Saturday,
December 15, 2007
"Beyond Wiseguys"
- John Turturro's Documentary
The
ANNOTICO Report
John Turturro
Takes on the Mob - - - (in a Documentary)
The
Village Voice
by Michael Clancy
December
14, 2007
John Turturro talked to theVoice
about "Beyond Wiseguys," his new documentary exploring
Italian American contributions to filmmaking. Interview by Eudie Pak
Village
Voice:
What do you hope audiences will take away from your new documentary Beyond Wiseguys?
What made you want to this project?
John Turturro: I'd like audiences to realize that Italian
Americans have been a major creative force behind-the-scenes in
VV: You've stated that
"the story of Italian Americans in film has not yet been told on
screen." What's that story?
JT: The story of Italian
Americans in
VV: Were there any Italian
American actors who you looked up to when you were starting out in the
business?
JT: Well, you know De Niro, Pacino, the obvious role
models. When I first saw Robert De Niro, the first
role I ever saw him in was Bang The Drum Slowly He played a southern catcher.
Then he played in The Godfather
Pt. II, when he was so elegant and so refined, and he was playing
the version of a villain with a Shakespearean sort of overtone. I saw him do
all kinds of different things, and I've done all kinds of different things. I'm
the recipient of his impact, absolutely, and so are other people in my age
range and background.
VV: Does it bother you when
you see films or TV shows, such as The
Sopranos, that
are highly successful but contribute to the stereotypes?
JT: No, because it's a work
of art, written, directed and acted by Italian Americans. But I do have to say
that in the first season they asked me to direct and I saw the pilot and said,
"Get out of here. I'm not doing this." And then I read some more
scripts and I said this is very well written, and then I saw it like six months
later and I said "this is a really good show." David Chase who's
Italian put it in a mafia setting to kind of heighten everything, but he's
telling other stories, domestic stories, between mothers and sons and husbands
and wives. There's wonderful work on that show.
VV: Rumor has it that you're
part of a Brooklyn co-op, you casually hang out at restaurants (minus the
JT: Don't believe everything
you read.
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