Arnold
Romance & Cigarettes
John Turturro's 2005 musical, which didn't hit theaters until 2007 and DVD until just this last week, is one of the most original films to come out in so long that it's a shame it's got such a tumultuous history already. The film concerns a New Jersey high steel worker Nick Murder (James Gandolfini) and his sprightly wife Kitty (Susan Sarandon). They battle through his affair with Tula (Kate Winslet), an kinky wear saleswoman.
The film takes a sordid stance on the musical, reviving it in a fresh light. In one of the films opening sequences Kitty finds a poem Nick has written about Tula, more aptly a poem about her finer regions. A poetic battle ensues as "Kitty's army," her children, enter and enter the battle as well, played by Aida Turturro, Mary-Louise Parker, and Mandy Moore. Nick bursts out of the kitchen into the street and begins to sing to himself. He is soon joined by a ragtag band of accompaniment in the form of neighbors, garbage-men, bums and strangers who sing and dance with grizzled steel worker through the streets of the neighborhood.
The film was one of the best parts of the 2005 festival circuit, was bought and the lost in the shelves during the MGM and United Artists merger. Sony picked it up last summer for DVD distribution and Turturro funded a limited theatrical run this fall. The film has an intriguing history that can only add to the film's growing cult status. Romance and Cigarettes makes the comedy, romance, and drama all meld into a new look at the musical, it's believable, it's funny, and it's better than the mindless critics of the world would have you think (of course, with the exception of Ebert, Salon and the New York Times who all gave it glowing reviews).
The film takes a sordid stance on the musical, reviving it in a fresh light. In one of the films opening sequences Kitty finds a poem Nick has written about Tula, more aptly a poem about her finer regions. A poetic battle ensues as "Kitty's army," her children, enter and enter the battle as well, played by Aida Turturro, Mary-Louise Parker, and Mandy Moore. Nick bursts out of the kitchen into the street and begins to sing to himself. He is soon joined by a ragtag band of accompaniment in the form of neighbors, garbage-men, bums and strangers who sing and dance with grizzled steel worker through the streets of the neighborhood.
The film was one of the best parts of the 2005 festival circuit, was bought and the lost in the shelves during the MGM and United Artists merger. Sony picked it up last summer for DVD distribution and Turturro funded a limited theatrical run this fall. The film has an intriguing history that can only add to the film's growing cult status. Romance and Cigarettes makes the comedy, romance, and drama all meld into a new look at the musical, it's believable, it's funny, and it's better than the mindless critics of the world would have you think (of course, with the exception of Ebert, Salon and the New York Times who all gave it glowing reviews).
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I hope it appear here soon!