Director David Gordon Green on the set of Pineapple Express.
As the writer-director of independent films such as George Washington and All The Real Girls, David Gordon Green has earned a reputation for being a master of small-budget, Southern-set stories full of delicate characterizations. He gleefully chucks most of that out the window with his latest directorial effort, the stoner action comedy Pineapple Express. With fingers crossed for his first commercial success, Gordon Green spoke to TIME from Los Angeles.
I've read that you were one of the first members of one of the first Blockbuster video stores in America. Is that true?
For a long time, I thought I was the first member of any Blockbuster. Then I found out through further research — actually someone called me out on it — that I was the first member of the second Blockbuster. I grew up in the late '80s in a suburb of Dallas that evolved from this cool, multicultural community to a testing ground for massive franchises. And when I heard 10,000 movies were coming to town — an eighth grade movie nut just starting his education of movie history — I was waiting at the door banging on the glass so they could open up and let me in.
What movies did Blockbuster introduce you to?
The Toxic Avenger was one of the first. I rented a lot of the B movies that didn't make it to my neighborhood. The drive-ins had closed down and there wasn't the direct-to-video market yet, so there wasn't much of a home for movies like that. I also remember getting a lot of Hitchcock with my parents and discovering Robert Altman, which was huge for me. Watching McCabe and Mrs. Miller for the first time — when I thought I knew what a Western was — totally redefined the genre for me.
The other movie that really changed my life was Harold and Maude. I picked that one up because it had a funny video box. It looked wacky. I remember that watching it and at first being disappointed that it wasn't an all-out comedy, and then realizing, "No, wait, this might be the greatest movie I've ever seen." And before I knew it I was just totally overwhelmed at this venue, Blockbuster. Then it turned into what we know now, which is not an exciting place.
A few years ago, you hosted a screening at the IFC Center in New York City of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, a buddy heist flick with Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges.
Thunderbolt encompasses everything I love about movies. It's got badass action, it's got some of the funniest dialogue between characters, it's got a genuine, sympathetic, dramatic relationship at its core — what more do you need?
How would you describe Pineapple Express?
It's hard to describe because it's all over the place. There's an eight-minute scene of two guys sitting in the living room, talking and smoking weed and watching TV and then there's a guy getting his foot shot off. We didn't exactly have a specific role-model film. We were just looking at great reference points all over the place — from something deeply embedded in my tastes, like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot to the more tongue-in-cheek, trashy '80s action movies that I enjoy for their camp value.
The movie does seem reminiscent of the '80s, from the bad guys' clothing to the synthesizers on the sound track. Was that intentional?
That's the type of movie that I grew up with. I wanted to weave a retro vibe into this movie, from the songs on the sound track to the synthesizer-heavy score. We looked to movies like Beverly Hills Cop and 48 Hours and even The Warriors for inspiration.
When did you first meet the Judd Apatow crew?
I met them when they were filming Knocked Up. We had some friends in common and I was invited out to the set. I watched their manner of working, which I was inspired by and found quite similar to my own style of filmmaking. I love the collaborative process of making movies, which is undermined when directors take all the credit for a film. To me the true enjoyment of it is working with great people. I started making movies in film school, and you work with people who are hungry and have an appetite for education, so everyone looks to everyone else for advice and challenge each other and counsel each other. I didn't see any reason to stop that and get the attitude and ego and arrogance that a lot of more dictatorial, auteur directors have.
Seeing Judd work in a very commercial, but very loyal and respectful way with people, giving his actors tremendous freedom with improvisation, was great. And I was looking at their model of commercial, successful comedies and mine of dramatic films that don't make any money and thought there might be a cool fit there. I am at a point professionally where I need a little bit of financial credibility. And it worked out conveniently that my interest was to make a commercial comedy. The hope is that people see that they can invest in me and make some money back.
Despite the raucous comedy, you still manage to fit in some beautiful scenes that are reminiscent of your earlier work. I'm thinking of one where the guys are in the woods playing with a caterpillar.
I approached this with as many crazy concepts as I have in the past. Then I put that all aside and worked on the relationships. If this isn't a relationship movie, it doesn't work. You can make weed jokes all day — and we've all seen those movies that fail — but if you have something more than that, then it works.
Where are you with your next project, a remake of Dario Argento's over-the-top horror movie about witches, Suspiria?
I just finished the script, based on the original [movie]. I wrote it with my production sound mixer, which is a new approach for me. I usually start on page one and write stream of consciousness. But I thought it would be cool to work with a guy who's an engineer. Not only is he a horror aficionado, but he has a technical perspective on everything he does. The script is far more structured than usual. It's the first thing I would do — assuming it gets made — that is not highly improvised. I've got a lot of ambitious ideas for it, inspired by Polanski and Kubrick and Argento himself. As much as I love the original, there are a lot of missed opportunities that I'm trying to go for in this one.