An enthusiastic dentist, a reluctant patient, and a strange picture on the wall...

Filmmaker's Note:

I grew up in the Soviet Union where drilling teeth or getting root canals were usually practiced without anesthesia. Needless to say, because of bad nutrition we all - the prisoners of the Soviet System - suffered from bad teeth and had to go quite often to the dentist with a swollen cheek and in agonizing pain. The only relief from pain was by getting more pain.

The quality of dental work rendered on us was also dubious - the first western dentist who looked in my mouth asked, "did you do this yourself?"

Having lived in New York for the past 10 years, I have discovered that dentistry can be gentler, kinder... until I saw the pictures in my New York dentist's bathroom. There, in privacy, tidying myself after a two hour dental surgery (with anesthesia) I had time to investigate those small copies of 17th Century prints.

The images were horrifying - half conscious (or very drunk) patients with pain on their faces under the forceful figure of their dentists on top with crude pliers pulling a tooth. "What are these pictures doing in a bathroom where patients go after their teeth are done?" I asked myself. Does it mean my dentist has an excellent sense of humor, or he is just very insensitive? Or maybe he wants to show me that 21st Century dental surgery pain is nothing compared to THIS?

Slowly an idea for a film started to emerge. In the beginning there was no script, nor a storyboard, just a vague, fluid idea. I started with my dentist hanging a picture on the wall and then the doorbell ringing. Excited, enthusiastic to get to work, the dentist opens the door. The moment the patient entered the dentist's space I lost control over the film. Both characters started to interact with each other, commanding me what they wanted to do next.

The improvised interaction between the characters became my main focus. To save the integrity of the story I had to leave out 2763425 dental gags that I came up with while animating the film. It was very painful, like pulling my teeth... As I see it now, the film is mostly about a person who is an ingenious amateur at his job; a very enthusiastic amateur who can't wait for the next gig to come. I guess I lost an opportunity to get back at all the dentists I had painful experiences with, and instead made a film about myself...