Hippo Star Kimball Farley Discusses Black Comedy’s Isolation Themes

Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Eliza Roberts, eric roberts, exclusive, interview, Kimball Farley, Lilla Kizlinger, Mark H. Rapaport

Hippo Star Kimball Farley Discusses Black Comedy's Isolation Themes

Actor Kimball Farley (Andronicus) spoke to Bleeding Cool about the inspiration behind his black comedy, Hippo, and how the film tackles adolescence.

Published Tue, 19 Nov 2024 08:17:09 -0600
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Kimball Farley explores isolation's impact in black comedy film Hippo.
• The film is shot in black and white to create mysterious drama.
• Farley discusses creative collaboration with director Mark H. Rapaport.
• Complex characters face dysfunctional family dynamics in Hippo.

There's something to be said about how society treats each other and how privileged Americans can feel having a roof over their heads. As humans, we typically thrive as social creatures, but strange things can happen, especially when you live in isolation. It's a theme that's not new by any stretch. Director Mark H. Rapaport and co-writer/star Kimball Farley provided their spin on what happens when a family is left to their own devices, and imaginations run wild in the Kinematics & Rough House film Hippo. Farley, who plays the title character, is a high-strung gamer steadily becoming a survivalist while living with his mother, Ethel (Eliza Roberts), and his heavily religious Hungarian Catholic stepsister, Buttercup (Lilla Kizlinger), who's in a hurry to grow up ignorant on what to do with her biological impulses. The Andronicus (2021) and In a Silent Way (2020) star spoke to Bleeding Cool about how he and Rapaport developed the film, the stylistic decision to shoot in black and white, how the pandemic provided the opportunity and time to complete, and differentiating Hippo & Buttercup's adolescent journey.

How 'Hippo' Is a Cautionary Tale on Isolation and the Broken Family

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Hippo?'

It's tough to say. There are many inspirations, but the biggest theme is isolation, what it does to a family, and what it does to a character who is not well in the brain. That was our starting point, and we were drawn to this kind of mentally ill young man. Seeing that fable unfold was interesting, but at the time, it was a cautionary tale of how an apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This is one where the apple falls hard.

What went to the stylistic decision to make the film in black and white? Was it Mark? Yours? Or a mutual?

We started talking about it a bit before filming. Mark and I were drawn to it, as was our cinematographer, Will (Babcock), who was also into it. It was another one of those things where the film would become off if it were in color. It's funny, but it would come off too funny. Black and white gives you more of a mystery where you're like, "I don't know how I should feel about this." It feels a little bit more like a drama if you're framing it in that old black-and-white lens, like old Hollywood. You're like, "Should I be laughing at what they're saying and what's going on?" since it's also insane.

Did films like 'Clerks' influence that decision?

A big one for us was a movie that came out in 2018 called 'Cold War' by Pawel Pawlikowski, who is a great director. We love his work, and there was something about the framing and how well he can often execute his vision in black and white, and he does it so well. That was like a big one because it's photographic and a testament to our DP, William Babcock. He is so talented, and it's a testament to his work that you can almost freeze-frame at any moment, and it looks like a photograph.

What's it like having Mark as a creative partner?
He's awesome. We have similar tastes and when we initially worked together on a short film called 'Andronicus' (2021), that went to Fantasia and some festivals. We got along and were like, "Let's make something again." It was like the height of Covid when we shot 'Andronicus' in July 2020, and later that year, we were like, "Let's write some stuff we could film. By early 2021, we were writing. He is a great writer because he's always looking at the big picture: the entire story as the director.

It's more of an acting exercise for me where I get to play with the character early and see where he should go. He asked me things like, "What do you think your character would do here?" It's like another opportunity to live with the character longer. So we have a nice process where our combined writing processes are like he's already directing, and I'm already acting.

The family is quite dysfunctional. What was the most difficult part about crafting Hippo and Buttercup's journey through adolescence?

It's a great question. It's interesting because the tough thing is you're playing with these two wildly different people. That makes for some of the most interesting films because that's where a conflict can arise, and you're dealing with someone who is a clear sociopath and maniac who believes himself to be a god. You're also dealing with someone who lost a lot, including her original family, wants to start a family of her own, and has more of a pure heart despite not being entirely well herself. She means the most well and is the purest of heart in the movie.

Playing with that yin and yang is like two magnets that are attracted to each other in love, but they're facing the way where they can't touch. It was interesting to leave them through that journey because they were there with each other and isolated all the time. They don't leave the house; you're seeing what it does to them, how they tug, how they go together, and how they don't, and then what comes of them towards the end.

Hippo, which also stars Jesse Pimentel, Vann Barrett, and Eric Roberts, is in select theaters.

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