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Friday, April 11, 2014
FILM
INTERVIEW
A Tried And True Romantic Of The Sensory Realm
John
Turturro as Fioravante in "Fading Gigolo", which he also wrote and directed.
Millennium Films
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Friday,
April 11,
2014
JOHN TURTURRO IS A GENTLEMAN. Genuine. That is
not noted for kiss-ass effect. Few actors are as polite, authentic or
courteous. He escorts departing interviewers from a suite. When you
talk to him you sense he's not biding his time for the next interviewer to
arrive. Except for questions about Woody Allen's personal life, which some
have been foolish enough to ask him, John Turturro will talk about anything.
He's a disarming figure to such a pleasant degree.
On a late afternoon Mr. Turturro, 57, a bespectacled Brooklynite, sits
comfortably, nattily attired in a medium-blue suit. Distinct yet
indistinguishable.
In feel and scenery very familiar to New Yorkers is "Fading Gigolo", the new
film that Mr. Turturro wrote, directed and starred in. The film is
familiar as a celebration of the Big Apple and some of its lonelier, more
isolated, lovelorn, love-crazed and diverse people. The comedy-drama looks
at two New York filmmakers in the roles of pimp, Murray (Woody Allen), and
gigolo (aka "ho") Fioravante (Mr. Turturro). Murray and Fioravante are
long-time friends whose shifting economic circumstances as bookseller and
florist find them reviving their off-the-books partnership in the world's oldest
profession.
"My character's kind of like a samurai guy. He really likes women but
never committed . . . he's very comfortable with women. And he's not a guy
who's cocky, but who's like, confident, you know. He's not looking for the
end result all the time," Mr. Turturro observed, noting the physical rhythms of
his film. "There's rituals that go on with it but I like things that are
physical without them being just violent, you know?"
Here in San Francisco the easygoing John Turturro is, as you would expect,
relaxed. At the start he offers water to a guest. He's greatly
appreciative and thankful when asked how his family is doing. At times his
hand gently hits the table he sits at to emphasize a point he makes. He's
a compassionate, sensitive and thoughtful figure. These qualities come
through in "Fading Gigolo", which opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend
and in San Francisco on May 2.
In the film Vanessa Paradis plays an Orthodox Jewish widow in Brooklyn,
sheltered from the outside world, imprisoned by a lack of interaction and
emotion. On the other end of the spectrum are Sharon Stone and Sofia
Vergara who play women looking for sexual adventure. Then there's Tonya
Pinkins as a "matronly" stereotype character who is homemaker and girlfriend to
Mr. Allen in the film.
"I love women. And I love, you know, there's nothing wrong with lust and
sex and all that stuff too, but I think that women -- in order to understand a
woman -- it's for a man a lot of times a big mystery. Certainly love is a
very big mystery," Mr. Turturro acknowledges. "I think people who
can listen to another person and can let that person be, allow themselves to
come out -- then you're starting to appreciate someone on different levels.
Not just on one level. You know what I mean? And that's something
that interests me. And as you get older, that does."
John Turturro has been acting for 35 years. He's instantly recognizable on
the big screen or on stage. Many remember him in "Four Corners" and Spike
Lee's "Do The Right Thing" playing memorable New York types, infamous ones.
He's had the bit parts ("Raging Bull", "Mr. Deeds", "Transformers"), the leads
("Barton Fink"), the voices ("Summer Of Sam") and the director's chair ("Illuminata",
"Romance & Cigarettes", "Passione", "Mac".) He was in Mr. Allen's "Hannah
And Her Sisters". It's surprising he hasn't been in more Allen films.
He has children with wife Kathleen Borowitz, herself an actor and filmmaker.
Ms. Borowitz was in "Internal Affairs" and starred with her husband in "Illuminata".
There's a distinctly feminine pulse throughout "Fading Gigolo" that registers
and resonates. In a film world chock full of testosterone Mr. Turturro's
latest directorial effort marinates, evokes, smells the roses and takes a few
breaths. The breaths are enriched by affection, longing and warmth.
The filmmaker himself now takes a moment to comment about members of his own
gender.
"Lots of guys, they're interested in getting it, or whatever, and I
don't think they actually like being with women that much. I
actually have a lot of women friends. And I like, work with women
designers and producers. I enjoy working with women. I really do.
I feel freer. Honestly. And there are guys that I feel free with
too. But they have to have a strong, like, you know, like,
feminine-masculine side, you know what I mean? I just don't like innately,
you know, macho, macho, macho. That doesn't turn -- I don't like being
around it. And it doesn't bring out the best part of me."
There's more discussion about masculinity, about how it is often false and
misleading, especially as depicted in American society and culture.
"Even the models of women being free, it's so in your face sometimes, you're
like, 'whoa, I don't want to see everything, man, I want to discover a little
bit.' And that's why I chose a woman who was oppressed as being one of the
major characters, because I thought, 'wow - that's something interesting to go
up against.' But yes, I think we're all victims of being, you know, sold
very base ideas of things. And you've got to be exposed to other kinds of
representations of that, whether it's in a book or a magazine. And I
really don't see it that often."
Mr. Turturro is endlessly keen and philosophical as he describes his worldview
and opines on the sexes and people in general. He makes his native
Brooklyn his home, specifically Park Slope. The new mayor of New York
City, Bill de Blasio, is a neighbor. The actor-director is a supporter of
Mr. de Blasio, whom he's known since the former's days as New York's Public
Advocate. Like his gigolo character Fioravante Mr. Turturro isn't one to
take people purely at face value.
"You can meet a great person and they can have the worst job in the world, you
know? You can meet a very wonderful person who's a prostitute. And
that person could have gone through a lot of things." These words are
spoken somewhat as if a revelation but Mr. Turturro is simply passionate about
connection, people, love and more expansive ways of viewing all of these.
"You can't assume that you're better than someone else or you know more than
them."
He laments a "greeting card mentality" toward people where nothing is hidden and
everything is explained. Occasionally he is surprised when films or other
representations of women or people in general show depth and range while moving
or entertaining him. "'Wow, I have to think about that,'" is his typical
reaction after such an experience. The characters in "Fading Gigolo" "have
some real-life counterparts to them sometimes, and sometimes that was after I
wrote them," he says. "These characters I could write another 90 pages
like that for." He snaps his fingers for emphasis.
New York City is populous but can be a place of immense loneliness despite its
sea of humanity. It isn't something Mr. Turturro expressly says but
perhaps this more general comment could easily tie in: "I think it's a hard
thing. And especially with aging, too, it can be a hard thing. And
people don't realize there's this need for human contact, or companionship -- it
never goes, man. It hits you in puberty and then you can be 85 years old
and lose your -- and you're like, wow, people are still dating, and looking for,
and falling in love."
Age and a lack of respect for elders in American culture is also something
that's touched on. The topic prompts Mr. Turturro to talk about his new
film and reaction to it. "It's interesting because everything has been
skewed down to younger people. I've screened this movie for a lot of
younger people, and they like the movie. And I'm thinking, 'well, why do
they like it? It's not about them.' I was thinking, you
know, when I was 20 I didn't want to see movies about 20 year olds. I wanted to
see movies about people, you know, 35, 40 years old. I want to know what's
going on, what's going to happen to me. And I tried to put these
characters in situations that they had never been in. In some ways they
were like they were 18 years old again."
"I think you know, people don't get it sometimes. And they're sold -- I
mean for me I can meet women I had on my wall when I was 12 and I'm still like,
wow, you know, man I mean I would like to --" He almost says say b as if to say
bang -- "go out with them, you know what I mean? They may be 75. It
doesn't matter to me man, I'm like - that would be. I still think they're
beautiful. They're older, you know, that's all. And I don't know if
they are interested in doing that, but maybe some are. But I think in America
it's, sometimes can be very shortsighted. And when you skew everything and
you feed that it's like giving people junk food."
Audio: Portion of the conversation with
John Turturro
here
"Fading Gigolo" opened today in New York City and Los Angeles
and will open in San Francisco on May 2 and elsewhere soon after.
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