Oh, corporate mergers. Shareholders love ’em, but if you’re lost in the shuffle when two industry giants decide to bump uglies, you can find yourself in for a world of frustration — just ask John Turturro, whose Romance & Cigarettes has been twisting in the Sony/MGM merger wind for two years. If you want anything done right, you’ve got to do it yourself, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, Turturro is doing just that, self-financing a New York theatrical run for his picture.
The $11 million musical, which features a cast including Susan Sarandon, James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, and Christopher Walken, premiered at festivals in Toronto and Venice in 2005, netting Turturro a Golden Lion nomination at the latter, in addition to wildly mixed reviews that described the movie as everything from “almost impossible not to adore” to “downright unwatchable.” From the synopsis:
Romance and Cigarettes is a down-and-dirty musical love story set in the world of the working class. Nick (Gandolfini) is an ironworker who builds and repairs bridges. He’s married to Kitty (Sarandon), a dressmaker, a strong and gentle woman with whom he has three daughters. He is carrying on a torrid affair with a redheaded woman named Tula (Winslet). Nick is basically a good, hardworking man driven forward by will and blinded by his urges. Like Oedipus at Colonus, he is sent into exile and searches to find his way back through the damage he has done.
If it sounds like your cup of tea, but you aren’t in the New York metro area, just sit tight: The article notes that a video release is on the horizon for 2008.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
