Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Flim Makers Love Nexthell Commercials - Not!

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 19:31:12 -0500

Looks like Nextel Commercials ranks right up there with Dog Food, Tums and Drano
Commercials. Now I see why they are shoppinng for spin masters.
-------------------------------------------------------------
-Patience and realism are definitely key qualities in the hurry-up-and-wait world of
filmmaking, especially for Ferrara, who currently has three projects in the works: a
prequel to King of New York, a film about Mary Magdalene and a film called Go-Go Tales,
which the young filmmaker, Mark Finney, said will make “‘The Sopranos’ look like a f---ing
Nextel commercial.”

http://www.ccchronicle.com/back/2003-02-24/arts1.html

--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 

Independent ‘King of New York’

Filmmaker Abel Ferrara talks to the Chronicle during his visit to Columbia

Courtesy of the David Leonardis Gallery

One of two portaits of director Abel Ferrara, by Walter A. Fydryck, who made them by fusing acrylic into plexiglass, then mounting it over a color-penciled, ink-washed photo paper. It was recently sold through the David Leonardis Gallery, 1346 N. Paulina St.

By Michael Hirtzer

A&E Editor

During a screening of King of New York about
a month ago in the Ludington Building’s
third floor theater, someone shouted “the
director’s in the house” just as the
film’s main character and anti-hero Frank
White shot and killed an old school mafioso without
even blinking.

It was a definitive moment both because King of
New York is an independent classic made to be
digested and dissected by film students and because
the director, Abel Ferrara, was in fact in the
house.

He was upstairs in a sixth floor conference room
lying on the floor. And when he did rise from
his slumber for a brief—and exclusive—interview,
he could barely keep his eyes open. However, he
did make for a compelling interview, aside from
his clamorous entourage, which included local
artist Walter A. Fydryck, gallery owner David
Leonardis and young filmmaker Mark Finney, who
were nonetheless interesting as well.

While they, mainly Leonardi, caused a commotion
and struggled to open bottles of Heineken, Ferrara
quietly answered questions and sipped a Budweiser.
He said the fanaticism surrounding King of New
York is over-the-top. “To me, King of New
York is a movie. Unfortunately, there’s
a lot of people out there that [believe] King
of New York is not just a movie,” he said.

Michael Hirtzer/Chronicle

Abel Ferrara (center) poses with his entourage, including filmmaker Mark Finney (near right) and Walter A. Fydryck (behind Ferrara).

Not to be confused with Gangs of New York, Martin
Scorsese’s drama about an 1800s gang, King
of New York is the story of Frank White, an organized
crime lord played by Christopher Walken. Upon
his release from prison at the beginning of the
film, White proceeds to take over New York, conquering
both the Italians and the Colombian drug cartels.

The film is one of Ferrara’s most popular
films. It rivals Scarface in its name-checks in
rap songs. It was also men-tioned in several Gangs
of New York film reviews and is considered a
definitive New York film, as it captures both
the grit and glamour of the city.

Ferrara is an independent filmmaker more by default
than by choice, although his overall look and
demeanor contribute to his independent mystique;
on that cold night in January, Ferrara wore a
black stocking cap over his scraggly gray hair
and windbreaker under his black leather coat.
His voice recalls that of Marlon Brando’s
Don Vito Corleone—soft-spoken and scratchy,
with a New York accent.

Nearly all of Ferrara’s films contain gratuitous
nudity and are glaringly violent. They are rarely
shown in theaters (his latest ’R Xmas opened
only in New York and Los Angeles) and when they
arrive in video stores like Blockbuster, they’re
often censored.

Funding films has consistently been a battle,
Ferrara said. The characters he portrays on film
can serve as metaphors of filmmakers. “It’s
a sense of independent power that one has ability
to step up and take control of his life in a big
time way,” he said.

Ferrara has maintained this mentality since the
mid-1970s when he started shooting Super 8 films.
“We were just bad guitar players who became
filmmakers,” Ferrara said. “It was
just a matter of will. It was something we wanted
to do.”

Ferrara has never had what one would call “mainstream
success.” However several of his films,
such as The Funeral, his remake of Body Snatchers
and his two collaborations with the late

Zoë Lund, Ms. 45 and Bad Lieutenant, achieved
cult-like followings.

When asked what he thinks of the state of independent
filmmaking, Ferrara said: “I’m thinking
as optimistically as I can think. You say [Columbia]
is one of the biggest independent film schools
in the world and then there’s like three
guys who made it in the business, that says everything
there is to say. Nobody’s waiting with open
arms, saying ‘Let me see your film.’

“I mean it’s not what I think of it,
I am it,” Ferrara added, “So I can’t
think about it. I’m just trying to earn
it. I’m just trying to keep making films.”

It would seem like the 50-year-old Ferrara would
have given up by now, but he presses on. Fydryck,
an artist about Ferrara’s age who painted
two portraits of him, said “Abel is a realistic
person. He really applies himself to what he’s
doing.”

Patience and realism are definitely key qualities
in the hurry-up-and-wait world of filmmaking,
especially for Ferrara, who currently has three
projects in the works: a prequel to King of New
York, a film about Mary Magdalene and a film called
Go-Go Tales, which the young filmmaker, Mark Finney,
said will make “‘The Sopranos’
look like a f---ing Nextel commercial.”

Ferrara said he doesn’t think about how
his movies will be censored—and they will
be censored—while he’s filming.

“If you’re already thinking you’re
being restricted, they’ve already got you.
We’ll shoot something; I’ll know how
to edit it. At this point, we’ve done it
so many times,” Ferrara said. “You
know they want to tell me ‘your film has
the mood of an [X-rated movie]’ because
they can’t say specifically what shots they
want taken out. A mood of an ‘X’ are
you kidding me? How are you going to edit out
the mood of an ‘X’? Tell me the exact
shots you want out, we’ll take out. We make
two versions anyway.”

Finney, who is now working on a film in Los Angeles,
said that’s typical of movie industry jargon.

“I did a film with Sarah Michelle Gellar
and Parker Posey and I come back to town and my
agent calls,” Finney said. “He’s
like—and if this is not the epitome of a
Hollywood term—‘the film is temporarily
indefinitely put on hold.’ How is something
indefinite and temporary?”

Regardless, Ferrara and company will continue
to churn out edgy films. He’s used to the
initial public outcry. His masterpiece, King of
New York, got laughed off the screen when it premiered
at the New York Film Fest, Ferrara said, adding
that New Jack City, a film with a strikingly similar
story, won accolades only a few months later.

Paula Froehle, a short form and found footage
instructor in Columbia’s Film Department,
organized the screening and Q-and-A that followed.
She said, “I think Abel Ferrara as a filmmaker
is really quite brilliant,” adding “He’s
not a traditional Hollywood filmmaker.”

For a full transcript of the Abel Ferrara interview
click here.

Search the Archives

View the Archive Index

Top Stories

We want to hear from you! Please give your feedback!