Tuesday, January 27, 1998
Parallel career paths of actor, director converge to create
hard-edged drama
FILM Gomez, Rapaport work together for first time, create movie
with a different style
By Tommy Nguyen
Daily Bruin Contributor
Back in 1992, two startling debuts took place on the independent
film scene, one from a young director and the other by an even
younger actor.
Moving on parallel paths, their careers would race forward and
upward. But it wasn’t until five years later that the new movie
"Illtown" would serve as a crossroad.
Nick Gomez’s first feature film, "The Laws of Gravity," which
was made for $34,000 and filmed in just 12 days, drew in huge
critical support on the festival circuit before picking up five
Independent Spirit Award nominations and a spot on the Los Angeles
Times’ top 10 list. His muscular, attacking approach to cinema
would attract no less than Spike Lee, who then produced Gomez’s
next project, "New Jersey Drive," a movie about a group of young
joyriders trying to evade the brutal desperation of their dead-end
community.
Simultaneously, Michael Rapaport was turning heads in 1992 with
his feature film debut in "Zebrahead," a film which takes an
interrogating look at racism through the sideway glances of
interracial love. Rapaport’s unadulterated, street-wise intensity
in "Zebrahead" – which also got him a Spirit Award nod – marked
such a charismatically edgy screen persona that he would eventually
be demanded by other urban dramas, such as the Quentin
Tarantino-scripted "True Romance," the crime noir "Kiss of Death"
and last year’s "Copland," co-starring Robert DeNiro and Harvey
Keitel.
With both of their styles displaying the same raw, direct and
street-pounding swagger – in the way Gomez moves the camera and how
Rapaport moves in front of it – there’s no surprise that their
talents would finally converge.
However, what is surprising is that "Illtown" signifies a
noticeable departure from their previous styles of work.
"’Laws of Gravity’ is sort of a cinema verite-style approach to
a handful of people living a certain way," Gomez explains. "The
landscape we were trying to explore in ‘Illtown’ was much more
psychological."
In "Illtown," a brass-knuckled drama which takes the underworld
of heroine as its futile battle turf, Gomez uses a generous amount
of flashbacks, dream sequences and other atmospheric distortions to
convey the more impalpable regions of human conflict. Though "New
Jersey Drive" does hint at this new-found lyricism of Gomez’s
imagination, "Illtown" is substantially removed from the fast,
unwavering cinematic prose of his first movie.
"There was an unconscious approach to the way ‘Illtown’ was
composed," Gomez says. "We approached it in a very musical style.
We decided to hit certain notes, and if they sounded right, we
stuck with them without trying to explore the logic of all the
notes."
He continues the analogy, "When you’re working with a bunch of
musicians and you’re playing stuff that sounds right, you stick
with it."
One of Gomez’s musicians is Rapaport, who plays a middle-class
dope dealer named Dante. While confronting the avenging sins of his
past, Dante maneuvers through a crime world that is nothing new to
other characters that Rapaport has played in the past.
Though the terrain in "Illtown" might be familiar, it’s an
arrestingly different Rapaport that we’re seeing. Sporting some
facial hair and carrying a mild-mannered voice, Rapaport is
strikingly mature in his most restrained performance to date –
which has been noted and praised by many who have seen the
movie.
"I’ve been getting that a lot, you know, how people’s been
saying that this is a different role for me," Rapaport
acknowledges. But he also contends that his past roles have been
more diverse than what most people think.
"Like my character in ‘Mighty Aphrodite’ was not the same one as
‘Beautiful Girls,’ even though both characters were (trying for the
same comedic effect)." Rapaport adds: "I’m just open to whatever; I
know an actor can be type-casted quite easily. I’ve just been
making decisions that are right for me."
Rapaport was the right decision for Gomez, though he did have
some reservations about placing the New York-based actor in such an
introspective character role.
"But he kept pitching and pushing, pitching and pushing. I
wasn’t convinced at first," admits Gomez. "I had the same concerns
and questions that anyone would have, considering the majority of
work he had done. But after seeing him in ‘Higher Learning,’ I was
convinced he could do it."
And now after working with Rapaport, Gomez has gained even more
respect for the rising young actor.
"Michael’s very down-to-earth in his approach to what type of
career he wants to have, what type of films he wants to make, what
his legacy is going to be," Gomez says. "He’s very focused, serious
and determined."
That focused determination has made Rapaport one of the few
actors in Hollywood who has had a steady work for the last several
years; when he talked to The Bruin on Saturday, he had just wrapped
up work on "Naked Man," a comedy that boasts a script written by
Ethan Cohen ("Fargo").
But Rapaport will be the first to admit that "Illtown" offered a
unique opportunity where he explored the full range of the
actor/director relationship.
"Nick is the first director that I’ve worked with in depth, and
one that I have complete trust for," Rapaport comments. "No matter
how confused I was in a scene, I knew he would get me through
it."
Through their relationship, Rapaport was also able to contribute
much to the realization of Dante, by submitting his own insights
and views:
"I mean, Nick has pride and ego like all directors … but he’ll
listen to you," Rapaport admits.
And although he’s already worked for such notable directors as
such Woody Allen, John Singleton and Tony Scott, the actor
recognizes something special in working with Gomez.
"You think about (Martin) Scorsese, (John) Cassavetes and
(Francois) Truffaut, when they first started out and they were
young and doing their thing," Rapaport says. "When I was in Nick’s
movie, I felt I was working in that kind of experience, you know,
as if I were working with one of those directors."
Well, as we know, those same young directors who were doing
their thing became three very influential figures in cinema. Hey,
we’re not necessarily talking about parallel paths anymore, but
let’s give Gomez and Rapaport some driving time to get where
they’re going.
FILM: "Illtown" is now playing at the Beverly Center
Cineplex.The Shooting Gallery
Lili Taylor (Micky) and Michael Rapaport (Dante) star in
director Nick Gomez’s "Illtown," which is now playing at the
Beverly Center Cineplex.