myspace
twitter
facebook
email list*Why did I want to make Bulletface? Well, when I first read Randall Fontana’s script I was drawn to the way he created a kind of throwback to the B movie noir crime thrillers of the 1940′s and 50′s. As Eddie Muller defines in his “Film Noir” primer:*
*“…its the flipside of the American Success story. It’s about people who realize that following the program will never get them what they crave. So they cross the line, commit a crime and reap the consequences…they depict a world that’s merciless and unforgiving.”*
*“Noir is about the dark, swampy dark place in the soul where crime ferments.”*
*That description is very much Bulletface and it is what drew me to the material initially. I really wanted it to be, stylistically, like a contemporary version of those great B crime thrillers from the poverty gulch studios of the time like Monogram. They were shot fast (Bulletface was shot in 5 days), shot on the cheap (Bulletface cost just a bit less than $100,000) and shot with a lot of creative desperation which mirrors the plights of the Bulletface characters.*
*The great appeal of these films was that they had characters that were generally unredeemable and very bad. It was shades of black not gray. These were hard eyed, sensationalistic films. Precursors to the exploitation movies of the 1960′s and 70′s.*
*So I wanted a lurid tone. A movie a little scruffy and ragged with sharp edges. A movie that would follow one person’s 2 year descent into Hell.*
*I was also looking for something to star Victoria Maurette, the young Argentine star of my gothic horror western, “Left For Dead”. I wanted to bring her tough, sullen quality into a more contemporary setting. She got one of the more remarkable faces I’ve ever had before my camera. It’s exotic, petulant and beautiful in a rough and street-wise way. Clearly not a Hollywood starlet type.*
*Bulletface was originally written with a male lead. A traditional silently coiled man. I thought casting Victoria in the part would open up its possibilities. I kept the romantic and sexual connections the same. So her relationships we’re with women but clearly she was bi-sexual. Victoria brought a sexy earthiness into the role that made you understand her character’s preference for female companionship.*
Albert
Click for large pic
Click for large pic
Click for large pic
