David Duchovny has an important story to tell. It’s a story of turning 13 years old and becoming a man in the gritty New York City of 1973, of joy and heartbreak and life-long secrets. Duchovny wants his story to be life-affirming, laugh-out-loud funny yet heavy, and he wants us to like all of his characters. (As with most ambitious independent “first films,” he is mostly successful, but the end result is admittedly a little ragged around the edges. Most of this blame falls on Duchovny’s script, which is uneven and could use a little tightening up.)

But despite these small snags, “House of D” is a remarkable effort and is easily the best drama of the year, given a slight suspension of disbelief. In terms of talent, Duchovny’s star power enabled him to rope in some great performances from the likes of Robin Williams (who plays a mentally disabled janitor), Anton Yelchin as the boy who is taken on the emotional roller coaster of his life, and Duchovny’s wife Tea Leoni as Anton Yelchin’s mother. Behind the scenes, the experienced hand of director of photography Michael Chapman (“Taxi Driver,” “Jaws”) ensured that the finished product was smooth and slick.

Duchovny recently shared a few words with the Guardian about his story and what it took to get it on the screen:

Guardian: Pretty impressive job doing a period piece in New York City with what looked like six cars and some haircuts: How did you pull it off?

Duchovny: (chuckling) So, you noticed that green Opal, showing up again and again? It was just a matter of doing the location scouting, [of] seeing what was feasible in that area that wouldn’t cost a lot of money to cover up. The amazing thing about New York, and any big city, is that for as much as it changes, there’s a lot that stays the same. And it was just a matter of finding what stays the same.

G: What was it like working with Michael Chapman, the legendary DP who’d already shown us New York in “Taxi Driver”?

D: Well, he knew firsthand what things looked like. We would always tease him, like go “Hey Michael, back in the 19th century, what did it look like?” Michael’s great. I mean, I felt very taken care of … to work with a guy who’s been there and done everything. You know, he operated on “Jaws”; most people don’t know that. Shot “Taxi Driver,” shot “Last Detail,” shot “Raging Bull.” So I thought, you know, at the bare minimum my film’s going to look OK.

G: Last night, at the public screening, some crazy lady asked a question about your use of cigarettes in the film, and if you were getting money for the product placement. But in the film, the cigarettes spend most of the time in the toilet and Anton Yelchin pees on them …

D: Oh, well there was no product placement in this movie. I’m not above taking money from a cigarette company to make my movie, but they didn’t offer! But the cigarette butt imagery was just something that I remembered from being a kid, and we lived in an apartment with one bathroom, and my mom would toss her cigarette butts in the toilet. And then I’d go pee, and I’d try to break them apart with my stream. And I just thought, well I haven’t seen that in a movie, and it felt like it was his unexpressed hostility toward his mother. You know, he’s in this relationship with his mom and he can’t push her away, but he can pee on her cigarette butts. And then I wanted to redeem that image at the end, and make it very emotional. And I was asked last night, was that product placement and why was everybody smoking, and was I promoting smoking, and I said that I don’t think I would get money for product placement to then urinate on the product. You know, here’s a can of Coke, and now I’m going to take a dump on it.

G: A lot of people think they know the formula for humor, but sentimentality in a film is much harder to pull off like you did in this film. What’s your secret for pulling the heartstrings without making it look trite?

D: I don’t know, it’s like an instinct. I really wanted to make a movie … [where] you sat in the theater and really went through an emotional journey with these characters. And you can’t do that unless you take the chance of crossing the line, because you can’t take it far without taking the chance of pushing it too far. And I’m sure for some people, you know, I fully expect some people to say it’s schmaltzy or something, but everybody’s entitled to their opinion. You know, I’d be disappointed if some people didn’t, because I think that different people have different levels of comfort with emotion. It’s like a litmus test of the person: “I don’t like to sit there and feel that, and I don’t want to.” But the way I thought to combat it [was], the more specific you make it the more real it seems and the less manipulative it seems. It seems more like a story and less like I’m just trying to get you right now, you know, because I’m not trying to “get” anybody, I’m just trying to tell this story for these characters.

G: OK, being the college paper I’ve got to throw something odd at you. My girlfriend used to listen to a lot of novelty records, and I wanted to know … do you have an official response to Bree Sharp, for her song, “Why Don’t You Love Me, David Duchovny?” that was made back when you were on “X-Files”?

D: (laughing) I want to hear, you know, the next song from Bree. I thought it was pretty catchy. And my wife, she was jealous that I didn’t write a song for her, nobody wrote a song for her, so I came up with the song “Why Don’t You Blow Me, Tea Leoni?” I guess that’s the sequel. But that’s never been aired.

G: Do you have any advice for up-and-coming filmmakers, how to get their first feature off the ground? I knew you went through a lot to get this going.

D: Yeah, I think so, and you know I had certain advantages that are built in, [but] I recognize that it’s hard. But I think that, with the state of technology the way it is now… you don’t need Hollywood. You can make a movie for $10,000. It’s all in the writing. You’ve got to write the stories, you’ve got to make the movie. So, you could try to go the Hollywood route, where the odds are against you because there aren’t that many movies made, and it’s hard to do. But if you’re dead-set on making a film, and that’s not working for you, I don’t see that there’s any reason to stop. You can cast it, because there are plenty of actors that want to work. You can make film. That’s why I say you should.

“House of D” opens in San Diego April 29 in select theaters.