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The Film Nuts Podcast
Your host Taylor D. Adams talks to artists, musicians, writers and others about their favorite films and shows, and asks them to share how they have been inspired or affected. Hopefully we can get to the root of why we love what we watch, why we’re crazy about a movie or *nuts* about a show…get it?
The Film Nuts Podcast
DOGTOOTH with Josh Hughes
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.
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This film significantly changed my outlook on what you can actually make in a film and I always like to say if I were ever to win some large award, like an Oscar or something, I would include it in my speech because it really was a turning point for my career of not only what can you make but more so.
Speaker 2:what should I be making? Hey folks, welcome back to the Film Nuts podcast. I'm your host storyteller and filmmaker, taylor D Adams. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 2:So for today's film, we're talking about a movie that tests our comfort levels, so much so that the film itself is not even rated. Dogtooth, directed by Yogo Salentimos, is an absurdist, violent satire about control and how it can corrupt, and despite how uncomfortable or taboo Dogtooth might seem, it was an inspiring film. For my guest today, josh Hughes is an editor and screenwriter who claims that this movie changed the way he thought about filmmaking. There is a lot to unpack in this film, but today Josh and I chat about parental manipulation, what we were and were not allowed to watch as kids, and what it's like living in a haunted house. I assume y'all have seen Dogtooth because you are joining us today, but just in case, this film is all in Greek and here is your trigger warning for talks of animal abuse and incest. It feels kind of weird to say that. I hope you enjoyed the show after I just said that. But anyway, here's Josh Hughes talking about Dogtooth on the Film Nuts podcast.
Speaker 1:I went into college thinking I was going to be like the next Tarantino, like a really cool, crazy big idea director man, and I realized on my first short film that I did not like directing. I particularly didn't even like being on set and over the years I really enjoyed the pre-production side of things, typically with writing and putting films together, getting things ready and post-production editing.
Speaker 1:So I like to get my ideas on paper. Everyone else can go film it and then send me a hard drive and putting it together in post production. So that's kind of been my focus, I'd say the past, like six, seven years. So recently as of January, a short film that I wrote with my frequent collaborator out of Alabama is in post-production on my end. We just got V2 of that. So we're going to be meeting this week to start to get things closer to a fine cut.
Speaker 1:I've also been writing a feature these past couple months. I just hit page 72 last night. So in the feature film, world 72 is getting pretty close to end. We're in the third act now and I'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 walk tour guide in the summer months and, um, the company came to me and said take all your stories, write them down, find some photos. Um, we'll copy, edit for you, we'll publish it, we'll give you hard copies to go sell and and then, once they recoup their money, we can just split the profits. And it's like being a published author with not having to find, you know, like a publishing company, or getting it printed or paying those costs.
Speaker 1:Um, it was an easy decision to be like yes, let's do this, you know there's a lot there I want to.
Speaker 2:I want to ask you about. That's awesome, um, okay. So the first first thing I want to ask you about is so what is it like to write something, send it out into the world and then you get the footage back and is it different than what you wrote down? Is it similar, like? What is that process?
Speaker 1:you know, it's both. It's sometimes it's way better than you had in your mind's eye, other times it's like what is this that I'm looking at? I would say, with this short film, um, the director and I we have, um, we have very similar ideas and visions for everything, and that just goes about hours of talking and talking and talking about the idea, um, and I would say there's only like maybe one or two moments where I'm like I wish we would have gotten a closeup of this or I wish there would have been more coverage of this. But really we have such similar tastes in film, we, we, we already know the aesthetic, the style of shots, the framing going into it.
Speaker 1:And I would say for this short, long legs was a big inspiration for how we wanted shots framed going into it, so it came out exactly the way I expected.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Yeah, long legs yeah, that was I enjoyed. I enjoyed that movie last year. That was really good. Um, but I now I have to ask you about giving ghost tours, all right, so how did that happen? How did that start? What got you into that?
Speaker 1:Um, so I grew up about five minutes from where I currently live and it was from a very young age that I was just starting to experience things that I didn't quite know what they were. So back then you had to go to the card catalog in the school library, dig through and find a book about ghosts, right, and that's really kind of led me on this lifelong journey to further understand and explore not just ghost stories but paranormal investigation, actually being able to communicate with something that is no longer alive. And a really fun fact is that it depends who you ask fun facts. But this room that I'm in right now my office is actually where a woman passed away here in the 1940s, and about four years after living here, my wife and I started 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 who told me that she passed away in this room.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it was always my dream to own a haunted house.
Speaker 1:I guess that's a dream come true, right this.
Speaker 2:This is a first. I've never had anyone do a podcast session from a haunted house. This is fucking cool. Uh, now we were having technical difficulties earlier. I wonder if your friendly ghost was trying to interfere with your conversation with me.
Speaker 1:There's been some interesting things that have happened over the years. Nothing malevolent, nothing evil. It's as the former owner put it, it's a Casper type spirit that's kind of looking after us and our family so you know, that's kind of like the more personal side to it. But I just enjoy history. I enjoy weird history, um, you know, murders, aliens, ghosts. So Waukesha has a lot of creepy tales to tell. Uh, and it's my home and I like to kind of pride myself as being the local um Waukesha experts on the paranormal.
Speaker 2:Wow, this is really cool. Um, do you know your, your spirit's name?
Speaker 1:Yes, it's, uh, marie.
Speaker 2:Marie. All right, well, I have her obituary printed out.
Speaker 1:So oh wow, she was just a very old woman, but uh, yeah, right here in this room.
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, marie, if you're listening, I hope you enjoy the show. Um hope you enjoy the show Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 1:The show.
Speaker 2:You're live. Wow, this is nuts. Wow, man, I kind of want to just talk to you for an hour about that.
Speaker 1:But the reason why we're having you on today is you wanted to talk about Dogtooth this film significantly changed my outlook on what you can actually make in a film, significantly changed my outlook on what you can actually make in a film, and I always like to say, if I were ever to win some large award, like an oscar or something, I would. I would include it in my speech because it really was a turning point for my career of not only what can you make or but like more. So what should I be making and um?
Speaker 1:yeah, you know it's, some people say, like when I was a kid I saw this movie on TV, or I listened to the Beatles for the first time and wanted to be an artist. It was like when I saw that, that was just like boom cemented. It's changing your career path forever.
Speaker 2:I kind of bring this up. So I don't like to presume about what my audience knows or does not know, what movies they have seen and have not seen. But I had not heard of Dogtooth until recently. Tell me how you got introduced to this completely Greek film. This is a foreign film outside of the United States and for it to be such a seminal work for you, to kind of reference, how did you first come about it? Come about seeing it?
Speaker 1:I think I was working with a short film Either I was editing or writing or collaborating with the director here and as he saw the drafts that I was presenting him, he said you know, there's these films 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 bizarre way.
Speaker 1:You know different storylines, different thinking. And he said you should watch Dogtooth 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 too weird for you. I'm going to go in the bedroom and watch this for a couple hours. Copy. I told my wife this is too weird for you. I'm going to go in the bedroom and watch this for a couple hours. I can vividly remember moving our sofa into the middle of the room, popping in the DVD and just being in complete awe of just even the first scene. It's so unique how this movie starts that it instantly grabs you and makes you want to watch the rest of it. The new words of the day are the following Sea Motorway Exit Caravan.
Speaker 2:Sea is the leather city throne and so it's.
Speaker 1: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 just to where we are today, me remembering it and talking to you about it. It was it was like maybe that first time you go to disney world, or that first time you have a sip of beer, whatever that magical first memory you have. It's like, wow, that's what it was.
Speaker 2:It was just a surreal viewing experience yeah, wow, um, yeah, there are plenty of movies that I'll be like. I know my partner does not want to watch this. I'm gonna watch it by myself. I could definitely could see this as being possibly one of those things Probably the most sexually explicit movie I've ever seen. That's not technically classified as pornography, which I was not expecting when I started to watch this film, but so, like when you're watching, you're talking about the first scene and how it grabbed ahold of you. What was, what was the ride like for you as you were going through this movie from start to finish?
Speaker 1:Well, as you know, um, or maybe the listeners don't know. You know it starts off with these three uh siblings in a bathroom and they're listening to a tape recorder and it's all these words that we would know, like sofa, highway bird, you know things like that, um, but the tape is telling them that these know. Like sofa, highway bird, you know things like that. But the tape is telling them that these words like sofa means something completely different.
Speaker 1:And then you're like why is that? Why? Why are these people being taught words that we all know is meaning something? And then these kids who are well into their teenage years start making up games that are just so simple and boring that would be meant for like children. These kids who were well into their teenage years, um, start making up games that that are just so simple and boring. That would be meant for like children, um, and it was just like wow, this is so different. And the fact that it was in Greek, um, didn't make any difference. You know, there's subtitles are there?
Speaker 1:um but it was one of those movies where, if you don't like subtitles, it doesn't matter Like you're there for this experience. And that really kind of kept through as you learn why these kids are being taught different words. The family living in this compound, you know you have a prostitute coming over to help service the male member of the family. And really it's like it's really contained, but it's such a big world and that's all created by Yorgos Lanthimos and the style of writing and directing that he has.
Speaker 2:Yeah, was this? Was this the first Yorgos movie you have seen, or was it? Did this come later for you?
Speaker 1:I think my wife and I watched uh killing of a sacred deer and that was interesting because we were just like why are these people acting so weird? It doesn't make sense why you have these hollywood actors acting different than what we're used to, and as I did my research. I'm like, oh, it's his, that's his style, okay, cool. And the reason I watched Dog Tooth Alone is because she wasn't quite fond of the way he was doing things, which I agree. It is an acquired taste.
Speaker 2:But I think ever since then.
Speaker 1:I've watched Lobster. The two of us watched the Fingert, 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 that she won Best Actress for?
Speaker 2:Emma Stone. Well, there was Poor Things, but then there was Kinds of Kindness which came out after that.
Speaker 1: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 his films, that one you probably couldn't pay me to watch again.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, I actually really enjoy that one, but I haven't. I haven't seen kinds of kindness, so but I don't know anything about that, but the lobster the lobster was the first one that I saw. That I saw uh by your guys. My partner and I went and saw it and we were, we were hooked. Uh, that made us fans, uh, to check out his work. We were in. It was an instant favorite of ours. Uh, no pun intended. Um, so so are you talking? You talked a little bit about how, generally, how watching this film kind of redefined to you what could be done in a movie. Can you go into a little bit more detail about how, how that movie kind of inspired you and your work?
Speaker 1:Well, I will say much like the lobster, it's that really like attention grabbing open. You know, like like the lobster, you got a woman driving and she pulls over the side of the road and kills a cow. It's like what? Why? Why does she do this? What's happening I want to know more. And that's the same thing with dog tooth is like you've got this just like very interesting, bizarre, different opening. But what's kind of a common thread through all his movies, especially dog tooth, is that it's not weird, just to be weird.
Speaker 1:There's a purpose for all the weirdness. You know it is bizarre. You know it doesn't. It probably wouldn't make sense in the real world but it's very, very believable because of the world building that he does. So whenever I struggle with like an opening scene in my writing or editing, I always kind of reference some of his movies, especially dog tooth, because he really knows how to open a film, um, and in them that carries throughout so like as it gets weirder, especially in dog tooth.
Speaker 1:Um, you believe it because this is how the characters have acted the whole time.
Speaker 2: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, so I mean, when you were, when you were watching this film, um, you were seeing things that were unusual, uh, kind of wondering why things were happening. You know, curious about the uh intention of being weird. Um, so would you, is it fair to say that kind of viewing this kind of made you uncomfortable, but in kind of a curious way that's an interesting way to put it.
Speaker 1: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 a bit of like taboo interest in it as well, because the Greek film industry does things different than we would do here in America, right Like there's full-frontal male nudity. There's sexual explicit scenes that you would not see in American films, and while that wasn't, the reason I was watching it.
Speaker 1:It just kind of added on top of like all these uncomfortable things that were happening and just made it like a really like emotional rollercoaster of weirdness. It's just so many different things being thrown at you, that's. It does make you a bit uncomfortable, but it's a comfortable uncomfortable where it's not like it's going to keep me up at night for a few days like some horror movies do so.
Speaker 2:So how important is it for people to experience things that make them uncomfortable?
Speaker 1:you know I go back to a short film that I wrote in college. It was one of the first short films and it was, um, I would say it was graphic you. It was about a student that stalks and kills a co-ed and I remember my teacher said you know, I was revolted by this story. I threw it away and I was a bit perplexed because I said isn't the purpose of a film to have an emotional reaction.
Speaker 1:To have an emotional reaction like you're supposed to have, either an uncomfortable or a positive or a comedic or a horrific reaction like that's this the purpose of watching a movie? Or listening to a song writing poetry, whatever it may be like you want to have emotion come out of that. So, um, I've kind of kept on to that experience as well, because it's like you really want to have that emotion and I had that when I was watching Dog Tooth.
Speaker 1:It was like it kind of like brought me back to that senior year in college of like, wow, this is like what I was even trying to do back then.
Speaker 1:But it just wasn't as popular. You know, yeah, does that answer your question? You know I'm drawing on all these 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 these personal experiences. It was really like the past and present, like everything kind of met at this interesting moment in my life when I watched dog to it for the first time.
Speaker 2:Yes, Like the goal of a movie, uh, we want it to affect us in some way, you know whether it's we turn off our brain and have a good time, or whether it makes us like lean in or like even shy away, Like we don't. We don't want to watch that one scary scene, so we like look to the corner of the screen or something like that.
Speaker 1:Like some kind of some kind of reaction we want.
Speaker 2:Um, but what do you think? I mean why? Why do you think, or did you learn, that your instructor, professor, threw it away?
Speaker 1:I don't know if he was, metaphorically speaking tossed it away, but I never got the script back. Um, I, I don't know. I I just think it was not what they were used to. Most of the films that were made in these courses were comedic, were dramatic. You know a lot of college kids like to write films about making movies, even though they're making one of their first films.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I'm guilty of it as well, but I just think it was really like dog tooth. It was a complete curveball to what I was used to. I think that script that I had written was a complete curveball and maybe he just didn't connect with it, which is totally okay, but to kind of get rid of it so that nobody is exposed to it. I felt was inappropriate, so.
Speaker 1:I don't think you know, any ideas or films or short films, features, documentaries should just be completely disregarded because they're different than the norm. I think people should lean into them because it makes you think differently and you can really influence whatever your art form may be to just either be better, be different, be unique, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. I remember when I was in college the very first like video production course I took, everybody, or every pair of people, had their own project and they had the part of the assignment was storyboarding and presenting the storyboard to the class. It was like our final project. Every single person's video storyboard, including my own, started with a shot of an alarm clock, like there was 12 people in there and none of us planned it 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 a shock. Like we're not original. We're not original yet. Like we're still learning how to do all this. We're not original yet. Like we're still learning how to do all this Um and so when you talk about, you know the, the types of, uh, the average student film that gets made, like that's very much in line.
Speaker 2:Like everybody kind of has they go down a certain number of routes. Like a popular thing right now is horror. Like horror is big right now when it comes to student film, when it comes to indie film, because you know, can get weird um it, you can do it for relatively cheap. That's also a big uh, that's also a big benefit. You don't need a lot of money to do this um. So that's, yeah, that's really interesting. Yeah, talking about the different films that certain people were presenting, that makes total sense for this film. For this film there's a there's a lot going on uh in dog tooth. Um, there's a lot to read into. Um. There are uh themes of parenting, there are themes of control, themes of manipulation, um explorations of different uh sec, possible sexual taboos, um. To you, is there a particular theme or message that you gravitated toward most?
Speaker 1:I think a lot of it would be maturity, you know as these kids are maturing. They're really starting to either lean in to the rules more, which I think would be the male- character or start to realize something is wrong or something. It shouldn't be like this, as the lead character does, the female and she eventually I believe at the end she like bashes out her dog tooth and even though it is impossible, I think, to lose that tooth naturally.
Speaker 1:She does it and then she finally feels free, which isn't the way it should be. But you know, I would say, as you kind of see, in society, females mature quicker than males and she kind of realized, quicker than her brother and her younger female sibling, that I need to get out of here. This is not how life should be. That was probably one of the main things that I took away. I think the other interesting part was parenting. Um, you know, as a, as parents try to control their kids by the rules, this guy, this father, goes to the extreme to make sure that his kids are never goes to the extreme to make sure that his kids are never tainted by outside society.
Speaker 1:So while you try to be the best parent, you can teach your kids things you know. There's certainly those helicopter parents that you see in society, with your friends, with your peers, that try to control every little aspect down to the minute, little details, but it's like you gotta let your kids be who they are, so that they can actually um become the people that they're meant to be yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:Um, the the weird thing. When I was watching this movie, I was like, okay, once I figured out, like, what the dynamic 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 16 or 17 or something like that. And with the, the eldest, the eldest daughter, seeing her realization and the lengths that she goes through in order to escape, basically, um, I think we're perfectly dramatic in relation to all the terrible things that she had to put up with and go through in her upbringing. Um, was there? Was there a particular moment or scene that, uh, that might have been your favorite of this movie?
Speaker 1:As uncomfortable as it made me. The two scenes that come to me right now, I guess would be when the older sister and the younger 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. It is interesting how they're realizing that there are these different sensations you can have and they're testing it out on each other.
Speaker 1:That was a bit uncomfortable, but the other thing was also when the cat came to the house and they think it's like an evil beast because the dad has created this narrative in their head.
Speaker 1:So the stupid male sibling he goes out of his way to kill it in a triumphant manner. You know I am a cat person, so it was uncomfortable to watch, but it was also just very interesting because the dad made them all believe that this little helpless animal was going to kill all of them if they didn't do something about it or if they tried to escape. Uh, so it's, you know, kind of going back to your earlier question of being uncomfortable, it's like, yeah, there there were a few things that just kind of made your skin crawl a little bit, but, you know, not in like a horrific way of a typical horror movie yeah, yeah, like when you, when you think about what these, it's weird for me to call them kids because they literally full-grown adults.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, yeah, like when you, when you think about what these, it's weird for me to call them kids because they literally full grown adults. But these three quote unquote offspring of the of the parents. It's really interesting to me. I mean, this movie came out in like 2010 and maybe within the past like five ish years, maybe slightly before pandemic times, there was an emergence of media about different and possibly better options for youth children to discover things on their own in a healthier way. Discover things on their own in a healthier way.
Speaker 2:I think with I think with this film, it, you know, a decade before we're we see all this stuff, it is kind of presenting like what are the possible negative consequences of that too much control, of taking away the freedom of kids to kind of learn on their own, because the father and the mother are feeding the kids just incorrect, manipulative information, but the kids are still going through everything A teenager goes through, a young adult goes through, and so it really just really feels really weird when they're kind of doing it in this unintentionally rebellious way, through the lens of all this control, it just seems to us super uncomfortable because they don't know any better, they haven't been taught anything about any part of life. It seems like they're discovering you know the fact that you know the word zombie comes to mean little yellow flower, like that's a benign example 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. One of the most uncomfortable scenes for me was when the three adult kids are in the bathtub together and the male is like exploring his sisters and it very much is shot in a way that feels like an exploration, like an experimentation, like trying to see if things feel right or wrong, and so I think that's just really interesting to see, to take into that account those ideas and look at this film through there.
Speaker 2:Like why are they even so weird? It's like cause they haven't been taught any better or any worse, right? So I mean, I don't really have a question out of that, it's just something I observed which I thought was super interesting because, like I'm normally, like I said, we would just feel really uncomfortable and like why are we doing this?
Speaker 1:But I think, when you look at it from the character's point of view, they don't know any better. Right, right, yeah, it's, they're there, it's. This is what they've been taught. You know, um, it's. It's a weird place to put your minds, because we've been taught those things aren't acceptable or that's not behavior that you, that you do in life, but they don't. They don't know anybody, and that'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:This is things you just don't do, yeah going off of that and in talking about how just media has been different in its uh or types of media have been different in educating or entertaining um ways that children and youths and teenagers can learn more about themselves. I think you know most parents want to limit what their kids are exposed to. I think that's a natural thing. I think they want to be protective. One of the things I got a real kick out of was the parents aversion to any kind of pop culture, any kind of movies. Um, the only movies they watch are home movies. And when the eldest or I can't remember if it was the eldest of the youngest daughter starts uh quoting different movies, including one of my favorite movies, jaws, um, just like she was just quoting it because she had seen it, she got the tape from the security guard. Slash or Christina, I think, was her name. Um, and was there any? Were there any uh films or TV shows that you weren't allowed to watch when you were coming up?
Speaker 1:No, I mean my love for movies has been around since I can remember. You know I probably watched Child's Play and it and some of these horror movies well before I should have these horror movies, well before I should have I remember, maybe when I was five or six, I had been shown Weekend at Bernie's and there was a line in there, when Bernie the boss is in the water and one of the guys says swim with the fishies, you bastard.
Speaker 1:And I remember I had repeated that line when my sister was taking a bath or we were doing something around the house and I said that to my mom, yelled at me and I was like, but it's in the movie. I don't know what a bastard is.
Speaker 2:But I just remember like that happening.
Speaker 1:And then I was like, oh, okay, there's some things in these movies I shouldn't be repeating. Okay, there's some things in these movies I shouldn't be repeating. But no, you know, I probably should have been censored a little more, even though I had to close my eyes every time there was a nude scene in a movie. But you know, I think it really did expose me to all different types of movies.
Speaker 1:You know, and I do really cherish the fact that I've seen so many different movies um, I can easily quote movies. I know, so much trivia. So, just like that love for movies from a very young age, I think the the?
Speaker 1:um reluctancy to censor what I was watching, um, has definitely helped shape me to you know the filmmaker that I am today because I do have a co-worker um who hasn't seen many movies and doesn't get my trivia and it doesn't, you know, can't play along with those jokes, and it's like I really like to know that I can I can kind of hang with anybody when it comes to movie trivia and remembering quotes and things like that from different films yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, for me, uh, movies and tv kind of like have always kind of been around and inspiring me, and my, my parents had different kind of ideas when it came to what I should and should not see.
Speaker 2:You know, my, my folks split when I was like two, um, so like when I was with my dad. I remember I was four years old, um, and I saw True Lies as a four year old and I don't remember anything about it other than, like some guy gets stabbed in the eye. It's the only thing I ever remember from that movie. But I actually recently rewatched it and I was like, oh, this movie is so much fun I probably should not have seen it as a four year old, but it's still so much fun. And like Robin Hood, prince of, uh, you know, a guy gets his hand chopped off and I guess a four-year-old is something I remember.
Speaker 2:I wasn't terrified by it, I was just like that happened, um, but like, at the same time, my mom, uh, and my stepdad would not let me watch, um, the Simpsons for the longest time as a kid and I was like this it's a cartoon, like how bad can it be? And then I forgot if I ever was actually given the green light. But I just started watching it and they never like kind of stopped me and I was like this wasn't that bad. So yeah, the protection or not protection, I would just say the level of protection that a parent can have half with their kids as far as media, I think, varies differently and it does affect them in strange ways Cause, like you know you, there nothing was off limits to you and you fell in love with film. You know, some things were off limits to me, even seeing as something I should not watch, which might've made me be like no, I kind of want to watch it now to have that.
Speaker 2:It's the same effect which I think is super interesting. Especially in this film and dog tooth You've got a girl trying to learn about anything and everything and she's exposed to some pop culture things. We never could see her actually watch these pop culture oriented things, but she's quoting them all the time, which I think is super interesting because she kind of learns a sense of play. She's reenacting Jaws and oh, this was funny I was when I was watching the movie and we get to the scene where the dad says do you guys want to hear your grandfather sing In my head, I go I bet it's Frank Sinatra, and sure enough it was Frank Sinatra that shows up. So it's weird that the father uses this element. We're used to the kids being lied to at this point, but to then have this piece of media twisted in a way to fit his own kind of agenda I thought was just a really interesting way to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it was Potter, for the course, because the whole everything he's basically done has been a lie right. So it's almost like making dad seem more important because his grandfather was a very good singer you know frank sinatra. Um, maybe it was an inadequacy thing, like he wanted to be a great singer. So it's like, oh, I tell the kids my grandpa was, you know this great person who recorded media. Maybe that makes me seem like a more important person.
Speaker 1:So, um, yeah, it's just uh you know it's like nothing in that movie really surprised me because it was like these are the rules and everybody plays by them, regardless if the rules are wrong. So it's like every time you saw something it was just like yep, um, that's just what he does, because this is the lie, the narrative that he's created as the father figure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's a really interesting take as far as, yeah, possibly like, what's the dad's backstory you know? Like is he? Is he saying all these things because he wished for a different life when he was growing up, or something along those lines? I think that's really interesting to think about, or something along those lines. I think that's really interesting to think about. We'll fast forward to the end of this film. The end of the film is very ambiguous. The eldest escapes by knocking out her canine tooth with a hand bell. Weight gets in the trunk of the car. The father unknowingly drives her to his work. It's a shot of the last shot is a shot of the trunk closed, but it's a shot of the trunk that lingers for a very long amount of time. How do you interpret that ending? You know it's.
Speaker 1:It's similar to a lot of his films, like I think the lobster, is very ambiguous at the end of what exactly happens at the diner. You know I like that style of ending, especially in Dogtooth, because I think it gives you hope. You know she has officially escaped, which does give you hope. You know she can go live the life that she wants. But once you really start to think about it, it's like she has no skills to operate in this real world. So could she try to go find help? Would she even know where to get help? You know she has nobody to trust. She could end up trusting the wrong people. You know there's so many different things that could and probably will go wrong for her that while the ending um, is supposed to be hopeful, it's actually, I think, has the negative effect once you start to break it down, because ultimately she might have to go back to her parents house to be able to survive, and then what sort of punishment is she going to receive for trying to escape?
Speaker 1:so you know it's uh, I think I'm like talking myself out of liking it, but um still as is I like how it's like she's escaped, she's in the trunk, you know she can now go live the life she wants, but in reality it's like, can she really, you know?
Speaker 2:I was, I was thinking about it too. I was, I mean this ambiguous ending, this cliffhanger, basically not really knowing how things end. Yeah, I'm kind of myself leaning toward a very pessimistic ending too, because one of the things that all the kids are taught is that you can't leave the house unless you're in a car, that you can't leave the house unless you're in a car, like there's that whole deal where the toy plane ends up like right outside the fence and they need to use the car to drive five feet and then pick it up and come back. So I'm thinking she gets in the trunk 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 been taught that it's unsafe or it's not possible or whatever to be outside of the house, outside of the grounds, unless you're in a car. 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's not ready, like she. Things could end very poorly, poorly for her and I.
Speaker 2:To me that ending it makes the most sense with the film too, because this is, you know, to me, this is not a film about overcoming adversity and succeeding. It is very much about almost a nature versus nurture not to break it down to like in a offering up, some kind of platitude way, but it very much feels like that to me. So, yeah, I I see what you're saying because this film probably doesn't get as much recognition, uh, in more of the, uh, the, the worldwide scope of pop culture. Um, how would you recommend this movie, uh, in order to get someone to see it?
Speaker 1:You know I think I'm looking it up right now I think it did receive an Oscar nomination. I think it was nominated for best uh best foreign film.
Speaker 2:Yeah, best foreign language film in 2009.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, um, not to say it doesn't have recognition, because a lot of people don't know what it is still. But I think I would say like, if you've seen um, like the favorites poor things, um, if you've seen killing of a sacred deer, if you like those movies, if you you like Lars von Trier, if you like that Dogma 95 type of movie, I would say it's like go back and look at how this guy got his start.
Speaker 1:You've seen his more mainstream ones. I know the favorite that won so many Oscars but not made for Best Picture.
Speaker 2:Go see how this guy got started.
Speaker 1:I would say Dog tooth is the right place to start, because he does have um elps before this which I watched and it was interesting, but it was, I would say it's not as good. So, like the good entry point into his style and where he came from, I would say, is dog tooth and while um well, he does have. So many more other projects that he's worked on this one was the first one where I was like wow, this is who he is as a filmmaker.
Speaker 1:This is just pure raw talent and energy and hard work and determination. Look at this great movie that he made. And look at this great movie that he made, Because once you start getting up in his higher budgets and working with Hollywood actors, I think it does kind of dilute him a little bit more recently with his films.
Speaker 1:I haven't enjoyed them as much, not to say they aren't good, because obviously many people like yourself enjoy poor things Not my cup of tea. I kind of go back to this as being 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 enjoy those style movies and don't be as scared away by subtitles.
Speaker 1:You know, I think I was um frightened as a young child, like my parents were not watching that. There's subtitles and I was always a little bit scared to watch movies with subtitles because you had to read the whole time. But then you know Glorious Bastards came out. Half that movie is subtitles and I think that kind of reworked.
Speaker 1:My upbringing of subtitles are okay. You can watch foreign movies. Not everything has to be in English. There's so many good movies out there in the world from all these different countries. Don't let having to read a movie scare you away from watching it.
Speaker 2:Yes, I, I fully agree with that. Yeah, so many people were just afraid of subtitles, when half the people watch stuff in English with subtitles anyway, cause we can't hear anymore. So it's like like what's the difference? You've got them on anyway. Why is mom making foreign film? Uh, is there? Um, right, then you can, you can learn a new language, yeah, yeah, that's. That's one of the things that I found really cool is like I've watched a couple of movies and been like, oh, that word means this. I can pick up on this one thing that they're saying over and over again, thing that they're saying over and over again.
Speaker 1:Um so, uh, any plans to make a movie about the ghost that lives in your house? No, um, I think Marie is too friendly. Um, she doesn't need that attention. Uh, you know, I have. I have captured some things over the years. Um, if you're on TikTok you can follow the supernatural cheese headhead.
Speaker 1:I don't post that often but there have been a few things in my paranormal exploits that I've captured in the house and around Waukesha, so probably not this one. But I am kind of starting to think about doing something about a local story that I've become friends with the owners of the house. So possibly stay tuned in the future, if there stay tuned in the future, if there's something in the works there. But this house, we were actually featured on House Hunters, the TV show on HGTV. So if you do like that you can go watch us. But as far as the paranormal, probably not.
Speaker 2: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 appreciate it. You know, like I said, it's the kind of career defining moment for me, so it's it's always a pleasure to recommend this movie.
Speaker 2:Exposing ourselves to art or even experiences that make us uncomfortable can help us grow. Dog tooth is an extreme case of this, but as a film, it pushes boundaries almost in order for us 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 for joining me today, and a swimming pool-sized thank you to you for joining us as well. If you want to check out some of Josh's work work including some of the ghost tours he's done, oh man, I I can't wait to check that out. Uh, you should check that out in 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 on patreon, please visit the show notes or visit patreoncom slash film nuts.
Speaker 2:If you enjoyed the show today. Please go ahead and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform of choice to stay up to date with all of our episodes. And if you happen to be listening to this on Apple podcast, please, pretty please, leave a rating and review to help us reach more awesome folks like yourself. Our theme this season is brought to us by J Mac, our artwork is designed by Madungwa Subuhudi, and all episodes of the film nuts podcast are produced 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 on Instagram and Tik TOK at film nuts podcast, and don't forget to join the nut house discord community Absolutely free, by checking out the link in the show notes as well. I would love to see you there. Thank you all so much for joining us today and until next time, I hope none of you feel like you have to bash your teeth in order to escape your house. Take care.