''It is Fine! Everything Is Fine.'' is a 2007

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

David Brothers David Brothers is an American multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker. He is notable for his art installations and co-direction of the avant-garde film '' It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine.'' (2007). His work frequently examines the line between the ...

and

Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist. He is known for portraying eccentricity (behavior), eccentric Character actor, character roles on screen. His breakout role was as George McFly in ''Back to ...

. It was written by and stars Steven C. Stewart. It also stars

Margit Carstensen Margit Carstensen (29 February 1940 – 1 June 2023) was a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She appeared in films of directors Christoph Schlingensief ...

. ''It Is Fine'' is the second in a planned

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

of films directed by Glover (all of them under the amplificated title "A Crispin Hellion Glover Film"), with the other two entries being ''

What Is It? ''What Is It?'' is a 2005 American surrealist film written, edited, co-produced and directed by Crispin Glover and starring Glover, Steven C. Stewart and the voice of Fairuza Balk. ''What Is It?'' is the first entry in a planned trilogy direct ...

'' (2005) and '' It Is Mine'' (TBA).

Synopsis

A psycho-sexual, fantastical retelling of the life of a man with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

and a fetish for girls with long hair.

Production

The film was completely funded by Crispin Glover, through his production company

Volcanic Eruptions A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

, using his salary from acting in ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' (2000) and other films. It was written by and stars Utah writer-actor Steven C. Stewart, who also appears in ''

'' (2005). Glover and co-director and production designer David Brothers were working on an eventually unfinished project together in the late 1980s when Brothers passed Stewart's screenplay on to Glover, which the two committed to directing together with Stewart in the lead role. Although still in the midst of post-production of ''What Is It?'', Glover started shooting ''It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine.'' in 2001 due to Stewart's declining health making it apparent he did not have long left to live. The film was shot intermittently over six months. Stewart died of complications from

only one month after principal filming wrapped. Glover has said that Stewart's script was in the style of a 1970s made-for-TV movie, and has said that "It's an autobiographical,

psychosexual In psychoanalysis, psychosexual development is a central element of the sexual drive theory. According to Freud, personality develops through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure-seeking energies from the child become focused on certai ...

, fantastical retelling of tewart'spoint-of-view of life." Apart from the opening and closing scenes that were filmed in a nursing home, ''It is Fine. Everything is Fine!'' was shot entirely at David Brothers's

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. ''It Is Fine! Everything is Fine.'' was shot on

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

film stock and is usually projected on a 35 mm film print. Glover has stated that it is "probably the best film e'llever work on in isentire career."

Release

This film premiered at the

Egyptian Theater Egyptian-style theatres are based on the traditional and historic design elements of Ancient Egypt. The first Egyptian Theatre to be constructed in the US – which inspired many of the identically-named theatres that followed it – was Graum ...

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. Most of the city is within Summit County, Utah, Summit County, with some portions extending into Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is sou ...

on January 23, 2007 for the Midnight screening as an official selection of the

2007 Sundance Film Festival The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007, in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' Chica ...

. Glover screens the film alongside ''What Is It?'' at independent cinemas, typically accompanied by a question-and-answer session, a one-hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books as a slideshow, and a meet-and-greet/book signing with Glover.

Reception

The film had received an 80% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 10 reviews.

References

External links

Official Site
*
Crispin Glover discusses It Is Fine

Article & video about Steven C. Stewart and the movie
{{Crispin Glover 2007 films 2007 drama films American drama films Films about people with cerebral palsy Films directed by Crispin Glover American independent films Films shot in Utah American avant-garde and experimental films 2000s avant-garde and experimental films 2007 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language independent films Films shot in 16 mm film