Rehearsals for a Sicilian Tragedy, John Turturro
The star of numerous films including O Brother Where Are Thou, Transformers and Do The Right Thing, John Turturro has recently switched to filmmaking and, gaining accolade with Romance and Cigarettes. Now Turturro is in Venice to promote his latest work Rehearsals For A Sicilian Tragedy, made in collaboration with director, puppeteer and sculptor Roman Paska. Open met them to discuss their work and love for Sicily.
This documentary film is a declaration of love to the island: it is seen through the affectionate eyes of an Italian-American who returns to the land of his ancestors (Turturro's family hails from Palermo and Agrigento) to rediscover his own roots. Turturro and Paska have travelled across Sicily to carry out surveys for a fictional film they have been thinking about for some time - but as they meet different people and discover music, this research becomes a film in itself.
Mr. Turturro, this film was conceived as the “making of” a new fictional film you are still working on. It was then so enriched that it became the whole film. What can you tell Open about this unplanned process?
JT - That was the treat! Roman Paska and I have been talking about it for such a long time. Roman really wanted to do something in Sicily, which would be easy because he speaks Italian and has a wonderful property there. Plus he's a very good friend, so I suggested that he could be the sculptor and I could be his clay. The project started, then it became a lot more than we imagined.
Are you still going to shoot the fictional film?
RP - We'd like to. Rehearsals For A Sicilian Tragedy is more than a mere "making of", though. It was rather a process of discovery. We assume that this fiction could still be made, but it's not yet in production, it's all virtual.
JT - Sometimes the making of something is more interesting than what comes out at the end. I've been in movies that have been tremendously dramatic to make, but then I've seen those movies and they were terrible! You say “Wow, the making was so interesting!” but you know, it's part of life. But the particular process narrated in this film is very unusual.
Do you have memories of your family talking about what it means to be Sicilian and what it meant to them, to leave their country and go to America? Compared to what you heard about Sicily, did you find a similar situation when you went there?
JT - Actually we didn't talk much about Sicily and Italy, it wasn't something they'd like to discuss in my house. I was physically introduced to Sicily thanks to films that were set there and I was surprised at how diverse Sicily is, and how different everybody looks. The history of the different people who live there make it complex as a whole country.
Do you have any projects in the future?
JT - My future? I wish I knew that!
No more time for questions: a big tray of irresistible Sicilian pastry, offered by Hotel Excelsior, comes our way. Turturro and Paska disappear behind it. Buon appetito!
