like you reallywant to have that emotion and I
had that when I was watching DogTooth.
It was like it kind of likebrought me back to that senior
year in college of like, wow,this is like what I was even
trying to do back then.
(18:22):
But it just wasn't as popular.
You know, yeah, does thatanswer your question?
You know I'm drawing on allthese personal experiences, um,
but it just wasn't as popular,you know, um, yeah, is that
answer your question?
You know I'm drawing on thesepersonal experiences.
It was really like the past andpresent, like everything kind
of met at this interestingmoment in my life when I watched
dog to it for the first time.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yes, Like the goal of a movie, uh, we want it to
affect us in some way, you knowwhether it's we turn off our
brain and have a good time, orwhether it makes us like lean in
or like even shy away, Like wedon't.
We don't want to watch that onescary scene, so we like look to
the corner of the screen orsomething like that.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Like some kind of some kind of reaction we want.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Um, but what do you think?
I mean why?
Why do you think, or did youlearn, that your instructor,
professor, threw it away?
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I don't know if he was, metaphorically speaking
tossed it away, but I never gotthe script back.
Um, I, I don't know.
I I just think it was not whatthey were used to.
Most of the films that weremade in these courses were
comedic, were dramatic.
You know a lot of college kidslike to write films about making
(19:34):
movies, even though they'remaking one of their first films.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
And.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
I'm guilty of it as well, but I just think it was
really like dog tooth.
It was a complete curveball towhat I was used to.
I think that script that I hadwritten was a complete curveball
and maybe he just didn'tconnect with it, which is
totally okay, but to kind of getrid of it so that nobody is
exposed to it.
I felt was inappropriate, so.
(20:00):
I don't think you know, anyideas or films or short films,
features, documentaries shouldjust be completely disregarded
because they're different thanthe norm.
I think people should lean intothem because it makes you think
differently and you can reallyinfluence whatever your art form
may be to just either be better, be different, be unique, you
(20:21):
know.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, totally.
I remember when I was incollege the very first like
video production course I took,everybody, or every pair of
people, had their own projectand they had the part of the
assignment was storyboarding andpresenting the storyboard to
the class.
It was like our final project.
Every single person's videostoryboard, including my own,
(20:46):
started with a shot of an alarmclock, like there was 12 people
in there and none of us plannedit and all of us had done the
exact same thing.
And to me I was like holy shit.
Like you know, it was kind of ashock.
Like we're not original.
We're not original yet.
Like we're still learning howto do all this.
We're not original yet.
Like we're still learning howto do all this Um and so when
(21:06):
you talk about, you know the,the types of, uh, the average
student film that gets made,like that's very much in line.
Like everybody kind of has theygo down a certain number of
routes.
Like a popular thing right nowis horror.
Like horror is big right nowwhen it comes to student film,
when it comes to indie film,because you know, can get weird
um it, you can do it forrelatively cheap.
(21:28):
That's also a big uh, that'salso a big benefit.
You don't need a lot of moneyto do this um.
So that's, yeah, that's reallyinteresting.
Yeah, talking about thedifferent films that certain
people were presenting, thatmakes total sense for this film.
For this film there's a there'sa lot going on uh in dog tooth.
Um, there's a lot to read into.
Um.
There are uh themes ofparenting, there are themes of
(21:51):
control, themes of manipulation,um explorations of different uh
sec, possible sexual taboos, um.
To you, is there a particulartheme or message that you
gravitated toward most?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I think a lot of it would be maturity, you know as
these kids are maturing.
They're really starting toeither lean in to the rules more
, which I think would be themale- character or start to
realize something is wrong orsomething.
(22:29):
It shouldn't be like this, asthe lead character does, the
female and she eventually Ibelieve at the end she like
bashes out her dog tooth andeven though it is impossible, I
think, to lose that toothnaturally.
She does it and then she finallyfeels free, which isn't the way
(22:53):
it should be.
But you know, I would say, asyou kind of see, in society,
females mature quicker thanmales and she kind of realized,
quicker than her brother and heryounger female sibling, that I
need to get out of here.
This is not how life should be.
That was probably one of themain things that I took away.
I think the other interestingpart was parenting.
(23:13):
Um, you know, as a, as parentstry to control their kids by the
rules, this guy, this father,goes to the extreme to make sure
that his kids are never goes tothe extreme to make sure that
his kids are never tainted byoutside society.
So while you try to be the bestparent, you can teach your kids
things you know.
There's certainly thosehelicopter parents that you see
(23:36):
in society, with your friends,with your peers, that try to
control every little aspect downto the minute, little details,
but it's like you gotta let yourkids be who they are, so that
they can actually um become thepeople that they're meant to be
yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Um, the the weird thing.
When I was watching this movie,I was like, okay, once I
figured out, like, what thedynamic dynamic was between all
the characters we see on screen,I was like, are these these
quote-unquote kids?
They gotta be in their 20s,like they don't do.
It doesn't look like they're 16or 17 or something like that.
And with the, the eldest, theeldest daughter, seeing her
(24:17):
realization and the lengths thatshe goes through in order to
escape, basically, um, I thinkwe're perfectly dramatic in
relation to all the terriblethings that she had to put up
with and go through in herupbringing.
Um, was there?
Was there a particular momentor scene that, uh, that might
(24:42):
have been your favorite of thismovie?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
As uncomfortable as it made me.
The two scenes that come to meright now, I guess would be when
the older sister and theyounger sister are sort of
exploring that sexual aspect,because they don't exactly know
that it's wrong.
And while they don't do much,they kind of grotesque you out.
(25:21):
It is interesting how they'rerealizing that there are these
different sensations you canhave and they're testing it out
on each other.
That was a bit uncomfortable,but the other thing was also
when the cat came to the houseand they think it's like an evil
beast because the dad hascreated this narrative in their
(25:43):
head.
So the stupid male sibling hegoes out of his way to kill it
in a triumphant manner.
You know I am a cat person, soit was uncomfortable to watch,
but it was also just veryinteresting because the dad made
them all believe that thislittle helpless animal was going
(26:03):
to kill all of them if theydidn't do something about it or
if they tried to escape.
Uh, so it's, you know, kind ofgoing back to your earlier
question of being uncomfortable,it's like, yeah, there there
were a few things that just kindof made your skin crawl a
little bit, but, you know, notin like a horrific way of a
typical horror movie yeah, yeah,like when you, when you think
(26:25):
about what these, it's weird forme to call them kids because
they literally full-grown adults.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
But, yeah, yeah, like when you, when you think about
what these, it's weird for me tocall them kids because they
literally full grown adults.
But these three quote unquoteoffspring of the of the parents.
It's really interesting to me.
I mean, this movie came out inlike 2010 and maybe within the
past like five ish years, maybeslightly before pandemic times,
(26:51):
there was an emergence of mediaabout different and possibly
better options for youthchildren to discover things on
their own in a healthier way.
Discover things on their own ina healthier way.
I think with I think with thisfilm, it, you know, a decade
(27:12):
before we're we see all thisstuff, it is kind of presenting
like what are the possiblenegative consequences of that
too much control, of taking awaythe freedom of kids to kind of
learn on their own, because thefather and the mother are
feeding the kids just incorrect,manipulative information, but
(27:33):
the kids are still going througheverything A teenager goes
through, a young adult goesthrough, and so it really just
really feels really weird whenthey're kind of doing it in this
unintentionally rebellious way,through the lens of all this
control, it just seems to ussuper uncomfortable because they
don't know any better, theyhaven't been taught anything
(27:55):
about any part of life.
It seems like they'rediscovering you know the fact
that you know the word zombiecomes to mean little yellow
flower, like that's a benignexample of how the manipulation
is.
Uh, you know the manipulation,the manipulative effects these
parents are having on their kids, but especially with the sexual
stuff like these cards.
(28:16):
One of the most uncomfortablescenes for me was when the three
adult kids are in the bathtubtogether and the male is like
exploring his sisters and itvery much is shot in a way that
feels like an exploration, likean experimentation, like trying
to see if things feel right orwrong, and so I think that's
(28:39):
just really interesting to see,to take into that account those
ideas and look at this filmthrough there.
Like why are they even so weird?
It's like cause they haven'tbeen taught any better or any
worse, right?
So I mean, I don't really havea question out of that, it's
just something I observed whichI thought was super interesting
because, like I'm normally, likeI said, we would just feel
(29:01):
really uncomfortable and likewhy are we doing this?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
But I think, when you look at it from the character's
point of view, they don't knowany better.
Right, right, yeah, it's,they're there, it's.
This is what they've beentaught.
You know, um, it's.
It's a weird place to put yourminds, because we've been taught
those things aren't acceptableor that's not behavior that you,
that you do in life, but theydon't.
They don't know anybody, andthat's that's where you can't
like get upset with them because, um, they haven't been taught.
You don't sympathize that.
They don't know that.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
This is things you just don't do, yeah going off of
that and in talking about howjust media has been different in
its uh or types of media havebeen different in educating or
entertaining um ways thatchildren and youths and
teenagers can learn more aboutthemselves.
(29:56):
I think you know most parentswant to limit what their kids
are exposed to.
I think that's a natural thing.
I think they want to beprotective.
One of the things I got a realkick out of was the parents
aversion to any kind of popculture, any kind of movies.
(30:16):
Um, the only movies they watchare home movies.
And when the eldest or I can'tremember if it was the eldest of
the youngest daughter starts uhquoting different movies,
including one of my favoritemovies, jaws, um, just like she
was just quoting it because shehad seen it, she got the tape
from the security guard.
Slash or Christina, I think,was her name.
(30:38):
Um, and was there any?
Were there any uh films or TVshows that you weren't allowed
to watch when you were coming up?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
No, I mean my love for movies has been around since
I can remember.
You know I probably watchedChild's Play and it and some of
these horror movies well beforeI should have these horror
(31:11):
movies, well before I shouldhave I remember, maybe when I
was five or six, I had beenshown Weekend at Bernie's and
there was a line in there, whenBernie the boss is in the water
and one of the guys says swimwith the fishies, you bastard.
And I remember I had repeatedthat line when my sister was
taking a bath or we were doingsomething around the house and I
said that to my mom, yelled atme and I was like, but it's in
(31:35):
the movie.
I don't know what a bastard is.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
But I just remember like that happening.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And then I was like, oh, okay, there's some things in
these movies I shouldn't berepeating.
Okay, there's some things inthese movies I shouldn't be
repeating.
But no, you know, I probablyshould have been censored a
little more, even though I hadto close my eyes every time
(32:01):
there was a nude scene in amovie.
But you know, I think it reallydid expose me to all different
types of movies.
You know, and I do reallycherish the fact that I've seen
so many different movies um, Ican easily quote movies.
I know, so much trivia.
So, just like that love formovies from a very young age, I
think the the?
um reluctancy to censor what Iwas watching, um, has definitely
(32:22):
helped shape me to you know thefilmmaker that I am today
because I do have a co-worker umwho hasn't seen many movies and
doesn't get my trivia and itdoesn't, you know, can't play
along with those jokes, and it'slike I really like to know that
I can I can kind of hang withanybody when it comes to movie
trivia and remembering quotesand things like that from
different films yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, for me, uh, movies and
(32:48):
tv kind of like have alwayskind of been around and
inspiring me, and my, my parentshad different kind of ideas
when it came to what I shouldand should not see.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
You know, my, my folks split when I was like two,
um, so like when I was with mydad.
I remember I was four years old, um, and I saw True Lies as a
four year old and I don'tremember anything about it other
than, like some guy getsstabbed in the eye.
It's the only thing I everremember from that movie.
But I actually recentlyrewatched it and I was like, oh,
this movie is so much fun Iprobably should not have seen it
(33:21):
as a four year old, but it'sstill so much fun.
And like Robin Hood, prince of,uh, you know, a guy gets his
hand chopped off and I guess afour-year-old is something I
remember.
I wasn't terrified by it, I wasjust like that happened, um, but
like, at the same time, my mom,uh, and my stepdad would not
let me watch, um, the Simpsonsfor the longest time as a kid
(33:44):
and I was like this it's acartoon, like how bad can it be?
And then I forgot if I ever wasactually given the green light.
But I just started watching itand they never like kind of
stopped me and I was like thiswasn't that bad.
So yeah, the protection or notprotection, I would just say the
level of protection that aparent can have half with their
(34:07):
kids as far as media, I think,varies differently and it does
affect them in strange waysCause, like you know you, there
nothing was off limits to youand you fell in love with film.
You know, some things were offlimits to me, even seeing as
something I should not watch,which might've made me be like
no, I kind of want to watch itnow to have that.
It's the same effect which Ithink is super interesting.
Especially in this film and dogtooth You've got a girl trying
(34:34):
to learn about anything andeverything and she's exposed to
some pop culture things.
We never could see her actuallywatch these pop culture
oriented things, but she'squoting them all the time, which
I think is super interestingbecause she kind of learns a
sense of play.
She's reenacting Jaws and oh,this was funny I was when I was
(34:56):
watching the movie and we get tothe scene where the dad says do
you guys want to hear yourgrandfather sing In my head, I
(35:29):
go I bet it's Frank Sinatra, andsure enough it was Frank
Sinatra that shows up.
So it's weird that the fatheruses this element.
We're used to the kids beinglied to at this point, but to
then have this piece of mediatwisted in a way to fit his own
(35:53):
kind of agenda I thought wasjust a really interesting way to
go.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Yeah, I mean it was Potter, for the course, because
the whole everything he'sbasically done has been a lie
right.
So it's almost like making dadseem more important because his
grandfather was a very goodsinger you know frank sinatra.
Um, maybe it was an inadequacything, like he wanted to be a
(36:19):
great singer.
So it's like, oh, I tell thekids my grandpa was, you know
this great person who recordedmedia.
Maybe that makes me seem like amore important person.
So, um, yeah, it's just uh youknow it's like nothing in that
movie really surprised mebecause it was like these are
the rules and everybody plays bythem, regardless if the rules
(36:41):
are wrong.
So it's like every time you sawsomething it was just like yep,
um, that's just what he does,because this is the lie, the
narrative that he's created asthe father figure.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, yeah, that's a really interesting take as far
as, yeah, possibly like, what'sthe dad's backstory you know?
Like is he?
Is he saying all these thingsbecause he wished for a
different life when he wasgrowing up, or something along
those lines?
I think that's reallyinteresting to think about, or
something along those lines.
I think that's reallyinteresting to think about.
(37:14):
We'll fast forward to the endof this film.
The end of the film is veryambiguous.
The eldest escapes by knockingout her canine tooth with a hand
bell.
Weight gets in the trunk of thecar.
The father unknowingly drivesher to his work.
It's a shot of the last shot isa shot of the trunk closed, but
(37:36):
it's a shot of the trunk thatlingers for a very long amount
of time.
How do you interpret thatending?
You know it's.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
It's similar to a lot of his films, like I think the
lobster, is very ambiguous atthe end of what exactly happens
at the diner.
You know I like that style ofending, especially in Dogtooth,
because I think it gives youhope.
You know she has officiallyescaped, which does give you
(38:08):
hope.
You know she can go live thelife that she wants.
But once you really start tothink about it, it's like she
has no skills to operate in thisreal world.
So could she try to go findhelp?
Would she even know where toget help?
You know she has nobody totrust.
She could end up trusting thewrong people.
(38:29):
You know there's so manydifferent things that could and
probably will go wrong for herthat while the ending um, is
supposed to be hopeful, it'sactually, I think, has the
negative effect once you startto break it down, because
ultimately she might have to goback to her parents house to be
able to survive, and then whatsort of punishment is she going
to receive for trying to escape?
(38:51):
so you know it's uh, I think I'mlike talking myself out of
liking it, but um still as is Ilike how it's like she's escaped
, she's in the trunk, you knowshe can now go live the life she
wants, but in reality it's like, can she really, you know?
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I was, I was thinking about it too.
I was, I mean this ambiguousending, this cliffhanger,
basically not really knowing howthings end.
Yeah, I'm kind of myselfleaning toward a very
pessimistic ending too, becauseone of the things that all the
kids are taught is that youcan't leave the house unless
you're in a car, that you can'tleave the house unless you're in
(39:32):
a car, like there's that wholedeal where the toy plane ends up
like right outside the fenceand they need to use the car to
drive five feet and then pick itup and come back.
So I'm thinking she gets in thetrunk of the car and she's
stuck in there, because I mean,she might be able to get out of
the trunk, but then she's beentaught that it's unsafe or it's
not possible or whatever to beoutside of the house, outside of
(39:55):
the grounds, unless you're in acar.
So it makes me sadder, like,like we were saying like, oh you
know, great, she escaped,that's cool, she found a way,
but now she's not, like she'snot ready, like she.
Things could end very poorly,poorly for her and I.
To me that ending it makes themost sense with the film too,
(40:15):
because this is, you know, to me, this is not a film about
overcoming adversity andsucceeding.
It is very much about almost anature versus nurture not to
break it down to like in aoffering up, some kind of
platitude way, but it very muchfeels like that to me.
(40:36):
So, yeah, I I see what you'resaying because this film
probably doesn't get as muchrecognition, uh, in more of the,
uh, the, the worldwide scope ofpop culture.
Um, how would you recommendthis movie, uh, in order to get
someone to see it?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
You know I think I'm looking it up right now I think
it did receive an Oscarnomination.
I think it was nominated forbest uh best foreign film.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Yeah, best foreign language film in 2009.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Okay, so, um, not to say it doesn't have recognition,
because a lot of people don'tknow what it is still.
But I think I would say like,if you've seen um, like the
favorites poor things, um, ifyou've seen killing of a sacred
deer, if you like those movies,if you you like Lars von Trier,
(41:29):
if you like that Dogma 95 typeof movie, I would say it's like
go back and look at how this guygot his start.
You've seen his more mainstreamones.
I know the favorite that won somany Oscars but not made for
Best Picture.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Go see how this guy got started.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
I would say Dog tooth is the right place to start,
because he does have um elpsbefore this which I watched and
it was interesting, but it was,I would say it's not as good.
So, like the good entry pointinto his style and where he came
from, I would say, is dog toothand while um well, he does have
.
So many more other projectsthat he's worked on this one was
(42:14):
the first one where I was likewow, this is who he is as a
filmmaker.
This is just pure raw talent andenergy and hard work and
determination.
Look at this great movie thathe made.
And look at this great moviethat he made, Because once you
start getting up in his higherbudgets and working with
Hollywood actors, I think itdoes kind of dilute him a little
(42:37):
bit more recently with hisfilms.
I haven't enjoyed them as much,not to say they aren't good,
because obviously many peoplelike yourself enjoy poor things
Not my cup of tea.
I kind of go back to this asbeing like.
This is why I liked you.
This is why.
Back to this as being like.
This is why I liked you.
This is why I still like you,um, and this is why other people
should go watch it if you enjoythose style movies and don't be
(42:59):
as scared away by subtitles.
You know, I think I was umfrightened as a young child,
like my parents were notwatching that.
There's subtitles and I wasalways a little bit scared to
watch movies with subtitlesbecause you had to read the
whole time.
But then you know GloriousBastards came out.
Half that movie is subtitlesand I think that kind of
(43:20):
reworked.
My upbringing of subtitles areokay.
You can watch foreign movies.
Not everything has to be inEnglish.
There's so many good movies outthere in the world from all
these different countries.
Don't let having to read amovie scare you away from
watching it.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yes, I, I fully agree with that.
Yeah, so many people were justafraid of subtitles, when half
the people watch stuff inEnglish with subtitles anyway,
cause we can't hear anymore.
So it's like like what's thedifference?
You've got them on anyway.
Why is mom making foreign film?
Uh, is there?
Um, right, then you can, youcan learn a new language, yeah,
yeah, that's.
That's one of the things that Ifound really cool is like I've
(44:01):
watched a couple of movies andbeen like, oh, that word means
this.
I can pick up on this one thingthat they're saying over and
over again, thing that they'resaying over and over again.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Um so, uh, any plans to make a movie about the ghost
that lives in your house?
No, um, I think Marie is toofriendly.
Um, she doesn't need thatattention.
Uh, you know, I have.
I have captured some thingsover the years.
Um, if you're on TikTok you canfollow the supernatural cheese
headhead.
I don't post that often butthere have been a few things in
my paranormal exploits that I'vecaptured in the house and
(44:37):
around Waukesha, so probably notthis one.
But I am kind of starting tothink about doing something
about a local story that I'vebecome friends with the owners
of the house.
So possibly stay tuned in thefuture, if there stay tuned in
the future, if there's somethingin the works there.
But this house, we wereactually featured on House
Hunters, the TV show on HGTV.
(44:58):
So if you do like that you cango watch us.
But as far as the paranormal,probably not.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Well, josh, thanks so much, man.
This has really been a blast.
It was really good to meet you,you and then talk about uh,
talk about dog tooth with you.
Yeah, yeah, I really appreciateit.
You know, like I said, it's thekind of career defining moment
for me, so it's it's always apleasure to recommend this movie
.
Exposing ourselves to art oreven experiences that make us
(45:28):
uncomfortable can help us grow.
Dog tooth is an extreme case ofthis, but as a film, it pushes
boundaries almost in order forus to find out where the edges
of our own comfort zones are,and this is true whether you're
a filmmaker or not.
A huge thanks to Josh forjoining me today, and a swimming
pool-sized thank you to you forjoining us as well.
(45:50):
If you want to check out someof Josh's work work including
some of the ghost tours he'sdone, oh man, I I can't wait to
check that out.
Uh, you should check that outin the show notes.
And, lest I forget, a very,very special thank you to our
latest backer on patreon, evan,and if you want to be cool like
evan and support the show onpatreon, please visit the show
notes or visit patreoncom slashfilm nuts.
(46:12):
If you enjoyed the show today.
Please go ahead and subscribeon your favorite podcast
platform of choice to stay up todate with all of our episodes.
And if you happen to belistening to this on Apple
podcast, please, pretty please,leave a rating and review to
help us reach more awesome folkslike yourself.
Our theme this season isbrought to us by J Mac, our
(46:33):
artwork is designed by MadungwaSubuhudi, and all episodes of
the film nuts podcast areproduced and edited by a little
old me, taylor D Adams.
If you want to get in touch,you can email film nuts podcast
at gmailcom or follow us onInstagram and Tik TOK at film
nuts podcast, and don't forgetto join the nut house discord
community Absolutely free, bychecking out the link in the
show notes as well.
I would love to see you there.
Thank you all so much forjoining us today and until next
(46:57):
time, I hope none of you feellike you have to bash your teeth
in order to escape your house.
Take care.
This film significantly changed my outlook
on what you can actually makein a film and I always like to
say if I were ever to win somelarge award, like an Oscar or
something, I would include it inmy speech because it really was
a turning point for my careerof not only what can you make
but more so.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
what should I be making?
Hey folks, welcome back to theFilm Nuts podcast.
I'm your host storyteller andfilmmaker, taylor D Adams.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
So for today's film, we'retalking about a movie that tests
our comfort levels, so much sothat the film itself is not even
(00:54):
rated.
Dogtooth, directed by YogoSalentimos, is an absurdist,
violent satire about control andhow it can corrupt, and despite
how uncomfortable or tabooDogtooth might seem, it was an
inspiring film.
For my guest today, josh Hughesis an editor and screenwriter
who claims that this moviechanged the way he thought about
(01:16):
filmmaking.
There is a lot to unpack inthis film, but today Josh and I
chat about parental manipulation, what we were and were not
allowed to watch as kids, andwhat it's like living in a
haunted house.
I assume y'all have seenDogtooth because you are joining
us today, but just in case,this film is all in Greek and
here is your trigger warning fortalks of animal abuse and
(01:38):
incest.
It feels kind of weird to saythat.
I hope you enjoyed the showafter I just said that.
But anyway, here's Josh Hughestalking about Dogtooth on the
Film Nuts podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I went into college thinking I was going to be like
the next Tarantino, like areally cool, crazy big idea
director man, and I realized onmy first short film that I did
not like directing.
I particularly didn't even likebeing on set and over the years
(02:09):
I really enjoyed thepre-production side of things,
typically with writing andputting films together, getting
things ready and post-productionediting.
So I like to get my ideas onpaper.
Everyone else can go film itand then send me a hard drive
and putting it together in postproduction.
So that's kind of been my focus, I'd say the past, like six,
seven years.
(02:29):
So recently as of January, ashort film that I wrote with my
frequent collaborator out ofAlabama is in post-production on
my end.
We just got V2 of that.
So we're going to be meetingthis week to start to get things
closer to a fine cut.
I've also been writing a featurethese past couple months.
(02:50):
I just hit page 72 last night.
So in the feature film, world72 is getting pretty close to
end.
We're in the third act now andI'm also writing a book.
Um, and I'm also writing a book, you know, uh, here locally in
waukesha, wisconsin.
Uh, I am a, um, a ghost walktour guide in the summer months
(03:11):
and, um, the company came to meand said take all your stories,
write them down, find somephotos.
Um, we'll copy, edit for you,we'll publish it, we'll give you
hard copies to go sell and andthen, once they recoup their
money, we can just split theprofits.
And it's like being a publishedauthor with not having to find,
you know, like a publishingcompany, or getting it printed
(03:32):
or paying those costs.
Um, it was an easy decision tobe like yes, let's do this, you
know there's a lot there I wantto.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I want to ask you about.
That's awesome, um, okay.
So the first first thing I wantto ask you about is so what is
it like to write something, sendit out into the world and then
you get the footage back and isit different than what you wrote
down?
Is it similar, like?
What is that process?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
you know, it's both.
It's sometimes it's way betterthan you had in your mind's eye,
other times it's like what isthis that I'm looking at?
I would say, with this shortfilm, um, the director and I we
have, um, we have very similarideas and visions for everything
, and that just goes about hoursof talking and talking and
(04:20):
talking about the idea, um, andI would say there's only like
maybe one or two moments whereI'm like I wish we would have
gotten a closeup of this or Iwish there would have been more
coverage of this.
But really we have such similartastes in film, we, we, we
already know the aesthetic, thestyle of shots, the framing
going into it.
And I would say for this short,long legs was a big inspiration
(04:42):
for how we wanted shots framedgoing into it, so it came out
exactly the way I expected.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's awesome.
Yeah, long legs yeah, that wasI enjoyed.
I enjoyed that movie last year.
That was really good.
Um, but I now I have to ask youabout giving ghost tours, all
right, so how did that happen?
How did that start?
What got you into that?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Um, so I grew up about five minutes from where I
currently live and it was from avery young age that I was just
starting to experience thingsthat I didn't quite know what
they were.
So back then you had to go tothe card catalog in the school
library, dig through and find abook about ghosts, right, and
(05:23):
that's really kind of led me onthis lifelong journey to further
understand and explore not justghost stories but paranormal
investigation, actually beingable to communicate with
something that is no longeralive.
And a really fun fact is thatit depends who you ask fun facts
.
But this room that I'm in rightnow my office is actually where
a woman passed away here in the1940s, and about four years
(05:48):
after living here, my wife and Istarted to experience bizarre
things in the house and then,contacting a former owner, he
was also able to say that, yes,we experienced those same exact
things, and he was the one whotold me that she passed away in
this room.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So yeah, it was always my dream to own a haunted
house.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I guess that's a dream come true, right this.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
This is a first.
I've never had anyone do apodcast session from a haunted
house.
This is fucking cool.
Uh, now we were havingtechnical difficulties earlier.
I wonder if your friendly ghostwas trying to interfere with
your conversation with me.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
There's been some interesting things that have
happened over the years.
Nothing malevolent, nothingevil.
It's as the former owner put it, it's a Casper type spirit
that's kind of looking after usand our family so you know,
that's kind of like the morepersonal side to it.
But I just enjoy history.
(06:52):
I enjoy weird history, um, youknow, murders, aliens, ghosts.
So Waukesha has a lot of creepytales to tell.
Uh, and it's my home and I liketo kind of pride myself as
being the local um Waukeshaexperts on the paranormal.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Wow, this is really cool.
Um, do you know your, yourspirit's name?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yes, it's, uh, marie.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Marie.
All right, well, I have herobituary printed out.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
So oh wow, she was just a very old woman, but uh,
yeah, right here in this room.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Wow.
Well, marie, if you'relistening, I hope you enjoy the
show.
Um hope you enjoy the show Hopeyou enjoy.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
The show.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You're live.
Wow, this is nuts.
Wow, man, I kind of want tojust talk to you for an hour
about that.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
But the reason why we're having you on today is you
wanted to talk about Dogtooththis film significantly changed
my outlook on what you canactually make in a film,
significantly changed my outlookon what you can actually make
in a film, and I always like tosay, if I were ever to win some
large award, like an oscar orsomething, I would.
I would include it in my speechbecause it really was a turning
(07:54):
point for my career of not onlywhat can you make or but like
more.
So what should I be making andum?
yeah, you know it's, some peoplesay, like when I was a kid I
saw this movie on TV, or Ilistened to the Beatles for the
first time and wanted to be anartist.
It was like when I saw that,that was just like boom cemented
.
It's changing your career pathforever.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I kind of bring this up.
So I don't like to presumeabout what my audience knows or
does not know, what movies theyhave seen and have not seen.
But I had not heard of Dogtoothuntil recently.
Tell me how you got introducedto this completely Greek film.
This is a foreign film outsideof the United States and for it
(08:38):
to be such a seminal work foryou, to kind of reference, how
did you first come about it?
Come about seeing it?
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I think I was working with a short film Either I was
editing or writing orcollaborating with the director
here and as he saw the draftsthat I was presenting him, he
said you know, there's thesefilms that I've seen that I
think your writing reminds me of.
You should take a look at them,and I was just writing in a
(09:09):
bizarre way.
You know different storylines,different thinking.
And he said you should watchDogtooth and I'd never heard of
it.
And I went down to the library,which is a free movie store,
found a copy.
I told my wife this is tooweird for you.
I'm going to go in the bedroomand watch this for a couple
hours.
Copy.
I told my wife this is tooweird for you.
I'm going to go in the bedroomand watch this for a couple
hours.
I can vividly remember movingour sofa into the middle of the
(09:31):
room, popping in the DVD andjust being in complete awe of
just even the first scene.
It's so unique how this moviestarts that it instantly grabs
you and makes you want to watchthe rest of it.
The new words of the day arethe following Sea Motorway Exit
(09:56):
Caravan.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Sea is the leather city throne and so it's.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
It's that first new experience, that first learning
about it was just like you know,it was like kind of like a
magical journey, uh, even justto where we are today, me
remembering it and talking toyou about it.
It was it was like maybe thatfirst time you go to disney
world, or that first time youhave a sip of beer, whatever
that magical first memory youhave.
It's like, wow, that's what itwas.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
It was just a surreal viewing experience yeah, wow,
um, yeah, there are plenty ofmovies that I'll be like.
I know my partner does not wantto watch this.
I'm gonna watch it by myself.
I could definitely could seethis as being possibly one of
those things Probably the mostsexually explicit movie I've
ever seen.
That's not technicallyclassified as pornography, which
(10:55):
I was not expecting when Istarted to watch this film, but
so, like when you're watching,you're talking about the first
scene and how it grabbed aholdof you.
What was, what was the ridelike for you as you were going
through this movie from start tofinish?
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Well, as you know, um , or maybe the listeners don't
know.
You know it starts off withthese three uh siblings in a
bathroom and they're listeningto a tape recorder and it's all
these words that we would know,like sofa, highway bird, you
know things like that, um, butthe tape is telling them that
these know.
Like sofa, highway bird, youknow things like that.
But the tape is telling themthat these words like sofa means
something completely different.
(11:32):
And then you're like why is that?
Why?
Why are these people beingtaught words that we all know is
meaning something?
And then these kids who arewell into their teenage years
start making up games that arejust so simple and boring that
would be meant for like children.
These kids who were well intotheir teenage years, um, start
making up games that that arejust so simple and boring.
That would be meant for likechildren, um, and it was just
(11:53):
like wow, this is so different.
And the fact that it was inGreek, um, didn't make any
difference.
You know, there's subtitles arethere?
um but it was one of thosemovies where, if you don't like
subtitles, it doesn't matterLike you're there for this
experience.
And that really kind of keptthrough as you learn why these
(12:14):
kids are being taught differentwords.
The family living in thiscompound, you know you have a
prostitute coming over to helpservice the male member of the
family.
And really it's like it'sreally contained, but it's such
a big world and that's allcreated by Yorgos Lanthimos and
the style of writing anddirecting that he has.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, was this?
Was this the first Yorgos movieyou have seen, or was it?
Did this come later for you?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I think my wife and I watched uh killing of a sacred
deer and that was interestingbecause we were just like why
are these people acting so weird?
It doesn't make sense why youhave these hollywood actors
acting different than what we'reused to, and as I did my
research.
I'm like, oh, it's his, that'shis style, okay, cool.
(13:04):
And the reason I watched DogTooth Alone is because she
wasn't quite fond of the way hewas doing things, which I agree.
It is an acquired taste.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
But I think ever since then.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I've watched Lobster.
The two of us watched theFingert, which was quite
enjoyable.
I will say his recent films.
I haven't been that fond of.
I did not like God.
What was the newest one thatshe won Best Actress for?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Emma Stone.
Well, there was Poor Things,but then there was Kinds of
Kindness which came out afterthat.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Poor Things, Poor Things.
I really did not like at all.
I watched it and it through it,but just not my cup of tea.
So while I do love most of hisfilms, that one you probably
couldn't pay me to watch again.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Oh, okay, I actually really enjoy that one, but I
haven't.
I haven't seen kinds ofkindness, so but I don't know
anything about that, but thelobster the lobster was the
first one that I saw.
That I saw uh by your guys.
My partner and I went and sawit and we were, we were hooked.
Uh, that made us fans, uh, tocheck out his work.
We were in.
It was an instant favorite ofours.
(14:15):
Uh, no pun intended.
Um, so so are you talking?
You talked a little bit abouthow, generally, how watching
this film kind of redefined toyou what could be done in a
movie.
Can you go into a little bitmore detail about how, how that
movie kind of inspired you andyour work?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well, I will say much like the lobster, it's that
really like attention grabbingopen.
You know, like like the lobster, you got a woman driving and
she pulls over the side of theroad and kills a cow.
It's like what?
Why?
Why does she do this?
What's happening I want to knowmore.
And that's the same thing withdog tooth is like you've got
(14:56):
this just like very interesting,bizarre, different opening.
But what's kind of a commonthread through all his movies,
especially dog tooth, is thatit's not weird, just to be weird
.
There's a purpose for all theweirdness.
You know it is bizarre.
You know it doesn't.
It probably wouldn't make sensein the real world but it's very
(15:16):
, very believable because of theworld building that he does.
So whenever I struggle withlike an opening scene in my
writing or editing, I alwayskind of reference some of his
movies, especially dog tooth,because he really knows how to
open a film, um, and in themthat carries throughout so like
as it gets weirder, especiallyin dog tooth.
(15:36):
Um, you believe it because thisis how the characters have acted
the whole time.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
This is the storyline that he's telling, and you
can't wait to see how it ends,because usually it's in a very
interesting way as well yeah, soI mean, when you were, when you
were watching this film, um,you were seeing things that were
unusual, uh, kind of wonderingwhy things were happening.
You know, curious about the uhintention of being weird.
(16:02):
Um, so would you, is it fair tosay that kind of viewing this
kind of made you uncomfortable,but in kind of a curious way
that's an interesting way to putit.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Um, I, I think you know and I I have been kind of
putting all this films together,so far um, but especially with
Dogtooth it's, I think there's abit of like taboo interest in
it as well, because the Greekfilm industry does things
different than we would do herein America, right Like there's
(16:35):
full-frontal male nudity.
There's sexual explicit scenesthat you would not see in
American films, and while thatwasn't, the reason I was
watching it.
It just kind of added on top oflike all these uncomfortable
things that were happening andjust made it like a really like
emotional rollercoaster ofweirdness.
It's just so many differentthings being thrown at you,
(16:55):
that's.
It does make you a bituncomfortable, but it's a
comfortable uncomfortable whereit's not like it's going to keep
me up at night for a few dayslike some horror movies do so.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So how important is it for people to experience
things that make themuncomfortable?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
you know I go back to a short film that I wrote in
college.
It was one of the first shortfilms and it was, um, I would
say it was graphic you.
It was about a student thatstalks and kills a co-ed and I
remember my teacher said youknow, I was revolted by this
story.
I threw it away and I was a bitperplexed because I said isn't
(17:40):
the purpose of a film to have anemotional reaction.
To have an emotional reactionlike you're supposed to have,
either an uncomfortable or apositive or a comedic or a
horrific reaction like that'sthis the purpose of watching a
movie?
Or listening to a song writingpoetry, whatever it may be like
you want to have emotion comeout of that.
(18:00):
So, um, I've kind of kept on tothat experience as well,
because it's like you reallywant to have that emotion and I
had that when I was watching DogTooth.
It was like it kind of likebrought me back to that senior
year in college of like, wow,this is like what I was even
trying to do back then.
(18:22):
But it just wasn't as popular.
You know, yeah, does thatanswer your question?
You know I'm drawing on allthese personal experiences, um,
but it just wasn't as popular,you know, um, yeah, is that
answer your question?
You know I'm drawing on thesepersonal experiences.
It was really like the past andpresent, like everything kind
of met at this interestingmoment in my life when I watched
dog to it for the first time.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yes, Like the goal of a movie, uh, we want it to
affect us in some way, you knowwhether it's we turn off our
brain and have a good time, orwhether it makes us like lean in
or like even shy away, Like wedon't.
We don't want to watch that onescary scene, so we like look to
the corner of the screen orsomething like that.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Like some kind of some kind of reaction we want.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Um, but what do you think?
I mean why?
Why do you think, or did youlearn, that your instructor,
professor, threw it away?
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I don't know if he was, metaphorically speaking
tossed it away, but I never gotthe script back.
Um, I, I don't know.
I I just think it was not whatthey were used to.
Most of the films that weremade in these courses were
comedic, were dramatic.
You know a lot of college kidslike to write films about making
(19:34):
movies, even though they'remaking one of their first films.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
And.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
I'm guilty of it as well, but I just think it was
really like dog tooth.
It was a complete curveball towhat I was used to.
I think that script that I hadwritten was a complete curveball
and maybe he just didn'tconnect with it, which is
totally okay, but to kind of getrid of it so that nobody is
exposed to it.
I felt was inappropriate, so.
(20:00):
I don't think you know, anyideas or films or short films,
features, documentaries shouldjust be completely disregarded
because they're different thanthe norm.
I think people should lean intothem because it makes you think
differently and you can reallyinfluence whatever your art form
may be to just either be better, be different, be unique, you
(20:21):
know.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, totally.
I remember when I was incollege the very first like
video production course I took,everybody, or every pair of
people, had their own projectand they had the part of the
assignment was storyboarding andpresenting the storyboard to
the class.
It was like our final project.
Every single person's videostoryboard, including my own,
(20:46):
started with a shot of an alarmclock, like there was 12 people
in there and none of us plannedit and all of us had done the
exact same thing.
And to me I was like holy shit.
Like you know, it was kind of ashock.
Like we're not original.
We're not original yet.
Like we're still learning howto do all this.
We're not original yet.
Like we're still learning howto do all this Um and so when
(21:06):
you talk about, you know the,the types of, uh, the average
student film that gets made,like that's very much in line.
Like everybody kind of has theygo down a certain number of
routes.
Like a popular thing right nowis horror.
Like horror is big right nowwhen it comes to student film,
when it comes to indie film,because you know, can get weird
um it, you can do it forrelatively cheap.
(21:28):
That's also a big uh, that'salso a big benefit.
You don't need a lot of moneyto do this um.
So that's, yeah, that's reallyinteresting.
Yeah, talking about thedifferent films that certain
people were presenting, thatmakes total sense for this film.
For this film there's a there'sa lot going on uh in dog tooth.
Um, there's a lot to read into.
Um.
There are uh themes ofparenting, there are themes of
(21:51):
control, themes of manipulation,um explorations of different uh
sec, possible sexual taboos, um.
To you, is there a particulartheme or message that you
gravitated toward most?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
I think a lot of it would be maturity, you know as
these kids are maturing.
They're really starting toeither lean in to the rules more
, which I think would be themale- character or start to
realize something is wrong orsomething.
(22:29):
It shouldn't be like this, asthe lead character does, the
female and she eventually Ibelieve at the end she like
bashes out her dog tooth andeven though it is impossible, I
think, to lose that toothnaturally.
She does it and then she finallyfeels free, which isn't the way
(22:53):
it should be.
But you know, I would say, asyou kind of see, in society,
females mature quicker thanmales and she kind of realized,
quicker than her brother and heryounger female sibling, that I
need to get out of here.
This is not how life should be.
That was probably one of themain things that I took away.
I think the other interestingpart was parenting.
(23:13):
Um, you know, as a, as parentstry to control their kids by the
rules, this guy, this father,goes to the extreme to make sure
that his kids are never goes tothe extreme to make sure that
his kids are never tainted byoutside society.
So while you try to be the bestparent, you can teach your kids
things you know.
There's certainly thosehelicopter parents that you see
(23:36):
in society, with your friends,with your peers, that try to
control every little aspect downto the minute, little details,
but it's like you gotta let yourkids be who they are, so that
they can actually um become thepeople that they're meant to be
yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Um, the the weird thing.
When I was watching this movie,I was like, okay, once I
figured out, like, what thedynamic dynamic was between all
the characters we see on screen,I was like, are these these
quote-unquote kids?
They gotta be in their 20s,like they don't do.
It doesn't look like they're 16or 17 or something like that.
And with the, the eldest, theeldest daughter, seeing her
(24:17):
realization and the lengths thatshe goes through in order to
escape, basically, um, I thinkwe're perfectly dramatic in
relation to all the terriblethings that she had to put up
with and go through in herupbringing.
Um, was there?
Was there a particular momentor scene that, uh, that might
(24:42):
have been your favorite of thismovie?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
As uncomfortable as it made me.
The two scenes that come to meright now, I guess would be when
the older sister and theyounger sister are sort of
exploring that sexual aspect,because they don't exactly know
that it's wrong.
And while they don't do much,they kind of grotesque you out.
(25:21):
It is interesting how they'rerealizing that there are these
different sensations you canhave and they're testing it out
on each other.
That was a bit uncomfortable,but the other thing was also
when the cat came to the houseand they think it's like an evil
beast because the dad hascreated this narrative in their
(25:43):
head.
So the stupid male sibling hegoes out of his way to kill it
in a triumphant manner.
You know I am a cat person, soit was uncomfortable to watch,
but it was also just veryinteresting because the dad made
them all believe that thislittle helpless animal was going
(26:03):
to kill all of them if theydidn't do something about it or
if they tried to escape.
Uh, so it's, you know, kind ofgoing back to your earlier
question of being uncomfortable,it's like, yeah, there there
were a few things that just kindof made your skin crawl a
little bit, but, you know, notin like a horrific way of a
typical horror movie yeah, yeah,like when you, when you think
(26:25):
about what these, it's weird forme to call them kids because
they literally full-grown adults.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
But, yeah, yeah, like when you, when you think about
what these, it's weird for me tocall them kids because they
literally full grown adults.
But these three quote unquoteoffspring of the of the parents.
It's really interesting to me.
I mean, this movie came out inlike 2010 and maybe within the
past like five ish years, maybeslightly before pandemic times,
(26:51):
there was an emergence of mediaabout different and possibly
better options for youthchildren to discover things on
their own in a healthier way.
Discover things on their own ina healthier way.
I think with I think with thisfilm, it, you know, a decade
(27:12):
before we're we see all thisstuff, it is kind of presenting
like what are the possiblenegative consequences of that
too much control, of taking awaythe freedom of kids to kind of
learn on their own, because thefather and the mother are
feeding the kids just incorrect,manipulative information, but
(27:33):
the kids are still going througheverything A teenager goes
through, a young adult goesthrough, and so it really just
really feels really weird whenthey're kind of doing it in this
unintentionally rebellious way,through the lens of all this
control, it just seems to ussuper uncomfortable because they
don't know any better, theyhaven't been taught anything
(27:55):
about any part of life.
It seems like they'rediscovering you know the fact
that you know the word zombiecomes to mean little yellow
flower, like that's a benignexample of how the manipulation
is.
Uh, you know the manipulation,the manipulative effects these
parents are having on their kids, but especially with the sexual
stuff like these cards.
(28:16):
One of the most uncomfortablescenes for me was when the three
adult kids are in the bathtubtogether and the male is like
exploring his sisters and itvery much is shot in a way that
feels like an exploration, likean experimentation, like trying
to see if things feel right orwrong, and so I think that's
(28:39):
just really interesting to see,to take into that account those
ideas and look at this filmthrough there.
Like why are they even so weird?
It's like cause they haven'tbeen taught any better or any
worse, right?
So I mean, I don't really havea question out of that, it's
just something I observed whichI thought was super interesting
because, like I'm normally, likeI said, we would just feel
(29:01):
really uncomfortable and likewhy are we doing this?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
But I think, when you look at it from the character's
point of view, they don't knowany better.
Right, right, yeah, it's,they're there, it's.
This is what they've beentaught.
You know, um, it's.
It's a weird place to put yourminds, because we've been taught
those things aren't acceptableor that's not behavior that you,
that you do in life, but theydon't.
They don't know anybody, andthat's that's where you can't
like get upset with them because, um, they haven't been taught.
You don't sympathize that.
They don't know that.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
This is things you just don't do, yeah going off of
that and in talking about howjust media has been different in
its uh or types of media havebeen different in educating or
entertaining um ways thatchildren and youths and
teenagers can learn more aboutthemselves.
(29:56):
I think you know most parentswant to limit what their kids
are exposed to.
I think that's a natural thing.
I think they want to beprotective.
One of the things I got a realkick out of was the parents
aversion to any kind of popculture, any kind of movies.
(30:16):
Um, the only movies they watchare home movies.
And when the eldest or I can'tremember if it was the eldest of
the youngest daughter starts uhquoting different movies,
including one of my favoritemovies, jaws, um, just like she
was just quoting it because shehad seen it, she got the tape
from the security guard.
Slash or Christina, I think,was her name.
(30:38):
Um, and was there any?
Were there any uh films or TVshows that you weren't allowed
to watch when you were coming up?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
No, I mean my love for movies has been around since
I can remember.
You know I probably watchedChild's Play and it and some of
these horror movies well beforeI should have these horror
(31:11):
movies, well before I shouldhave I remember, maybe when I
was five or six, I had beenshown Weekend at Bernie's and
there was a line in there, whenBernie the boss is in the water
and one of the guys says swimwith the fishies, you bastard.
And I remember I had repeatedthat line when my sister was
taking a bath or we were doingsomething around the house and I
said that to my mom, yelled atme and I was like, but it's in
(31:35):
the movie.
I don't know what a bastard is.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
But I just remember like that happening.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
And then I was like, oh, okay, there's some things in
these movies I shouldn't berepeating.
Okay, there's some things inthese movies I shouldn't be
repeating.
But no, you know, I probablyshould have been censored a
little more, even though I hadto close my eyes every time
(32:01):
there was a nude scene in amovie.
But you know, I think it reallydid expose me to all different
types of movies.
You know, and I do reallycherish the fact that I've seen
so many different movies um, Ican easily quote movies.
I know, so much trivia.
So, just like that love formovies from a very young age, I
think the the?
um reluctancy to censor what Iwas watching, um, has definitely
(32:22):
helped shape me to you know thefilmmaker that I am today
because I do have a co-worker umwho hasn't seen many movies and
doesn't get my trivia and itdoesn't, you know, can't play
along with those jokes, and it'slike I really like to know that
I can I can kind of hang withanybody when it comes to movie
trivia and remembering quotesand things like that from
different films yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, for me, uh, movies and
(32:48):
tv kind of like have alwayskind of been around and
inspiring me, and my, my parentshad different kind of ideas
when it came to what I shouldand should not see.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
You know, my, my folks split when I was like two,
um, so like when I was with mydad.
I remember I was four years old, um, and I saw True Lies as a
four year old and I don'tremember anything about it other
than, like some guy getsstabbed in the eye.
It's the only thing I everremember from that movie.
But I actually recentlyrewatched it and I was like, oh,
this movie is so much fun Iprobably should not have seen it
(33:21):
as a four year old, but it'sstill so much fun.
And like Robin Hood, prince of,uh, you know, a guy gets his
hand chopped off and I guess afour-year-old is something I
remember.
I wasn't terrified by it, I wasjust like that happened, um, but
like, at the same time, my mom,uh, and my stepdad would not
let me watch, um, the Simpsonsfor the longest time as a kid
(33:44):
and I was like this it's acartoon, like how bad can it be?
And then I forgot if I ever wasactually given the green light.
But I just started watching itand they never like kind of
stopped me and I was like thiswasn't that bad.
So yeah, the protection or notprotection, I would just say the
level of protection that aparent can have half with their
(34:07):
kids as far as media, I think,varies differently and it does
affect them in strange waysCause, like you know you, there
nothing was off limits to youand you fell in love with film.
You know, some things were offlimits to me, even seeing as
something I should not watch,which might've made me be like
no, I kind of want to watch itnow to have that.
It's the same effect which Ithink is super interesting.
Especially in this film and dogtooth You've got a girl trying
(34:34):
to learn about anything andeverything and she's exposed to
some pop culture things.
We never could see her actuallywatch these pop culture
oriented things, but she'squoting them all the time, which
I think is super interestingbecause she kind of learns a
sense of play.
She's reenacting Jaws and oh,this was funny I was when I was
(34:56):
watching the movie and we get tothe scene where the dad says do
you guys want to hear yourgrandfather sing In my head, I
(35:29):
go I bet it's Frank Sinatra, andsure enough it was Frank
Sinatra that shows up.
So it's weird that the fatheruses this element.
We're used to the kids beinglied to at this point, but to
then have this piece of mediatwisted in a way to fit his own
(35:53):
kind of agenda I thought wasjust a really interesting way to
go.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Yeah, I mean it was Potter, for the course, because
the whole everything he'sbasically done has been a lie
right.
So it's almost like making dadseem more important because his
grandfather was a very goodsinger you know frank sinatra.
Um, maybe it was an inadequacything, like he wanted to be a
(36:19):
great singer.
So it's like, oh, I tell thekids my grandpa was, you know
this great person who recordedmedia.
Maybe that makes me seem like amore important person.
So, um, yeah, it's just uh youknow it's like nothing in that
movie really surprised mebecause it was like these are
the rules and everybody plays bythem, regardless if the rules
(36:41):
are wrong.
So it's like every time you sawsomething it was just like yep,
um, that's just what he does,because this is the lie, the
narrative that he's created asthe father figure.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, yeah, that's a really interesting take as far
as, yeah, possibly like, what'sthe dad's backstory you know?
Like is he?
Is he saying all these thingsbecause he wished for a
different life when he wasgrowing up, or something along
those lines?
I think that's reallyinteresting to think about, or
something along those lines.
I think that's reallyinteresting to think about.
(37:14):
We'll fast forward to the endof this film.
The end of the film is veryambiguous.
The eldest escapes by knockingout her canine tooth with a hand
bell.
Weight gets in the trunk of thecar.
The father unknowingly drivesher to his work.
It's a shot of the last shot isa shot of the trunk closed, but
(37:36):
it's a shot of the trunk thatlingers for a very long amount
of time.
How do you interpret thatending?
You know it's.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
It's similar to a lot of his films, like I think the
lobster, is very ambiguous atthe end of what exactly happens
at the diner.
You know I like that style ofending, especially in Dogtooth,
because I think it gives youhope.
You know she has officiallyescaped, which does give you
(38:08):
hope.
You know she can go live thelife that she wants.
But once you really start tothink about it, it's like she
has no skills to operate in thisreal world.
So could she try to go findhelp?
Would she even know where toget help?
You know she has nobody totrust.
She could end up trusting thewrong people.
(38:29):
You know there's so manydifferent things that could and
probably will go wrong for herthat while the ending um, is
supposed to be hopeful, it'sactually, I think, has the
negative effect once you startto break it down, because
ultimately she might have to goback to her parents house to be
able to survive, and then whatsort of punishment is she going
to receive for trying to escape?
(38:51):
so you know it's uh, I think I'mlike talking myself out of
liking it, but um still as is Ilike how it's like she's escaped
, she's in the trunk, you knowshe can now go live the life she
wants, but in reality it's like, can she really, you know?
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I was, I was thinking about it too.
I was, I mean this ambiguousending, this cliffhanger,
basically not really knowing howthings end.
Yeah, I'm kind of myselfleaning toward a very
pessimistic ending too, becauseone of the things that all the
kids are taught is that youcan't leave the house unless
you're in a car, that you can'tleave the house unless you're in
(39:32):
a car, like there's that wholedeal where the toy plane ends up
like right outside the fenceand they need to use the car to
drive five feet and then pick itup and come back.
So I'm thinking she gets in thetrunk of the car and she's
stuck in there, because I mean,she might be able to get out of
the trunk, but then she's beentaught that it's unsafe or it's
not possible or whatever to beoutside of the house, outside of
(39:55):
the grounds, unless you're in acar.
So it makes me sadder, like,like we were saying like, oh you
know, great, she escaped,that's cool, she found a way,
but now she's not, like she'snot ready, like she.
Things could end very poorly,poorly for her and I.
To me that ending it makes themost sense with the film too,
(40:15):
because this is, you know, to me, this is not a film about
overcoming adversity andsucceeding.
It is very much about almost anature versus nurture not to
break it down to like in aoffering up, some kind of
platitude way, but it very muchfeels like that to me.
(40:36):
So, yeah, I I see what you'resaying because this film
probably doesn't get as muchrecognition, uh, in more of the,
uh, the, the worldwide scope ofpop culture.
Um, how would you recommendthis movie, uh, in order to get
someone to see it?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
You know I think I'm looking it up right now I think
it did receive an Oscarnomination.
I think it was nominated forbest uh best foreign film.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Yeah, best foreign language film in 2009.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Okay, so, um, not to say it doesn't have recognition,
because a lot of people don'tknow what it is still.
But I think I would say like,if you've seen um, like the
favorites poor things, um, ifyou've seen killing of a sacred
deer, if you like those movies,if you you like Lars von Trier,
(41:29):
if you like that Dogma 95 typeof movie, I would say it's like
go back and look at how this guygot his start.
You've seen his more mainstreamones.
I know the favorite that won somany Oscars but not made for
Best Picture.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Go see how this guy got started.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
I would say Dog tooth is the right place to start,
because he does have um elpsbefore this which I watched and
it was interesting, but it was,I would say it's not as good.
So, like the good entry pointinto his style and where he came
from, I would say, is dog toothand while um well, he does have
.
So many more other projectsthat he's worked on this one was
(42:14):
the first one where I was likewow, this is who he is as a
filmmaker.
This is just pure raw talent andenergy and hard work and
determination.
Look at this great movie thathe made.
And look at this great moviethat he made, Because once you
start getting up in his higherbudgets and working with
Hollywood actors, I think itdoes kind of dilute him a little
(42:37):
bit more recently with hisfilms.
I haven't enjoyed them as much,not to say they aren't good,
because obviously many peoplelike yourself enjoy poor things
Not my cup of tea.
I kind of go back to this asbeing like.
This is why I liked you.
This is why.
Back to this as being like.
This is why I liked you.
This is why I still like you,um, and this is why other people
should go watch it if you enjoythose style movies and don't be
(42:59):
as scared away by subtitles.
You know, I think I was umfrightened as a young child,
like my parents were notwatching that.
There's subtitles and I wasalways a little bit scared to
watch movies with subtitlesbecause you had to read the
whole time.
But then you know GloriousBastards came out.
Half that movie is subtitlesand I think that kind of
(43:20):
reworked.
My upbringing of subtitles areokay.
You can watch foreign movies.
Not everything has to be inEnglish.
There's so many good movies outthere in the world from all
these different countries.
Don't let having to read amovie scare you away from
watching it.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yes, I, I fully agree with that.
Yeah, so many people were justafraid of subtitles, when half
the people watch stuff inEnglish with subtitles anyway,
cause we can't hear anymore.
So it's like like what's thedifference?
You've got them on anyway.
Why is mom making foreign film?
Uh, is there?
Um, right, then you can, youcan learn a new language, yeah,
yeah, that's.
That's one of the things that Ifound really cool is like I've
(44:01):
watched a couple of movies andbeen like, oh, that word means
this.
I can pick up on this one thingthat they're saying over and
over again, thing that they'resaying over and over again.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Um so, uh, any plans to make a movie about the ghost
that lives in your house?
No, um, I think Marie is toofriendly.
Um, she doesn't need thatattention.
Uh, you know, I have.
I have captured some thingsover the years.
Um, if you're on TikTok you canfollow the supernatural cheese
headhead.
I don't post that often butthere have been a few things in
my paranormal exploits that I'vecaptured in the house and
(44:37):
around Waukesha, so probably notthis one.
But I am kind of starting tothink about doing something
about a local story that I'vebecome friends with the owners
of the house.
So possibly stay tuned in thefuture, if there stay tuned in
the future, if there's somethingin the works there.
But this house, we wereactually featured on House
Hunters, the TV show on HGTV.
(44:58):
So if you do like that you cango watch us.
But as far as the paranormal,probably not.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Well, josh, thanks so much, man.
This has really been a blast.
It was really good to meet you,you and then talk about uh,
talk about dog tooth with you.
Yeah, yeah, I really appreciateit.
You know, like I said, it's thekind of career defining moment
for me, so it's it's always apleasure to recommend this movie
.
Exposing ourselves to art oreven experiences that make us
(45:28):
uncomfortable can help us grow.
Dog tooth is an extreme case ofthis, but as a film, it pushes
boundaries almost in order forus to find out where the edges
of our own comfort zones are,and this is true whether you're
a filmmaker or not.
A huge thanks to Josh forjoining me today, and a swimming
pool-sized thank you to you forjoining us as well.
(45:50):
If you want to check out someof Josh's work work including
some of the ghost tours he'sdone, oh man, I I can't wait to
check that out.
Uh, you should check that outin the show notes.
And, lest I forget, a very,very special thank you to our
latest backer on patreon, evan,and if you want to be cool like
evan and support the show onpatreon, please visit the show
notes or visit patreoncom slashfilm nuts.
(46:12):
If you enjoyed the show today.
Please go ahead and subscribeon your favorite podcast
platform of choice to stay up todate with all of our episodes.
And if you happen to belistening to this on Apple
podcast, please, pretty please,leave a rating and review to
help us reach more awesome folkslike yourself.
Our theme this season isbrought to us by J Mac, our
(46:33):
artwork is designed by MadungwaSubuhudi, and all episodes of
the film nuts podcast areproduced and edited by a little
old me, taylor D Adams.
If you want to get in touch,you can email film nuts podcast
at gmailcom or follow us onInstagram and Tik TOK at film
nuts podcast, and don't forgetto join the nut house discord
community Absolutely free, bychecking out the link in the
show notes as well.
I would love to see you there.
Thank you all so much forjoining us today and until next
(46:57):
time, I hope none of you feellike you have to bash your teeth
in order to escape your house.
Take care.
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