RICHARD ELFMAN - The Terry Smith Interview

In anticipation of Mondo Celluloid’s upcoming screening, writer and avid film enthusiast Terry Smith has interviewed director Richard Elfman for the Art Theatre!

Terry has invited me to post his interview on the Mondo Celluloid site - visit The Art Inside to read and keep up on all his great interviews and reviews!

Cult film director of Forbidden Zone:
Richard Elfman

Interview By:
Terry F. Smith

Forbidden Zone. The film is very offense [I imagine] to some but I think its sheer comedic-satire brilliance in its rawest form; from black face pimps, to stereo-typical heroin-addicted Jews, glowing things that go into various [but specific] bodily cavity’s, and the random humping of strangers the movie deliver’s on the promise made in the title, it is truly…the Forbidden Zone and I was lucky enough to get an interview with the films director, Richard Elfman.

Q: How did the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo come about, I know who you created it with but what was your goal?

I had been working with French theatre troupe, Le Grand Magic Circus, who kind of combined traditional French comedy, Absurdism and elements of musicals– this is where I met Frenchy– Danny actually joined the troupe one summer, right from high school (and composed his first professional musical piece). Taking inspiration from the French, I developed my own ideas. My musical rule was “nothing contemporary.” We either faithfully played forgotten classics that people could no longer hear live, or did gonzo-original pieces that Danny composed. We wove it together with Absurdest drama. Forbidden Zone is really a filmed version of a Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo stage show.

Q: When you left the Knights, Danny was in charge, do you feel if you stayed the band Oingo Boingo would have still been born?

Probably not. My roots are theater. (Read the complete history of Oingo Boingo at: http://www.buzzine.com/2008/05/oingo-boingo/

Q: I love the over the top stereotypes and offensive humor in Forbidden Zone and wonder are you that shocking in real life?

Not really… except for maybe the time I threw the most powerful studio chief in Hollywood in a pool at a black tie party — the actual guy who the Tim Robbins character was based on in The Player. He had insulted the Brazilian musicians I had hired, hurt their feelings. The honchos bimbo went off like a banshee and I threw that bitch in too. Or the time I stole 50,000 copies of west L.A. yuppie mag and had my article inserted. Fight with a new editor over my “salty’ language. Added a lot more salt, hired a crew, brought a photographer along from the L.A. Weekly to document the heist. Once the felony grand theft charges were finally dropped, the Weekly ran it as “Grand Theft Arto.” Or the time we stole all the edit records of a film from a rich producer to get the crew paid (charged with felony extortion, but thank god I got those charges dropped too). Or the recent Forbidden Zone screening where I mooned the audience during a Q &A. (Hell, anything for a laugh!) And all the other REALLY radical stuff I can’t tell you about…? Except for that, nothing too shocking or outrageous.

Q: Were the characters in Forbidden Zone based on people you knew, or met, or were they archetypal stereotypes?

Forbidden Zone, among other things, is a satire on contemporary amorality and lack of responsibility that people show towards one another. I lived in Venice, CA at the time, next door to a poor white trash family. The father screamed at the mother, who screamed at the sister who hit her younger brother who spanked the dog. That inspired some the Hercules family characters.

Q: From the rumor mill; did Mel Brooks ever [that you know of] attend a screening? I heard he did and said something like this is the most racial piece I’ve ever seen; it’s a masterpiece…or something to that effect.

There have been a lot of screenings. This might have happened, but I’m not sure.

Q: The Forbidden Zone seems to be hell-esque…but the Devil lives close by. Would you say the Forbidden Zone is hell-adjacent?

You might say that. Putting the Forbidden Zone geographically next to hell was also a convenient way to work in a Danny Elfman/Cab Calloway/Mystic Knights musical number.

Q: How much if any input did you have in musical numbers like “Pico and Sepulveda,” the Cab Calloway number, among others?

Well, I didn’t write the music, but I conceived of all the numbers, all the staging, etc. Music often inspires my visual imagination. I spend a lot of time choosing my music.

Q: How do you feel it holds up today, and [equally] how do you feel when it gets called the “Citizen Kane of underground films.”

I wouldn’t necessarily compare it to Citizen Kane, but the film seems to get more popular each year. Stupidly is timeless, you see– and great music doesn’t age. Attached is an article of mine that answers this question as well as the next question:

http://www.buzzine.com/2008/06/richard-elfman-news-and-events/

Q: How big of a crew did you have on Forbidden Zone and how big of a crew will you have on Forbidden Galaxy; is Galaxy written yet; tell us a little about your film “Trio?”

Forbidden Zone had a fairly big crew, although no one was paid much. Forbidden Galaxy will be just as outrageous (no, more outrageous) as Forbidden Zone 1, but have a bigger budget and larger crew.

Q: What one thing do you want people [that have never seen] to take away from seeing Forbidden Zone at the Art theatre in Long Beach?

…I show up in Long Beach, a bunch of DVD copies that we’ll be selling of Forbidden Zone in Color (and a fond memory of my bare ass, If I’m drunk enough at the Q&A). That depends to what degree the audience in Long Beach goads me on. I’ll introduce the film, do a Q&A afterwards, then sell and autograph some DVDs. (Please make sure the wine bar is well stocked!)