Some people go through high school admired, envied, imitated and desired by most of their peers. Others go through high school ignored, shunned, ridiculed and misunderstood. Chicago-based independent filmmaker Rusty Nails is a proud member of that latter group, and he learned to turn his unpleasant adolescence into a goldmine of inspiration for hilarious, incisive social commentary.
Nails' weapon of choice is film, and this weekend he comes to Madison to talk about and screen several of his films. Highlights are his short tribute to the Ramones featuring never-before-seen footage of the band in their 1977 heyday, as well as the feature-length '50s sci-fi/horror tribute, Acne.\
""Acne"" is the story of two teenagers—one played by Nails—who wake up one day to find the town's water supply turns their heads into hairless, pus-filled zits. Incapable of stomaching food, they are forced to rub chocolate and other oily junk food into their chromes until they settle down into a temporary, zombie-like stupor and go off to infect the rest of the teenage town by puking pus on them.
Disgusting? Yes, but this film isn't about the gross-out factor. Director/writer Nails describes ""Acne"" as both ""a celebration of independent films"" and an attempt to ""create the filmic equivalent of Dead Kennedys' Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.""
""Punk rock has been a very important part of my life,"" Nails said. ""In high school I was treated poorly, and I just found punk rock in general to have a lot of integrity and energy. [It is about] taking everything to heart and acting on impulse.""
That intent certainly shines through from the finished product. Like Fresh Fruit, ""Acne"" contains strong—though well-veiled—social critiques about the relationships between corporations, the military and our government. And like punk in general, this film is less about a glossy, flashy product for the mass consumption and more about personal expression, inciting others to laugh, get angry and act—even at the expense of proper filmmaking techniques.
While some may attribute the film's handmade, cheap feel to nothing more than a low budget—which admittedly was a factor—or poor filmmaking, Nails' intent was to make a film that was thoughtfully conceived but sloppy at the same time—like punk.
""I wanted to make something people don't always get to see, and [in ""Acne""] you can see some of the flaws,"" said Nails. ""Part of the beauty is that you get to see flaws. Everything isn't polished, because that can feel very trite. There are moments where for me it was fun to let people see the seams in filmmaking.""
In fact, a great deal of the fun in this film results from cleverly cheesy dialogue and ridiculous scenes, like a man selling chocolate like a drug dealer out of the backseat of his car after oily food is banned, or a woman telling her lover they may not work out because of his bald spot.
Interestingly enough, the acting varies between the teens and the corporate/military adults exploiting them. Nails and co-star Tracey Hayes play their confused teenage characters with French New Wave naturalism, while the adults pump the melodrama up to 11 and play their roles with a delightful lack of subtlety, reminiscent of the Kuchar Brothers' worse-is-better brand of avant-garde filmmaking.
If it has been a while since you've seen a film genuinely outside the mainstream, or a tribute as loving as it is thought-provoking and amusing, stop by The Orpheum this Friday or Saturday and see Nails break out ""Acne.""
\
