18/06/2008

A year after screening out of the competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Abel Ferrara’s Go Go Tales [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is being distributed in Italy. The film, to be released on June 20 by Mediafilm on 80 screens, was shot in English with a cast and funding (Bellatrix Media and De Nigris Productions) that came primarily from Italy.

In Rome’s Cinecittà studios the director of The Addiction reconstructed a New York nightclub full of beautiful strippers, run by an owner (Willem Dafoe) with a penchant for the lottery.

“It took me eight years to make this film,” says the director, no stranger to production problems, after the film’s press screening in Rome. Ferrara’s next film film, Pericle il nero (“Pericles the Black Mans”), has also run into complications. According to Ferrara, lead actor Riccardo Scamarcio (who has a small role in Go Go Tales), “has had family problems and we still have to put the budget together. Every euro is precious.”

The life of an independent filmmaker is a hard one, which Go Go Tales also touches upon under the guide of comedy. “My character is a dreamer,” says Dafoe, “and the film is very autobiographical, a metaphor on the hardships encountered by those trying to achieve their dreams – just like Abel”.

The nearly all-female cast, from Stefania Rocca to Justine Mattera, mostly improvised on set, including the shocking kiss between Asia Argento and a rottweiler, which stirred controversy on the Croisette last year. In fact, several days ago the actress (who starred in Ferrara’s New Rose Hotel) even disclaimed the film.

The director preferred skating over this issue and was instead more bothered by Werner Herzog’s upcoming remaking of his film The Bad Lieutenant. “If someone can’t find ideas to make their own films, leave mine alone,” he said.

(Translated from Italian)