FIRST LOOK: ABEL FERRARA'S GO GO TALES
Director Abel Ferrara has been chronicling the sleazy side of New York City since his earliest films, the psycho-horror classic Driller Killer and seminal rape-revenge flick Ms. 45.
His most recent film is Go Go Tales, a screwball comedy set in a downtown Manhattan cabaret in the 1970s. Academy Award-nominated actor Willem Dafoe (Spiderman I and II, The Aviator) stars as the charismatic cabaret impresario Ray Ruby whose club “Paradise” is a factory of dreams for young dancers.
Bob Hoskins portrays Ray’s sidekick/accountant Jay, and Matthew Modine (Transporter II, Mary) stars as Ray’s younger brother Johnny who is also his financier. Asia Argento, Italian supermodel Bianca Balti and French actress Lou Doillon round out the cast as the lead dancers.
Go Go Tales recounts the tale of one fateful evening in Paradise. Ray and Jay face imminent foreclosure by the landlady when Johnny tells Ray he is no longer willing to lend him the money to keep the club open. Things have gotten so bad that even the dancers are threatening to “strip-strike”, and to make matters worse, Ray has lost their winning lottery ticket!
Burt Young (Rocky), Riccardo Scamarcio (Texas, L’Uomo Perfetto), and Sylvia Miles (Denise Calls Up, Midnight Cowboy, Good Night My Lovely) also star in the American-Italian co-production which won rave reviews at Cannes.
Director Ferrara also scripted the film which is executive produced by Enrico Coletti (Caro Gorbaciov directed by Carlo Lizzani; Carol un Papa rimasto uomo directed by Giacomo Battiato) and Massimo Cortesi (Bernardo Bertolucci’s Besieged; Claire Peploe’s The Triumph of Love). Paolo Lucidi line produces.
“When we read the script of Go Go Tales, it reminded us of the comedies of Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges, where tragic events became black comedy and reality was seen with rose colored glasses and rules were bent with a carefree irony,” commented executive producer Enrico Coletti.
“We can think of no one better than Abel Ferrara to bring this story to life,” added executive producer Massimo Cortesi.
Go Go Tales features a production team including Director of Photography Fabio Cianchetti (Roberto Benigni’s The Tiger and the Snow, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Dreamers), costume designer Gemma Mascagni (Ricordati di me directed by Gabriele Muccino; Manuale d'Amore directed by Giovanni Veronesi) and production designer/associate producer Frank deCurtis (MARY, R Xmas, Donnie Brasco) who has rebuilt a three floor NY nightclub on the Cinecittà soundstage.
Most familiar to audiences for such commercial hits as Spider Man I and II, Dafoe has garnered critical praise and Academy Award nominations for his performances in Shadow of the Vampire and Platoon. Among his other varied film credits are: The Aviator, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The English Patient, Mississippi Burning and The Last Temptation of Christ.
Ferrara reunites with Modine with whom he previously worked on Black Out and Mary which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. Modine’s other film credits include: Any GivenSunday, Short Cuts, Pacific Heights, Full Metal Jacket and Birdy.
Asia Argento was most recently seen in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and George Romero’s Land of the Dead. The multi-talented actress also wrote and directed The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things. Her other film credits include The Keeper, Ginostra, Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, Patrice Chereau’s award-winning and critically acclaimed Queen Margot. Go Go Tales is her second film with Ferrara and Dafoe following their collaboration on New Rose Hotel. Ms. Argento made her film debut in La Chiesa, a production by her father, Dario Argento, and appeared in several of his later films including The Phantom of the Opera, Stendhal Syndrome and The Third Mother.
IFC Films will be giving Go Go Tales a limited theatrical release later this year. Check back here for details.
