February 12, 2012

Harmony Korine’s Golden Rules

by Harmony Korine | Published May 2, 2008

Harmony Korine directs Samantha Morton in Mister Lonely. Photo: IFC Films

Harmony Korine first gained notoriety at the age of 22, when his screenplay for Kids, about 24 hours in the life of an HIV-positive teen, was made into a feature film by Larry Clark. Two years later, Korine made his debut as a writer-director with the feature film Gummo, followed by Julien Donkey-Boy in 1999. Nine years later, Korine has returned to the indie film landscape with Mister Lonely, in theaters now courtesy of IFC. Here, Korine shares his 10 “Golden Rules” of moviemaking.

1. Acid casualties make good moviemakers.

2. If you have a missing hand it is good to use your stumped wrist as a tripod.

3. Never let a leper serve you coffee during the shoot.

4. If one of your actors is ugly then you should at least make sure they have all their teeth.

5. Impotent producers are usually spunky. I like to work with producers who shoot blanks.

6. If your entire crew is gay then your film will be gay flavored.

7. Make sure the script is over 10 pages long.

8. It’s good to hire at least two handicaps.

9. Make sure the DP is a Communist.

10. Don’t jerk off for the six weeks leading up to principal photography. It’s very good for your overall vision.

11. Make sure the gaffer isn’t addicted to opiates.

Enter now for your chance to win one of five copies of Drag City Records’ Mister Lonely soundtrack featuring Sun City Girls and Spiritualized frontman Jason Spaceman.

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Comment by Gordon Livery on 5/20/08 at 4:29 am: the trailer for this looks pretty good: eattheblinds.blogspot.com is harmony back from the dead? no more fight harm?
Comment by MovieGal on 6/06/08 at 3:50 pm: Harmony is indeed back—from the *near* dead, at least—sober(ish), married, working, living back home in Nashville, and as irreverent and funny as ever, if seemingly a little less tortured.
“Mister Lonely” is one of my favorite films of the year so far; it takes much of what was so right and so promising in his early works and uses it in service of something a lot more user-friendly.