Reacting to the antics of the world’s worst filmmaker
Any avid movie fan knows about the film “The Room.” Since its 2003 premiere, the film has become infamous for its ridiculous script, incompetent camera work and bad acting. Most of its poor craftsmanship is courtesy of the film’s lead actor, writer, producer and director, Tommy Wiseau, as well as his bizarre accent.
It has dethroned “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” as the most popular midnight movie, complete with its own audience participation aspects – dressing up like characters, throwing spoons (a reference to a prominently featured picture of a spoon) and chanting lines along with the actors (“You are tearing me apart, Lisa!”).
Its fans include both common folk and celebrities, including actress Kristen Bell, director Edgar Wright and comedian Patton Oswalt, and its screenings are “enjoyed” across the world. In spite of his reputation as the “worst actor/director/screenwriter ever,” Wiseau has never shied away from the spotlight. He attends screenings, does interviews and even markets his own brand of underwear.
The film has its own share of mysteries, however, and the biggest is Wiseau himself. Where did he come from? What’s with the weird accent? How did he get the $6 million to make the film? Just who is he?
One fan, Canadian filmmaker Rick Harper, was so fascinated with Wiseau that he directed “Room Full of Spoons,” a crowdfunded documentary that seeks out the director’s origins while also documenting his bizarre behavior during and after the film’s production. It promises answers to every fan’s burning questions about Wiseau.
But the man himself is intent on making sure nobody sees it.
The documentary was supposed to make its American premiere as one of the selected films for the 2016 Cinedelphia Film Festival in Philadelphia last spring, but the screening was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances.” It was later revealed that the festival had received threatening emails from Wiseau-Films, the director’s production company, which framed complaints of copyright infringement against “Room Full of Spoons.” The issues didn’t stop there. Later in the year, the Sydney Underground Film Festival in Australia cancelled its showings of the documentary after receiving similar communications from Wiseau-Films, ironically replacing them with screenings of “The Room.”
In a statement posted on the film’s official Facebook page in June of 2016, the team behind “Room Full of Spoons” told its followers that “the only thing that would satisfy [Wiseau] is to have final cut [final say over content] of our film,” and that they still intended to show it at other festivals. Now, nearly a year later, “Room Full of Spoons” has been made available for pre-order on DVD. So much for those efforts.
“The Room” is a work of insane genius. It’s by no means good in quality, but it is so entertaining that the quality doesn’t even matter. On top of everything, though, it’s memorable. Some of the actions and lines in the movie are so ridiculous, so not-of-this-world that I need to repeat them in certain situations. Yes, I have said, in a Wiseau-ish accent, “Oh, hai, Mark” to friends.
I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t fascinated by the mystery surrounding Wiseau. It’s for this reason that I haven’t seen “Room Full of Spoons.” It’s like the unknown subject of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.” I love the speculation behind it, but this behavior from Wiseau is childish, and is just posturing bullying. He’s sending the Streisand effect into total force by making it known how much he doesn’t want this seen.
So this is my message to anyone remotely fascinated: If you haven’t seen “The Room” yet, watch it. Preferably with a bunch of friends. And if you have seen it, then preorder “Room Full of Spoons” right now.
And if Wiseau tries to stop distribution, as many are predicting he is, to quote his own movie, I cordially ask him to “keep your stupid comments in your pocket.”
