- Title: USA: ANTONIO BANDERAS MAKES DIRECTORIAL DEBUT WITH FILM CALLED "CRAZY IN ALABAMA"
- Date: 31st October 1999
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 2) (RTV-LA) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) ANTONIO BANDERAS SAYING The most surprising things didn't come on the set. The most surprising things came in the editing room. That was the most painful segment of the movie for me because I planned everything in my head before, every, almost every single shot, and suddenly there are brilli
- Embargoed: 15th November 1999 12:00
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- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAC20KU8DEQ8IR9QRV3LFS8BLK2
- Story Text: After successfully making the transition from acting in his native Spanish cinema to big time Hollywood movies, Antonio Banderas is undergoing another career shift, this time from actor to director.His feature film directorial debut is called "Crazy in Alabama" and it stars his wife Melanie Griffith.
In "Crazy in Alabama," Griffith plays an eccentric movie-star wanna-be named Lucille, who, in the summer of 1965, murders her opressive husband, decapitates him, and drives across America to Hollywood with his severed head in a hat box to seek her fame and fortune.
The whole incident has quite an effect on her young nephew Peejoe, short for Peter Joseph, who, during the very same summer, gets a fast education in grown-up matters like personal freedom, women's rights and racial prejudice.Peejoe is played by young actor Lucas Black, who impressed audiences when he played opposite Billy Bob Thornton in his Oscar winning film "Slingblade."
The film switches back and forth between Lucille's efforts to achieve her own personal freedom in the land of movie stars and swimming pools and Peejoe's involvement in the civil rights struggle of African Americans in the deep south.Both stories tie together toward the end of the film, when Peejoe's Aunt Lucille is caught and returned to Alabama to face trial for her actions.
Also in the cast are David Morse as Peejoe's uncle Dove, rock singer MeatLoaf as the racist sheriff Doggett, and screen legend Rod Steiger as the stern but fair southern judge who presides over Lucille's trial.
For Banderas, directing his wife came naturally, and he walked away from the experience even more impressed by her acting talents.His biggest challenge in making the picture came in the editing room, where he had to trim down his original vision for the film.He says that was the biggest surprise for him in the process of directing.
In addition to directing and starring in the film, the couple also took on producing chores as "Crazy in Alabama" is the first film to come out of their Green Moon Productions company.It's based on a best-selling novel by author Mark Childress, who also collaborated on the film's screenplay.
"Crazy in Alabama" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, October 22. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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