Exclusive: Harmony Korine’s ‘Trash Humpers’ Begins To Hit Limited Theaters May 7, On DVD September 21 Via Drag City Records Label

The unorthodox and mischievous beauty of Harmony Korine’s experimental narrative, “Trash Humpers” was on display last week for all of the SXSW Film Festival to see.

It’s a film the whole Playlist crew has seen several times, at TIFF ’09, NYFF ’09 and at the 38th Festival Du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal and we pretty much all loved it unanimously. At first we had fears the VHS-camera shot experiment might be a disaster of pretentiousness, but we were happy to report it’s quite hilarious and beautiful. Like a found-object curiosity, we included the picture in our 2010 Anticipated: 30 Films We’ve Already Seen feature, and called it, “part horror, part comedy, part genius work brought down from the heavens…Korine’s experimental, thrown-together, lo-fi experiment shot on VHS camcorders [was filled] with a shit-eating joyousness, the spirit and rebelliousness of skate videos and a riotous sense of twisted, juvenile humor. [In short,] it was a beautiful celebration of fucking around and doing dumb shit — so much so it elevated stupidity to a work of poetry.”

Many speculated whether the bizarro film would get a release at all, but through the folks at Drag City — the indie rock label who released the soundtrack to his last picture, “Mister Lonely” — the film will receive a small and limited release starting in New York City on May 7 (you can check out the Drag City website to find a constant update of the theater listings in case they grow). Also for those who don’t live in the four cities the film will see initial release in, Drag City will put out “Trash Humpers” on DVD September 21st.

“Trash Humpers” Limited Release Roll Out So Far…
May 7 – Cinema Village New York NY
May 14 – Nuart Theatre Los Angeles CA
June 6 – Yerba Buena Center for the Arts San Francisco CA
June 18 – Northwest Film Forum Seattle WA

The Playlist sat down with Korine at SXSW about the film and the unique filmmaker offered insight regarding his future projects [a comedy, a potentially strange documentary about hairless dogs in Central America], the reasons Harrison Ford is the actor he would love to direct next and why “Trash Humpers” should be required viewing in elementary schools. It’s an interview that fittingly is unlike any we’ve had before.

What was the impetus for “Trash Humpers”?
Harmony Korine: About a year ago, I was walking around in these alleyways near my house and I would look at these trash bins that were lined up. They would usually have some overhead spotlight beaming down on them and it kind of resembled scenes out of a war movie. They started to take on a human personality. I remember because I had grown up close to where I live now and there was a group of elderly peeping toms that used to hang out around there. Sometimes I would see them staring at my neighbors through the window. They lived in this basement not far away. It was this kind of makeshift gypsy elderly retirement home where they were forced to wear black turtlenecks and white nursing shoes. So I started remembering them and certain images that stayed with me for all these years. I would dress my friends up in these crude masks and take photos of them on a disposable camera late at night. Those pictures served as the template for what would become the movie.

Touching on the masks, you act in the film. Did the masks give you a sense of anonymity?
Yeah, I enjoy it because I enjoy the process and making films. I love everything about it, really. I liked that I had to commit myself to the art of acting. Even the editing put me in the character. We edited it on VCR’s.

How much of “Trash Humpers” was improvised and how much did you have an outline for?
It’s strange because I don’t know if improvised is the right word. There was no script in the traditional sense. It was really what you saw. We would just live out in the woods for a two to three week period. We would wake up in the back of some strip malls. Some of the characters might sleep in a tire somewhere. We would walk around and blow things up, kick in doors and smash houses. We did what naturally felt right.

You have mentioned the idea of beauty in destruction. Can you expand on that?
These characters are almost like artists, in a sense, because they find glory and beauty in vandalism and desecration. They transcend this idea of evil and turn it into an art form. They do it with gleeful abandon. They are artists of mischief, you know what I mean? They’re trickster geniuses. Sometimes I think they have the type of mind to stare at something burning or blown up and just see the aesthetic beauty of it.

When it comes to artistic integrity or relevance, do you see your films as the same as ones with a traditional narrative or are they separate?
I don’t even try to think of myself that much in relationship to others. I’m a filmmaker. Maybe a lot of the films I make are considered outside what some would call mainstream filmmaking but I still think of myself as a mainstream filmmaker in the sense that I try to make movies for people.

The premise of this film might be difficult to explain to a moviegoer who would go see a film like “Avatar.” How would you describe it to them?
I don’t even know if I would describe it. I think this should be required movie viewing for elementary schools and something that should taught to the tween set. I think it would be good to show to impressionable children.

Why is that?
The characters are basically free. They live their lives in terms of opposites. I think they see beauty where others don’t. It would be a good lesson to teach children.

Do you think it is important to show what some consider to be the underbelly of American society to others?
I don’t know if I would say it’s important. I try to make films that are more experiential, something you can’t just talk away. It’s kind of a feeling or any kind of articulation. It’s something you live with that changes you in some way. If I feel a certain way I will act on it. If I see an image that is attached to some kind of memory I will usually follow it. I don’t ask myself too many questions about why I do these things. I just do them.

You’ve mentioned a dream project in the past where you would work with Harrison Ford. Why him?
To me he is a great American star. I loved him in “Mosquito Coast.” I saw it when I was pretty young and I loved that character. He was amazing. I feel like Harrison is still pretty much untapped and I feel like I could bring him back. I have this part I would love him to play but he would have to saw off his legs below his kneecaps. You don’t see [his full capacity] much. He also always carries this anger that bubbles below the surface. I just like him in the way you like your uncle who is a methadone addict.

You have a musical and dancing background. Have you ever thought about making a musical?
Not really. I haven’t seen many musicals I liked but I like to make films where people sing and dance. I don’t think I would like to make a film where people sing dialogue.

What’s on the horizon for you?
I’ve been painting a lot and taking photographs. I write a lot of jokes and one-liners. I wrote a comedy that I would like to make soon. I just got back from Central America where I was filming these Mexican hairless barking dogs. I followed this pack of dogs who had skin that was black and fleshy. They had these massive teets that dragged on the ground and dripped milk. The milk was toxic. It smelled like skanky pineapples mixed in with the ass of whore and lemon juice. When they walked their teets would drip milk and these incredible designs would come from this. When you stand up on an edge or look down from a branch of tree you would see these sort of Jackson Pollack abstractions made from the teet milk of these Mexican hairless dogs. I’ve been spending a lot of time documenting this phenomenon but it only happens under these pineapple trees.

Crazy. You had a great project that got burnt up on a laptop [“What Makes Pistachio Nuts”]. Have you thought about going back to it?
It’s about this pig named Trotsky and this guy who is doing a race war in Florida. He would put adhesive on the hooves of the pig and they would climb walls and firebomb empty houses. It was going to be my great work. It was going to be my masterpiece and I would likely have retired after it. The original script was 465 pages long. It was going to be a nine hour epic. But when my houses burned down and my computer burnt I only got one sentence back [ed. that one sentence was, “The speech is pointless; the finger is speechless.”]

So you don’t think you can capture lightning in a bottle again, in a sense?
That’s funny that you mention that. The very first scene was of the pig trying to capture lightning in a bottle. They are on a boat and the pig had a bottle in its hoof.

Gus Van Sant has said you’re an inspiration to him. You tried to work together before. Would you be willing to try again?
Yeah, Gus is great.

What’s next in the immediate future after SXSW?
I have a baby daughter so I will go visit her.

How has being a father changed the way you approach filmmaking?
It makes me want to destroy more things and set things on fire. You know, like commit petty crimes. I mean, I wouldn’t do anything that would get me back in juvenile prison, not that I am a juvenile anymore anyway, or physically harm anyone. It has made me explode things and look up at the stars while I experiment with lucid dreaming. I was taught techniques by a woman in Bermuda who had spent several decades in solitary confinement.

Interesting. Do you plan on showing your daughter “Trash Humpers” and your other films?
Definitely. I wish they would show it in schools like they do “The Color Purple.” I don’t think it will happen but I am going to ask a friend to start some petitions. — Adam Sweeney