DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

Subconscious Cruelty was born from rage, and screams. Or more likely dreams that were reflected in burning, shattering mirrors. Any film that is made over a long period of time alters with age (along with its creator), and Subconscious Cruelty, having taken 6 ½ years to complete
is no exception. Being a film that I began when I was only 19 years old, I see in it today a pure, rage-drenched honesty and analytical frustration against the world that I find almost endearing, if not somewhat naive- but in the most beautiful sense.

This film's genesis was in the early 1990's, a very complicated time that saw a re-surgance in heroin use amongst the young, a whole wave of popularity given to aggressive, anti-social and depressive Industrial Music, some sort of illusion of a North American Underground Cinema scene, and a general acceptance of nihilism in art. It was before the populist pre-millennial angst that overwhelmed the masses recently, forcing films to dive even further into pre-fabricated moulds and
predictable cycles; a moment where raw form and throbbing beats were not necessarily forced to be reassuring. It was the anger before the fear. And it was, in fact, the perfect breeding ground for such a nasty and unorthodox film as Subconscious Cruelty.

The idea behind the picture was to do a film structured, literally, like a long fever dream; sometimes veering in between narrative moments, struggling off into free-form, surrealistic vignettes, then ending in what might be described as something in-between the two concepts; shot-gunned into that beautiful ambiguity provided by rapid-eye thought. Not only would the content assault the dark and horrific aspects of the human being, it would be composed within the realm of the right brain, the pure arena of creativity where there would be no censorship or lies. One would think up an idea or vision, and weave it into the film, based on intuition and liberty.

This style of cinema, proceeded by and encouraged by the works of Alexandro Jodorowsky, Luis Bunuel, Dusan Makevejev and so many others, was a perfect playground to molest for my first feature film, the kind of picture where one's limits are only financial and logistical, where a dream the previous night could easily be fitted in the next day's shooting schedule without harm or restrictions.

Having a producer that believes in this concept is the first step in completing such a film, and I was lucky enough to have Mitch Davis, who throughout all the insanity and horror that came during the making of this film (hostage-taking of the original negative, crew rebellions, ice-storms, drug problems, thievery, health problems, arrestations on obscenity charges, stolen raw film stock, deaths etc.) was still around to see its completion. To that, I am eternally grateful, and relieved
that some people out there still want to fight for these pictures. I am also in terminal gratitude to those who saw the film through to the end, especially to the ultra-talented individuals in the Music, Sound Design and Special Effects departments, whose excellent work speaks for itself.

Ultimately, Subconscious Cruelty came out much different than it was originally intended to be, but still very true to its initial spirit. It is a film that takes a lot of work on the part of the spectator to watch; an unusual little monkey in terms of content and cinema structure. But this is also why I think the movie is special and also
quite universal. Love it, or hate it, Subconscious Cruelty, I sincerely believe, will leave the audience member with images and emotions that she or he will never forget. And that, whether it is what people look for from cinema or not, is what I look for. It's what allows me to breathe.

So hopefully we will scar some memories with something as ephemeral and fragile as this film. Perhaps influence future dreams?

- Karim Hussain