March 15, 2002, Provo: The 1,000-seat Joseph Smith Auditorium at Brigham Young University is packed. Tickets to the Best of Final Cut, the annual student short-film festival, have been sold out since early in the week.
Students who have attended based on rave word-of-mouth reviews aren't disappointed. Jared Hess' "Peluca," a vignette about a red Afro-sporting Idaho geek named Seth, is winding down on the screen, receiving loud cheers and applause.
The short earns many loyal fans, and filmmakers are jazzed when it's accepted at several short-film festivals — including Slamdance, Sundance's shorter, little-brother festival. Encouraged by the favorable reception, Hess pushes ahead with his plans to write a feature based on the short.
Fast-forward two years to June 16, downtown Salt Lake City, where a line of nearly 600 has formed outside the Broadway Centre, snaking past the entrance and around the corner of State Street and 300 South. Many have waited several hours in hopes of sneaking a free promotional peek at that frizzy 'fro'd teenage dweeb "Napoleon Dynamite," the title character of Hess' first independent feature film.
More than half are turned away by pleased promoters and handed "tickets" to the next week's first-come, first-served showing.
If they missed that one, they can catch up with "Napoleon Dynamite" as it begins a theatrical run in Salt Lake City today.
Most of the film's cast and crew — co-writer/director Hess, lead actor Jon Heder, co-writer Jerusha Hess and producer Jeremy Coon — are products of Brigham Young University's film school, a fact that kept "Napoleon Dynamite" squeaky clean.
"A lot of Hollywood likes how it's so innocent," said Heder. "There are a few scenes where it feels like it's about to turn a dirty corner, and it doesn't. The film is so different, but it works. It goes to show that people do like clean movies. There's a lot of material that could be in there that's not — sex, swearing."
Hess said that introducing those elements would not only have been out of character for him but for Napoleon as well. "As a writer you try to do what's appropriate for the characters in the story, what makes sense for the story you're trying to tell," Hess said. "This is a movie about a kid who was raised not to swear, so he comes up with amusing alternatives like 'flip' and 'fetch,' all the token ones we're used to."
Religion has been a topic of interest for many who have written about the film and its star. Heder said their Mormon faith nearly always comes up in interviews. In an article published recently in Interview magazine, Heder spoke about religion's place in his career: "The church doesn't have a book on what actors can't do, but it's a moral decision I'm still trying to figure out. . . . I think of it more as my career being an obstacle to my religion."
Hess said he doesn't feel pushed to be anything other than what he is. "I don't feel any pressure," he said. "I go to church on Sunday, but I'm doing what I always wanted to do, which is write and direct movies."
BYU faculty who worked with Hess and Heder aren't concerned about the two keeping their heads on straight in the Hollywood whirlwind. "I don't think they're going to go down to Hollywood and become crazy," said Hess' production class professor Stan Ferguson, who's now retired. "They all seem to be rather grounded and have a firm set of beliefs."
Contributing: Jesse Hyde
E-mail: mdecker@desnews.com