Recently, Street had the pleasure to interview the writer/director of Teeth, Mitchell Lichtenstein, and producer, Joyce Pierpoline, who graduated from Penn. Though the initial thrust of our questioning was something along the lines of, "What the fuck?" our conversation proved to be informative and reasonably mature.
Street: Can we talk about the vagina dentata as a myth and premise? How did you come up with that?
Lichtenstein: Well, it's something I read about in college and thought would make for an interesting symbol in movies. But the myth itself appears in a lot of cultures and arts, some of which we reference. For example, we have medusa imagery and a brief clip from the Black Scorpion. I like the image of a scorpion because it is big and daunting and has these clamping teeth that make the right kind of shape. I could've done a female vampire reference, but you know, there's a lot out there already. It was really just an interesting myth that I studied and liked what it said about men's attitude toward women.
Street: What would you say is the message of your film?
Lichtenstein: Simply, treat women well. Hopefully people will come away really talking about that point. We don't usually see misogyny treated in this way, so hopefully this is saying something in a new way. On the whole, the movie is critiquing men's treatment of women, vice-versa, and there was some content on the abstinence movement in our country.
Street: Teeth is a little intense for a comedy but more playful than a horror film. How do you sell a film like this to distributors and theatergoers?
Lichtenstein: It's hard to say, we just made it for what it was. We are trying to gear it more towards a black comedy, and the big audience for the film is in their twenties, so hopefully that's how it will be received. I definitely think there are some funny moments even they're a little gruesome.
Street: Do you see this becoming a cult classic?
Lichtenstein: Well we didn't set out to do that, of course. How does anyone make a film and intend it to become a cult favorite? But that would be great. I don't know how to that happen, but the film is made and what happens to it in the future is what happens to it.
Street: The symbolism in the cinematography was relentless. How did you come up with all those shots?
Lichtenstein: We definitely found and planned some great shots based on the locations we chose in and around Austin, Texas. We found that amazing vagina tree, the tree, which had a perfect formation of bark, and immediately knew we had to incorporate it. It established what angle to use. We also used Hamilton Pool [a pond outside of Austin] for that cave with stalactites. The cave is a natural vagina dentata.
Street: The movie had some really contrasting moments. One second it was intimate and the next it was gory. How did you get the actors into the right mood?
Lichtenstein: They are all trained actors who are great at their jobs. Jess Weixler, who plays Dawn, went to Julliard. John Hensley has been on Nip/Tuck, the TV show for a while now. They were all great.
Street: I found some of the scenes really gruesome and really limiting on my libido. Was this a common sentiment for people working on the film?
Lichtenstein: Actually, another interviewer found the movie to be erotic, so your taste might not be completely representative.
Street: Are there any funny stories from the filming experience?
Lichtenstein: We actually got accused of filming porno at one point. Someone misunderstood what our movie was about, and by the end of the day, the locally nightly news had a feature on us with the heading, "Is pornography being shot in your backyard?" Obviously things were clarified.
Street: Where do you go from here? Any plans for a sequel?
Lichtenstein: I'm actually working on another movie, but I suppose there could be a sequel to Teeth. Any ideas?
Street: What if Dawn fought crime with her newfound gift? She could go to work for the police and catch rapists.
Lichtenstein: [Laughing] That's not bad. I'll keep that in mind.
Street: Did you show your script drafts to a lot of people, or specifically women to get different interpretations of the myth's treatment?
Lichtenstein: It was always going to be risky, but it's really the execution that determines how offensive something like this will be. It's the myth that is gynophobic and misogynistic. Luckily, I haven't gotten too many complaints about that.
Joyce Pierpoline: Teeth really diverts the myth and makes it about female empowerment.
Street: Joyce, can we talk about your experience as a Penn student and how you came into filmmaking?
Pierpoline: Well, I took a lot of classes from Amos Vogel [film professor at Penn in 70's and 80's], who was a big inspiration. He was very helpful in my education, and I took all of his offered classes. I ended up majoring in European history and film.
Street: How did you get into the business?
Pierpoline: After school, I moved to Paris, when another Penn film professor, Antonin Leihm, helped get me my first job, which was the Cannes film festival. It was a great introduction to the industry.
Street: Mr. Lichtenstein, how did you get into films?
Lichtenstein: I got into acting in college, and then I went to the Yale School of Drama for acting. Eventually, I started writing stories and screenplays.
Street: How did the two of you meet and decide to collaborate together?
Pierpoline: We both were working on a movie called The Wedding Banquet a couple years ago. Mitch was an actor and I was at the press banquet. We're actually doing another movie now called Happy Tears, which is a comedy-drama about a messed up family. We're starting filming in April.
