It’s not every day that you’re sat in the pictures dealing with plastic spoons on the back of the head, dodging an American football which skims the back of your friend’s chair, while enduring a noisy audience shouting at the screen… and you really don’t mind.
In fact, not only do you not mind but it makes for the most surreal and entertaining cinematic experience you’ve ever had. Why? Because this is a screening and Q&A for notoriously bad film ‘The Room’ at the Fact cinema.
The film, hailed the ‘Citizen Kane of bad movies’ by Entertainment Weekly, was made in 2003 and directed by, written and starring Tommy Wiseau.
It was originally supposed to be a romantic drama but the shoddy technical work and generally appalling acting and dialogue caused Wiseau to change his tactics, relabeling it as a black comedy as it gained a cult following worldwide. The debut film was funded by $6 million which Wiseau claims was made by importing leather jackets from Korea.
It follows the story of Johnny whose life is destroyed when his best friend Mark has an affair with his fiancée Lisa. It is thought that the film is based around Wiseau’s actual encounter with such an event in his personal life.
Its screenings take on a peculiar hazard as fans carry copious amounts of plastic spoons in with them, throwing them at the screen and shouting “Spoons!” whenever an unexplained picture frame containing the image of a spoon appears in shot.
This was particularly frightening sitting on the front row, as we walked into the screen we were warned by an usher. However, more bothersome than this was a scene where the characters play American football in tuxedos, prompting audience members to throw balls to each other across the room.
Shouting was paramount throughout the screening with favourite lines such as “What a story Mark!” and “You are tearing me apart Lisa!” uniting the audience.
However, without doubt the strangest part of the evening was the question and answer session with Wiseau and supporting actor Greg Sestero, AKA Mark. Many of Wiseau’s answers made little sense. When asked by one enthusiast about the Tuxedo scene, Tommy replied: “Why is the sky blue?”
A truly unforgettable experience, the Room is a film best viewed in the cinema with a few friends, an open mind… and a good few plastic spoons.