Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on April 25, 2014

Yet in Fading Gigolo, hes a quiet man whose low-key studliness attracts a client list that includes women played by Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara and Vanessa Paradis. Its a role that probably wouldnt have gone to him if the movies director had been anyone other than John Turturro.

Fading Gigolo is Turturros fifth feature as writer-director and already his most-discussed. Thats not only because the comedic drama, which opens in Washington on May 2, is about a guy who gets paid to have sex with attractive middle-aged women. Its also because of the role, on- and off-camera, of Woody Allen, who plays the protagonists best friend and pimp.

The movies premise, Turturro acknowledges as he sits in a conference room in the Jefferson Hotel, was a crazy idea, but it could have turned out to be a completely silly idea. Once I talked to Woody about it, he encouraged me to develop it in a more sophisticated way. He said that would be something he would be more interested in. And in the end, I was more interested in that, too.

I think this film is a step forward for me, in some ways. Its the most delicate film Ive made. As I got more involved with it, it actually became more about friendship and peoples desire to connect with each other.

While Turturro wrote and rewrote, he recalls, Allen was very generous. He wasnt writing it with me, but he gave me his time and his merciless criticism.

More romantic than erotic, Fading Gigolo observes many facets of life in New York. Paradis, whos probably best known as Johnny Depps former paramour, plays a lonely Hasidic widow who becomes involved with Turturros character, Fioravante. Its the movies depiction of a Brooklyn Hasidic community that brought Turturro to town, where Fading Gigolo was featured at the Washington Jewish Film Festival in March.

Every Jewish film festival in the world has invited me, Turturro says with a smile. Im very big on that circuit. Which I think is nice.

Although the Italian American filmmaker specifically researched Hasidic sects before writing the script I chose the Satmar, because I like their hats, he notes he was not unfamiliar with Jewish culture.

My wife is Jewish, and Ive grown up with black and Jewish people my whole life, he says. And people always think Im Jewish. Especially since I started playing Jewish characters with Joel and Ethan. I played Primo Levi, I played Herb Stempel [in Quiz Show], I played Barton Fink. Some of the best characters Ive played. One Italian guy told me once, You only play Jewish guys!

Turturro was raised Catholic, but says Im not really religious, dogma-wise. What he finds most interesting about Judaism is the debate that goes on. Theres something healthy about that. Ive always had, maybe not an attraction to the religion, but to the mind-set.

More:

John Turturro gets out of character for his lead role in Fading Gigolo

Category: Hasidic
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