Popping the Interview Cherry: Wes Malvini on Nausea

Interview by Rhonda Baughman

"There are some things worse than being alone."

– Charles Bukowski (1988)

"Mais oui, mon cherie Rhonda – tu es le nouveau Bukowski aux Etats-Unis."

- Unknown Myspace Fan (2005)

"I’m great at manipulation … and I prefer to work with people who want to discover something about themselves … "

- Wes Malvini (2009)

From the darkest regions of Idaho – comes a wicked little inspirational interpretation of several works of Jean-Paul Sartre, with just a whiff of William Burroughs, too.

And no, I’m not kidding – he does have other works aside from No Exit , people still do read, and alternative filmmakers like Malvini will step into your easily offended space and not mince his words. He certainly didn’t for this interview …

Existential French philosophe meets Idaho’s Evil Wine Productions.

Hostile Ohio journalist meets Idaho filmmaker wine snob ….

It was dangerous meeting, but I did manage to make it out alive … I can’t say the same for Sarte and Burroughs …

Writer/Director/Star/Producer Wes Malvini took a gamble taking on all those roles, but it paid off in the final product. If this film’s trailer does not one day haunt the site: http://culttrailers.blogspot.com/ I will be very surprised. And slightly annoyed.

“It’s not an art film, and while the film’s title/artwork might indicate otherwise, it’s also not a punk rock thing,” says Malvini, “it does have depth and substance. It’s just a movie – and about all kinds of things, sure – but it is fucking entertainment … and could even be watched as a good, dark comedy.” Malvini prefers the unobtrusive approach to getting out the good word, too: “I don’t want to market it in any different way … and the film - it is what it is. I do think it is for more people than it appears to be. Then again, I don’t give a fuck. It’s perfect in my opinion.”

The film’s visual approach is both appealing and startling. You do know right away you’re not watching a typical independent film, and it’s steady enough so as not to be confused with a student film. When asked about what may have led to the creation of Nausea, Malvini responds that it was inspired by a number of Sartre’s works and by Burroughs, specifically the way he told his stories: “I wanted to go more into human nastiness - it’s what gets you to human hope … or get in touch with our nasty, just in touch with it, to see, to know how nasty you can be …”

While I wouldn’t say I was in over my head at this point in the interview, I will say I was caught slightly off guard.

As an entity, Evil Wine was created by Dustin Jones and Wes Malvini in 2003 – with a short entitled The Fear in the Freezer. While I liked the title, Malvini dishes that it was a “horrible piece of shit.” According to Wes, Malvini in Italian means bad or evil wine, and in real life he is the manager of a winery – and actually, the manager of the highest rated winery in the state of Idaho. Wes is adamant about this – and as much as I do love Ohio wineries, he is quite convincing. So, I have to ask him about Idaho.

“I love Idaho – it’s the last place besides Montana, here you can be an American ... You’re free here, you can say whatever the fuck you want to say, as raucous and as degenerate as you want – we shoot guns, drink beer, and smoke pot … “

I know what else they can do, too …

I will however try to keep this review vaguely professional.

Besides, Malvini is right – you can smoke in bars if over 21, but not in restaurants or any place, such as a bar that would serve food. It’s probably time I check out Idaho and skip LA for a change.

“I have been to LA once in my life … and fuck that place. I don’t want to go back. Not even southern Cali – nor northern Cali again. I boycott that state. I had a ½ drive through LA and that was enough. I have friends who have done the whole LA thing, the film thing – it’s just a glorified brothel. Besides, the wine tastes like shit. I might visit San Francisco, and if we could just get rid of the hippies, it would be even better.”

He’s right again. If I have told cohorts and colleagues about this LA myth once, I’ve said it a hundred times. It’s a weird mentality – that one would have to go to LA to create … chances are, if you can’t do it where you are right now, LA is not going to save you. Hmmm – and at this point if the interview and after that statement, I’m not sure who might be the bigger snob: myself or Malvini. I should also note, Malvini is uber-excited about the premiere at The Egyptian in Boise, Idaho on September 25th. He wants people to watch the movie – and so do I.

There are no awards yet, although the film was only completed four week ago. It took Wes three years to complete Nausea and I can understand he would want to win something, even just a small acknowledgement this film is actually quite good. “I had no money for this film, really. So, without the money you’d have to take the time. It worked my advantage – not having money, but having the time – and now, I refuse to do anything without those parameters ….” Malvini concludes.

Nausea began as a documentary, but it’s still being shot for the making of portion The original lead bailed, citing the film has unlikable characters and he didn’t want to get into the psychology of it all. Only then did I decide to do it myself. We had over-planned and just stopped the movie. So, it was just Dustin Jones and myself … we both would act in the movie … and I even became engaged during production at one point, which may have perhaps helped to drive the film, truthfully, in one capacity …

Raw emotion is helpful, come to think of it.

And raw is how I would describe the last fifteen minutes of Nausea. Pretend you dislike the first half of the film, just fuck it all, and stay until the end. It’s disturbing, haunting, melancholy, and well, kinda hot.

What is in the future for Evil Wine?

Malvini is in love with wine – and in September/October he is interviewing the owner of the winery where he works, James Holesinsky, and a subsequent wine tour. Malvini also speaks of his slight fetish with Mennonite girls, perhaps the corruption of something seemingly pure – I can relate to this – and there is a personal project in the works on just such a topic. The Mennonite angle, not the corruption, although I am only guessing here, truly – as Malvini is probably not someone you want on your bad side …

“I also have a fetish for nuns, for violent sex – and a threesome with the Mennonite and the nun punching each other would be fantastic …” says Malvini. Yep – erring on the side of caution to stay away from that bad side says Baughman.

Evil Wine co-founder Dustin Jones is also working on his own feature film. The company does have open casting calls, although they are used to working with locals, Malvini has expressed that he doesn’t like to work with professional/traditional actors per se, but does prefer to work with people “who want to discover something about themselves.”

Interesting quote given my recent foray into the quicksand of Arkansas.

“I don’t watch a lot of films … the last best film I saw would have to be Laurel and Hardy. I had a 4 week marathon – everything else honestly has been shit. I do like classic films, and some foreign films, no mainstream for me, but then again, many independent films do not engage me often either. The last great books were The Rum Diary and Porno ….”

I am suddenly reminded of my asshole ex who stole my copy of Porno. And this in turn leads me to the proverbial nudity question.

“I have no problem with nudity, none whatsoever. The instances of nudity in Nausea were extremely low-key and I could have gotten away with much more, I think, but my nudity is subtle and tasteful,” says Malvini. “I don’t like nudity that is present for the sheer idea of jacking off. I do like showing the intimate side of people … and you will see nudity in the bathroom in my film, it is one of the most intimate places people go.”

“All in all, I want to be remembered for making awesome shit and well, for being dead sexy …” concludes Malvini.

He just might do that.

Judge for yourself – and stay until the end, the very bare end after the credits. I did – and didn’t regret it. Strangely enough, I wanted to watch the film again.

Visit:

http://www.evilwine.com/nausea/nausea-theatrical-trailer

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