I should have known better, having so many questions about a film with an elusive question for a title — and cult actor Crispin Glover [2]as writer, director, and supporting character. I know, I know. But Glover describes What Is It? [3], a film featuring a number of actors with Down's Syndrome, as "the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are snails, salt, a pipe and how to get home," all while being tormented by his "hubristic, racist inner psyche." You say you're not dying to know more about his creative process? I say you're a liar.

While making his controversial debut feature (which first screened in 2005), Glover had the sensual, surreal work of auteurs like Werner Herzog [4] and Stanley Kubrick [5] specifically in mind, though that doesn't fully explain a theatrical trailer that features him in a fur coat and flowing wig among naked women in animal masks — and, of course, all those snails, one of which is voiced by Fairuza Balk [6]. So, really, what is it? Thankfully, Glover flew in to elaborate: starting tonight at 7 p.m., and running all weekend, the as-yet-unreleased What Is It? makes its Minnesota premier with a special live performance and a Q&A session with the man himself.

In the meantime, I got to volley a few of my burning inquiries off the actually very affable Glover. He answered none of them, at least not directly, because he wants you to decide for yourself—again, how could you not want to?

Q: WHY DID YOU ULTIMATELY DECIDE TO MAKE THIS FILM?

CG: I was approached by first-time writers to act in a film they had written. I told them I would be interested in being in it if I could direct it and do some re-writing, and that if I directed it I would like to have a large majority of the characters be played by actors with Down's Syndrome. David Lynch agreed to executive produce the film, and I went to one of the larger corporate entities to see if I could get funding but they told me they were concerned about having a majority of the characters be played by actors with Down's Syndrome. I decided to make the script into a short film in order to promote that this was a viable concept, but when I edited it together, it came in at 85 minutes. I realized that, with some more work, I could make it into a feature film.

And yes, most of the actors do have Down's Syndrome, but it's not about Down's Syndrome. It's a psychological reaction to the corporate restraints that have happened within the film industry in the last 20 to 30 years. Anything that can make the audience member uncomfortable will not be corporately financed or distributed. The audience member sits back in their chair, looks up at the screen, and asks ‘Is this right what I'm watching? Is it wrong? Should the director have done this? Why am I here? What is it?' That's the name of the film-What Is It? is my psychological reaction to that situation. The only way that education can happen in film is for something considered taboo to be referenced. Unfortunately, there are groups of people that [make statements] like ‘Well, we wouldn't want to say that...' Nothing at all is being asked. Anything that's a reference to a reference to a taboo subject is excised instead of being necessarily talked about, and I do think that's very damaging.

Q: WILL IT EVER BE RELEASED ON DVD, OR WILL YOU JUST CONTINUE TO TOUR WITH IT?

CG: The normal business model for art films is to release them in several of the largest cities and use that element as advertising until it comes out several months later on DVD and makes more money. I do my live dramatic narration of eight different books I've made over the years, I have a slideshow will the illustrations behind me and then I show the film and have a Q&A period and book signing afterwards. What Is It? is [discomforting], but what's important is to get over a concern with taboo elements so other genuine thought processes can be explored. I consider these films educational, because unusualness can be some of the most educational material around. People [won't] be attacking me for exploring uncomfortable areas—[I want to] get into a thoughtful experience and have true communication.

Q: WHAT IS THE REASON BEHIND THE YOUNG MAN'S JOURNEY? WHERE IS "HOME" FOR HIM?

CG: Well, the film won Best Narrative Film at the 2005 Ann Arbor Film Festival, which I always take to heart when I hear people call it non-narrative. I would argue strongly that it is because it shows the archetypal journey a hero must go on. They start in a normal world but it's disrupted in some way, so they must enter a special world, go into a series of meeting friends and enemies, trials and tribulations...then there is the eventual come-up, and some kind of moral has been brought back into the original world that has been either righted or not righted. To me, this was a very straightforward way to have a film dealing with the particular issues I was trying to illustrate. There can be different nuances, but it's better to let the viewer interpret things on their own. It's not me trying to be obtuse-it violates a goal of mine if I start dictating to people what they should be thinking, seeing or understanding.

Q: WHAT IS THIS HUBRISTIC, RACIST INNER PSYCHE THAT AFFLICTS THE OUR HERO?

CG: Again, I think there are things that are good to see within the context of the film. I believe very much in filmmakers and other artists being really quiet. On some level, I believe in not saying anything about the film. When I step in front of an audience after a screening, I notice a certain amount of unease. I could say that's good, but because of the context the film is released in, people often feel there's randomness to it. This was not done in a random or haphazard fashion. I'm very committed to letting people know that it's a reaction to corporate restraints in cinema of the last 20 to 30 years, so it then becomes about how they choose to interpret those nuances.

Q: WHAT ABOUT ALL THE SNAILS? WHAT ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO SYMBOLIZE?

CG: The strongest reaction I get from any audience is always about the snails. It's unusual if I show the film and don't get questions about the snails. Some of the imagery does deal with taboo specifics, but I've made it a rule not to dwell on them. The truth of it is that that's not the reason I made this film. The snails do symbolize something very specific to me, but I'm very careful to not say...people say many different things to me about what they think it means and they're always very interesting. Sometimes they're related to mine and sometimes it's something quite different. I'm glad the movie works in that way-that was a goal of mine. I am dedicated to not violating that element, but I will say that the snails play a very important role in the visceral emotionalism that exists in the movie.