INTERVIEW: Joe Gietl Serves Up Short Film ‘Tasteless’
Photos provided by Joe Gietl
“I like films that play with genre and expectations — some of my favorites are the ones where you don’t know exactly what is happening, but you feel like you’re in good hands.”
There’s nothing like good cinema. It’s capable of evoking feelings and emotions you sometimes don’t even know you have. At times you walk away unsure of what you’re feeling at all. In the case of Tasteless — a movie directed, co-written, and co-starring Hudson-based filmmaker Joe Gietl — this psychological thriller might be short, but it's certainly sweet with suspense and vision. I got the chance to speak with Gietl after watching the film, diving deeper into his vision.
The film centers around a two-person cast, which also includes Bonnie Discelpolo, who recently starred as Ms. Jessop in James Gunn’s summer blockbuster, Superman. Set inside an exclusive restaurant, we meet Discelpolo’s dutiful “The Chef” character and shortly thereafter, Gietl’s charismatic character, who is simply credited as “The Customer.” There is an air of unease around their ensuing interactions and conversations which begs for resolution. Instead the mood shifts steadily, keeping the viewer subdued in the moment. This is all aided by the transformative soundtrack by Thomas J. Peters. The film’s climax comes in a way that doesn’t feel inevitable — a necessary and welcome choice with the way the story builds.
“I like films that play with genre and expectations — some of my favorites are the ones where you don’t know exactly what is happening, but you feel like you’re in good hands,” Gietl tells me. “I wanted Tasteless to feel really inviting and then just slowly turn the dial up as the film goes on.”
Gietl started getting into filmmaking in his mid-20s, never having really aspired to create anything in this medium. Since then, he has premiered a short film called The Void and came extremely close to having his TV series, The Fledgling picked up for a pilot, with CW’s Smallville showrunners attached. Unfortunately, the infamous writer’s strike happened and Hollywood moved on. Out of all of that, he has gained invaluable experience and now his focus is on Tasteless, with the film having been accepted into and playing at horror genre-film festivals, Nightmare in The Ozarks and FilmQuest, which took place on October 23 and 28, respectively.
“I like playing in the [horror] space, because you can do so much personal stuff under the umbrella of being familiar to a broader audience. A ghost story, for example; you can tell a very personal idea but with it still having the backbone of something that people will gravitate towards.”
Gietl wrote the initial idea of the film in a day, and after six months with the team he assembled, there was a finished product. While that kind of speed isn’t always the case, a small cast and shared knowledge of how to be more efficient helped get things off the ground. While sometimes speed and art don’t mix, it can be a nod to great chemistry and communication.
“You realize as you go along, no one is ever going to care about your project as much as you do,” Gietl says. “Everyone has their own life and goals, and if you recognize that aspect, and that your movie isn’t the end-all, be-all, people respect that. It also allows you to have fun and make it fun, which people respond to better than making something out of fear — particularly of failure.”
While you can’t catch Tasteless anywhere yet, keep an eye out for a local premiere of the film at @tastelessfilm on Instagram.