Queens – The Musical!

Last night I dreamt an entire film. It was a musical of sorts, set in one of the ugliest neighborhoods in the borough of Queens, NYC. It featured a trio of actors from The Sopranos (James Gandolfini, Steve Buscemi, Aida Turturro), as well as Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken, and a handful of other cast members you'd never expect to find in the same film, including Eddie Izzard, Elaine Stritch, Mary-Louise Parker, popstar/irritant Mandy Moore, Fassbinder protégée Barbara Sukowa and Wes Anderson regular Kumar. It was full of raunchy, sexually explicit dialog, and musical numbers that found the actors singing along to such 60s chestnuts as Tom Jones' Delilah, and Engelbert Humperdinck's A Man Without Love. I awoke this morning to discover that it wasn't a dream at all, but merely the result of watching John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes at 2:00 AM. Produced by the Coen brothers, Turturro first came up with the idea for the blue-collar musical while working on Barton Fink, and one could say that Romance & Cigarettes truly has "that Barton Fink feeling.") Made in 2005, the film has yet to see the light of day here in the States, a casualty of the Sony acquisition of MGM. It's a shame, for this utterly insane musical deserves to be seen. But by whom, I'm not so sure. Set in the working-class community of Rosedale, Queens (directly in Kennedy Airport's landing path), Romance & Cigarettes can best be described as Mike Leigh meets Dennis Potter – a dysfunctional family dramedy with fantasy musical interludes. Gandolfini plays Nick Murder, a schlubby construction worker saddled with a wife, Kitty, who hates him (Sarandon), and a Greek chorus of daughters, Baby, Constance, and Rosebud, who mock him at every opportunity when not performing bad rock and roll in their cement garden. His only pleasure in life is his red-headed mistress Tula (Winslet), a potty-mouthed Brit with an exaggerated Yorkshire accent who casually tosses off lines like "you can knock on me back door, Marlon Brando style" as if she was talking about the weather. When Kitty learns of the affair, she turns to Cousin Bo (Walken, in a caricature of himself), an ageing, over-sexed Gene Vincent/Elvis wannabe, who suggests they kill Tula. What the film lacks in plot it more than makes up for in sheer inventiveness. As in Dennis Potter's work (The Singing Detective, Pennies From Heaven), the musical numbers are waking fantasies, where characters express what they dare not say in words. Yet instead of lip-syncing, Turturro has the actors singing along with the songs, regardless if they are off-key, flat, etc. Supporting the second-rate singing is the choreography, which (I'm assuming) is intentionally amateurish and rather slapdash, coming off like a bad high school production of a Broadway musical. There are exceptions, including Christopher Walken's brilliant interpretive dance to Delilah, and Kate Winslet's fearless rendition of Connie Francis' Do You Love Me Like You Kiss Me?, which finds the chesty actress bouncing and shimmying in only a tiny bra and short skirt, her breasts fighting a losing battle to stay put. Still, what impresses most about the film is how accurately Turturro has captured this tiny section of the city, an area that hasn't changed in decades. This is the Queens of Archie Bunker, where aluminum siding dominates, and houses are spaced only inches apart. Positioned at the geographical edge of New York City (it borders Long Island), its proximity to Kennedy Airport explains the cheap, ugly motels that line Conduit Boulevard, and acres of undeveloped land that have become unofficial dumping grounds. Turturro, who was raised near there, is on familiar turf, and his portrait would be a masterpiece of realism if it wasn't wrapped around this absurdist musical. This is a warts-and-all look at the working class, which like the films of Mike Leigh, manages to be honest while avoiding a derisive tone. There is a healthy level of cynicism, particularly about relationships and the desperation behind most of them, but the film's bittersweet conclusion offers at least a hint of salvation. I honestly can't decide if Romance & Cigarettes' genius is planned, or a simply a case of happenstance. One thing for sure though, it is a film of unforgettable moments; Barbara Sukowa belting out Prisoner of Love in front of a garbage pile, Kate Winslet's underwater rendition of Nick Cave's Little Water Song, and a calf running through the streets of queens are but a few of the film's striking images. Equally as impressive is Turturro's razor sharp screenplay, which finds characters conversing in song titles, engaging in Pinter-esque exchanges, or uttering sexually explicit dialog more silly than salacious. (The Coen's influence is evident.) Romance & Cigarettes isn't a film for everyone. It's not a crowd pleaser, is at times uncomfortable, and might come across as too off-kilter for many. However, this experimental musical that both subverts and transcends genre conventions is a 21st century treasure. Somebody needs to rescue this from the Sony vault, and soon.

Comments

[Tram]

"Somebody needs to rescue this from the Sony vault, and soon."

Yeah, I'm not sure if it's gonna be released theatrically at this point. The reviews at Venice and Toronto two years ago were terribly mixed. And in spite of the all-star cast, I can't think of any cast member who can hold their own at the box office.

It's too bad because the film looks like a whole lotta crazy fun. I've seen two clips of Winslet talkin' dirty to Gandolfini, and lemme tell ya, not even "Extras" prepared me for such joyful raunchiness!

[mike]

not a fan of the movie. the best thing I can say about it is that Turturro had the good sense to use jackson heights as a stand-in for Rosedale as the latter is a real s***hole. I live 2 miles from there (in Woodmere-also in the Kennedy flight path) and Rosedale ain't what it used to be

[frank]

i've seen the movie. about a year ago now. it's interesting, but doesn't quite work for me. but maybe that has to do with my dislike of susan sarandon. i will say though, he did nail the area (queens). and by no means is it boring. another great performance given by winslet.

[lady wakasa]

There's something wrong about being able to walk into a store in the UK and buying this, but it virtually not existing in the US.

I need to be independently wealthy for all the can-only-see-if-I-buy things I've uncovered lately, though.

[Mister]

Nice new banner Filmbrain -- is that finger supposed to go up her nose? I'm just joshing you.

[David Lowery]

I didn't realize that this had been released in the UK alread - I've been waiting for it for ages now! To the region-free DVD store I go...

[mkh]

Dear god, I must see this film! Someone, please, help me find this thing...

[Toto]

I saw this film some time ago with my wife: I loved it, she hated it. It reminded me of the French film "On Connait La Chanson": the first moment the actors lapse into song comes as quite a surprise in both films. And the choice of which song for which moment keeps you guessing and wanting more. A gimmick perhaps, but maintained with brio so you get used to (if not perhaps wholly comfortable with) its foreignness. This one is coarser, more elemental, with, as you said, many unsettling feelings. The expression of these through song in the context of the "plot" (perhaps too strong a term) is excellent. BTW I loved Buscemi's character and his malapropisms - who come's up with that stuff?

[mike d]

ive seen this movie three times now and it just gets funnier and funnier each time. a cult classic in the making i think - and kate winslet is bloody briliant. she deserves an oscar nomination for her performance but the oscars would never have the guts for it.

[Filmbrain]

Yes Mike! Couldn't agree more!

This is the performance she should have been nominated for, not that god-awful Little Children.

[Mike W]

The only place to film this movie had to have been Rosedale. I grew up there and its a perfect match.

We have other famous folks that lived there besides John Turturro.
Carol Klein (aka. Carol King), Barbara Goldbach (aka Barbara Bach) Billy Falcon (aka Billy Falcone)

If you asked any of them I am sure they would agree.

[Aaron]

I just finally saw it, coming out of a screening about 45 minutes ago. Unsurprisingly, Filmbrain, I'm not quite as enthusiastic about it as you, although I didn't hate it. I just didn't think it was a whole film. I think you hit the nail on the head by saying, "It is a film of unforgettable moments." My problem is, that's all it was. It felt like a screenplay Turturro wrote while doing something else -- which it kind of was him having started it while literally shooting Barton Fink. It was too disjointed for me, and felt more like a bunch of clever and imaginative (some even genius) sequences and/or moments strung together. If anything, the plot actually got in the way, or everything else got in the way of the plot. But at the end of the day, I stopped caring well before it was over.

Still, with that said, I laughed my ass off several times. I'm still pondering, and might actually get around to writing something in time for its two year world premiere anniversary ... the day before it opens at Film Forum!

[Filmbrain]

Aaron --

Your reaction is hardly surprising -- I think I know you too well. I've seen the film about five times now, and it just keeps getting better. You're right about it being somewhat of a mess, but I'm now convinced that it's by design.

I'm just happy it opened, for now it can make my top ten of 2007.

[Sean]

Finally got around to seeing this film with my sparring partner last night (it's been playing in the Cambridge, MA for much longer than I'd expected -- I think next week will be its fifth week in town) and we couldn't disagree more on it. He thought it was nothing more than a nonsensical self-indulgent excuse to shoot a movie with your friends. I was completely blown away by it. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly giddy throughout the movie.

On first thought I felt the movie was damn near perfect (for what it's trying to do). But the real amazement comes from the fact that the movie works at all. I think it has to be near perfect for it not to flop miserably from the get-go. From top to bottom of all the major people involved in this movie -- I can't think of anyone else who could fill their shoes. Sarandon and Gandolfini give the movie the needed emotional weight and Turturro's eye for the neighborhoods... well, I'm so damn happy I got to see this movie and can't recommend it enough. But you are very right, sir -- recommend it to whom exactly?