DAY FIVE November 7, 2005

by Peter Martin

With director Steve Anderson 's provocative, timely and very funny new film, add movie title to that list.

"I always said let's make a documentary about the word fuck as kind of a joke," recalls Anderson. "It always got people's attention. When I sat down to think about it, I realized it was a pretty good idea. It's a way to look at a word that has always been at the center of the debate on free speech."

Anderson's first film, THE BIG EMPTY, had its World Premiere at AFI FEST 2003. Going from a well received, quirky comedy to a potentially controversial documentary might seem an odd choice to some, but Anderson has always had a strong penchant for documentary work.

"I've admired filmmakers that have done both, like Martin Scorsese," says Anderson. "It's a different kind of filmmaking; you use different muscles and creative tools to do it. I thought it was a good way not to be pigeonholed right away. Ultimately, I want to make films that, number one, entertain people, but, number two, make people think and have discussions afterward."

Born in Rochester, New York, Anderson moved to Los Angeles about 15 years ago, intending to do camerawork to support his goal of making independent films. It took longer than he anticipated, but he values the time he spent as a cameraman.

"I covered a lot of entertainment events and went behind the scenes on a lot of film and TV sets," Anderson says. "You really get an inside look at how things work. It was a great training ground. And with camerawork, I got to develop my eye for composition every day."

Once Anderson made the decision to start on his own documentary, he faced an immediate challenge. "You're doing a film about a word. It's hard to give a word character. I wanted to look at the word in as many areas of popular culture in our times as possible. It's been a bit of a journey for me, to see where the film would take me."

To that end, FUCK features a blizzard of interviews with filmmakers, writers, comedians, scholars, religious leaders and social commentators. Anderson took great pains to make sure that all points of view were represented fairly. When approaching potential subjects, Anderson didn't pull any punches. "We told them it was going to be about the word, but not just the word; a much broader range of subjects--broadcast decency, freedom of speech--would be covered. I let everyone know that the film was going to be uncensored. They certainly weren't required to use that language if it made them uncomfortable."

The documentary debunks commonly held beliefs about the word's origin, and reviews how the word has been used--or condemned--in religion, politics, movies, television, radio and pornography. Archival news footage, extensive quotations from the Bible and wonderful animation by the award-winning Bill Plympton are used to good effect throughout the film.

Lest anyone think FUCK is a sober, scholarly report, though, Anderson says that this particular word has an advantage. "It's funny. Even people who are a little uncomfortable with it will go see a comedian like George Carlin. I don't think we really laugh enough in this day and age. And there's nothing better for a filmmaker than to be able to create something that makes people come out with a smile on their face."

The director realizes that the title of his film may cause consternation, but he didn't make the decision lightly. "It's not just about the word," Anderson says, "it's about how the word defines us as a society. One of the reasons I named the film FUCK, even though it will certainly cause us some issues along the way, is (that) I really wanted the film to have the same problems as the word has always had."

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