We had the pleasure of speaking with the talent behind the unusual black and white dark comedy, Hippo.
Hippo follows a peculiar adolescent, and his Hungarian step-sister Buttercup as they struggle to come of age in late 1990s America, under the roof of a mother who has been institutionalized at least once.
Loosely based on the Greek tragedy ‘Hippolytus’ — Hippo examines the coming-of-age of two step-siblings: Hippo, a video-game addicted teenager, and Buttercup, a Hungarian Catholic immigrant with a love of classical music and Jesus. Like the Ancient Greek Aphrodite, Buttercup’s love is unrequited by a young man who prefers to indulge the art of war and chaos. The result is a hormone-fueled, tragicomic waking nightmare that must be seen to be believed.
The film aptly captures the tumult of one’s teenage years, within a repressed religious household. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of something one cannot avoid—your DNA. You can escape a monster, a ghost, even a vampire, but not your family; a fact is both horrific and hilarious, and the film revels in both sides.
Hippo was directed by Mark H. Rapaport who co-wrote the film with Kimball Farley. The film stars Kimball Farley as Hippo and Lilla Kizlinger as Buttercup. The film also features Eliza Roberts, Eric Roberts, and Jesse Pimentel.
Check out our interview with Kimball, Lilla, and Mark:
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
Though my mother would protest, Hippo is my attempt to capture the tumult of my teenage years. I grew up in a very religious community, so ‘coming of age’ and learning about things like sex did not exactly come standard. There was a lot of guesswork. A lot of misunderstandings. A lot of late nights on the Internet. A lot of shame.
This film is a hug to my younger self. The type of hug your therapist gives you after your last session, when you tell them you’re moving to a new city and that you don’t think you’ll need therapy anymore (but you do—and you are not actually moving, it just got too expensive).
It is also a cautionary tale on the dangers of something we cannot avoid—having a fucked up family. You can escape a monster, a ghost, even a vampire—but you cannot escape your DNA. One can only attempt to overcome their ancestral quirks. This fact is both horrific and hilarious, and I revel in both sides. -Mark H. Rapaport
