The bleak L.A. drama American Trash is a meditation on the grief and post-traumatic stress disorder of a combat veteran lost in a world where society and its institutions are apathetic to the causes that matter to him. In this case, the causes are the environment and seeking justice for the murder of his girlfriend.
American Trash is the feature film directorial debut of Robert LaSardo, who also wrote the screenplay (along with Adrian Milne) and starred in the movie. LaSardo is an experienced actor with more than 200 credits to his name since 1987, including film roles in The Mule starring Clint Eastwood and Death Race starring Jason Statham as well as extended runs on TV shows like Nip/Tuck and CSI:Miami. LaSardo has been working with Mahal Empire on several projects, including Night of the Tommy Knockers and Bloodthirst.
American Trash also stars Lorelei Linklater and Gigi Gustin with appearances by the late Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan) and Costas Mandylor (Saw IV).
LaSardo plays a tattoo artist named Milles who meets Melissa (Linklater) while cleaning the area near a sacred cave in the forest. The nature-loving Melissa is playing a tape-recorded interview of the notorious cult leader Charles Manson talking about the environment when she appears. The two fall in love quickly, but the relationship is cut short when Melissa is murdered.
What follows is a difficult emotional journey for Milles, a conflicted man filled with regret, frustration, and darkness. Melissa’s sister Mandy (Gustin) and his therapist Tai (Rich R. Rendon) bring a little light into Milles’s world, but he seems trapped emotionally by his grief. He feels like a coward, and the lack of police progress on Melissa’s murder case prompts him into action. The tragic irony of Melissa’s death – her body was found in a trash bin – is too much to take.
Milles’s helplessness over Melissa’s death transforms into anger and violence over what Melissa loved – protecting the environment. In one scene, he pulls a gun on a couple for throwing garbage on the ground. In another scene, he attacks a man for defacing a rock. Milles is spiraling out of control just like the world around him.
The ending is a shocker but also understandable. Milles represents the part of society who truly cares about the environment, and his concern was amplified by Melissa’s passion for the issue. The message – nature is not a garbage can – is clear, but so is one burning question: Are environmentalists fighting a losing battle against the ills and self-absorption of society?
American Trash is a bold directorial debut because it shows the ugly side of apathy, the part where society and its institutions surrender to it. And the fact that a Charles Manson interview is the voice of reason in the movie may be the most damning testimony of all.
Interview with Director / Actor Robert LaSardo
LaSardo, a U.S. Navy veteran born in Brooklyn, New York, agreed to an exclusive interview with Lionel Ray Green for MalevolentDark.com to discuss his film. American Trash is currently available on the following platforms: Amazon Prime, Roku, Apple TV, Vubiquity, Plex, iTunes, and YouTube.
MD: Why was it important for you to tell the story of Milles in your feature film directing debut?
LaSardo: Milles was devised as a way to converse with myself in various forms. Each character appears in the film with a specific function of philosophy to challenge Milles’s pessimism. The dual nature of man and the universe has always intrigued me. I used a circumstantial event to examine the human spirit and its potential in dealing with crisis.
Milles’s response to tragedy is crucial in how it reveals his character. I didn’t want there to be any heroics to mislead the audience away from his natural frailty. It was important for me to explore the PTSD element with a responsibility to myself and my fellow veterans.
MD: You had a talented cast for this film, including the late Tom Sizemore and Saw actor Costas Mandylor as well as Lorelei Linklater and Gigi Gustin. What was the experience like with this crew, both as a director and actor?
LASARDO: I’ve worked with Tom on quite a few films. We’ve shared scenes together and interacted often. So, I had a sense of him, his method and process. It was just about navigating Tom into a place that was effective within the circumstance and focusing him in so that we could have the best of what he could offer. I always knew he had an extraordinary ability. I just wanted to make sure that despite our friendship, he would understand the importance of bringing his A game.
So, we sat down, and it was kind of a wrestling match for a minute, over the material, the dialogue, everything. But ultimately, because of his trust in me, I think we were able to have some fun with it, and I can look at it in retrospect and say, right on, he nailed it. Tom’s influence on the film in the scene he appears, is reflective of the world I created for him to inhabit with sensitivity and grace. I miss him.
Lorelei is the embodiment of the Melissa character. This free-spirited hippie type that I’ve always fancied growing up in the 60s. A friend of mine had read my script and told me that he knew of an actress he felt was the living embodiment of what I had written. After speaking with Lorelei on the phone for a couple of hours, and discussing the project, I realized my friend’s intuition about her was dead on – minus some of the Charlie Manson ideology I toy with in the film.
That clearly is the fictional element she carries as the Melissa character, but very realistically I must add. There’s nothing contrived or sinister in her portrayal as the free-spirited environmentalist that has an affection for Charles Manson’s ecological ideology. There’s a vulnerability and innocence that Lorelei possesses that translates well on screen. Her mysterious presence helps shape the narrative through the atmospheric imagery of American Trash.
Costas has quite the intensity, so I didn’t have to maneuver him much. I just kinda sat back and let him do his thing. It was basically, this is the circumstance Costas, this is your character, and this is mine. Let’s dig in deep. It was easy because he was always ready. He brought that commitment to our scenes every time He also has a very charismatic, lighthearted personality, but when I flipped the switch and said “action”, he immediately shifted into the world I created. It was easy to play off of him because of that.
Gigi is a natural in terms of her ability to inhabit the character space with grace and realism. Her portrayal of Mandy is sublime and exactly what I needed to dispel the murky disposition of Milles. It was vital to the story that her character could love Milles so convincingly that the audience might share her empathy.
MD: A tape recording of a Charles Manson interview is one of the more unique inspirations for a main character in a movie that I’ve watched. What about that interview made you want to use it as such a pivotal part of your film?
LASARDO: I’ve listened to countless uncensored interviews with Manson simply talking. I immediately identifed with a mind trapped in a circumstance that suggested something other than a monster. Manson’s detailed account of burning up tractor equipment in the Mojave Desert to stall development, prior to the Cielo Drive killings, got me thinking. His environmental practices suggested something other than death. The preservation of air, trees, water and animals as he communicated in many interviews resonated with me. I was able to absorb his message without prejudice and observe a quality overlooked by many. It seemed appropriate to employ a paradox to drive my narrative about a man with a similar duality.
MD: What makes American Trash so good is that it rather boldly injects its storyline with social commentary on meaningful topics like the environment, grief, human connection, PTSD, societal ills, and violence. As the director, writer, lead actor, and a U.S. Navy veteran yourself, were those messages personally important for you to convey?
LASARDO: I wanted to examine the social and environmental crisis from the inside out. Rather than show how ugly things appear in Los Angeles, which I touch on briefly, I chose to emphasize the beauty in that world, while exposing the culprit in the minds of people that move through this oasis and contaminate it with ignorance. The physical pollution is merely a symptom of a malignant relationship to nature and ourselves.
My theme suggests, it is us, that hold the responsibility in the way we deal with each other day to day. Regardless of what we face in our communities, we have a moral obligation to muster our humanity. Whether it be an economic crisis, environmental crisis or a war. The challenge upon man is to remedy things peacefully with respect for each other and the earth we share.
MD: You’ve been acting since 1987 with high-profile roles in movies and TV shows. Where does directing American Trash rank among all your accomplishments and experiences in show business?
LASARDO: I realize I’ve been afforded the opportunity to work with some extraordinarily talented people as well as films that have made their mark in cinema history which I am truly grateful. American Trash may not be for everyone. For me, it transcends stature or glory because it was made with the intention to leave those things behind, that it might touch someone.