Crispin Glover's What Is It?

Date published: February 6, 2008

In early March of 2007, I had the awesome pleasure to see Crispin Glover at Rochester's Dryden Theatre. You might also recall that this is the same theatre that shows David Lynch movies from time to time. Anyway, this particular showing was for Glover's newest film What Is It?, supposedly the first of a three part "It" series.

Taking the view that Hollywood has become completely manufactured and too safe, Glover set out to make a film that challenged all that. So what does that get you? A cast primarily consisting of actors with Down Syndrome, naked women, an actor with cerebral palsy who also appears naked, a man in black face, Fairuza Balk voicing a snail, and Glover himself. Oh, and let's not forget the cherry on top: illustrations of prepubescent Shirley Temple with a Nazi cap and necklace holding an inappropriately placed riding crop.

He set out to shock, and that's definitely what he did. Personally though, I still wondered what the point was. But then again, I've wondered the same thing when watching some of John Waters's early films.

By far, the best part of the night to me was actually getting to meet Glover. Before the film showed, Glover read from some books that he's put together. It was a very performance art piece, and he performed quite well. In several parts he had the audience laughing. Other parts though, as with his film, can leave you a bit confused or uncomfortable. I guess Glover's works can be like David Lynch's works in this way. Sometimes the audience doesn't know how to react; sometimes they laugh because they don't know what else to do.

I've found some clips of Glover reading/performing on YouTube, but they are from many years ago, and he performs differently now.

So, why write about this over a year later? No, not because Glover makes a great Willy Wonka, just as I do. It's because I just read that he's started showing the second part of his "It" trilogy. (It showed as Sundance in January.) Gone are the Down Syndrome actors. I don't think this piece is suppose to be shocking like the first. They're not suppose to be connected in that way. This one is more of a psycho murder mystery, I think. Interestingly though, the actor with cerebral palsy wrote and acts in this second film, though he died before the piece was completed.

This second film is titled It Is Fine! Everything is Fine. I'm curious to see it, as I think it'll be more plot driven, and it's always fun to see independent films made with not a lot of money.