|
NEW
DIRECTIONS FOR ANTONIO
|
|
 |
The Cranky Critic® Interview by PAUL FISCHER |
Better known as one of the world's leading stars, Antonio Banderas is heading for the big screen this December, but this time he's keeping behind the camera, directing his real-life wife Melanie Griffith in Crazy in Alabama. And there's no doubt he's more than qualified for the task - after all, as an actor, he's appeared in some 50 films. Paul Fischer met a passionate Banderas in New York.
Antonio
Banderas, comfortably attired in jeans, T-shirt and red baseball cap,
has a lot more riding on his latest film than anything he'd done previously.
This time round, with the movie Crazy in Alabama, the actor has
turned first-time director, in adapting the Southern-set novel to the
screen.
"It was Melanie [Griffith] who brought the project to me, and I was immediately drawn to it", Banderas explains with his thick Spanish accent still prevalent. The film, which thematically explores the notion of freedom and independence through the varying experiences of two distinctive characters, struck a chord with the Spanish-born star who had lived under the regime of Spanish dictator Franco. "I suppose there is something inside me that is still related to those days. I was 15 when Franco died, and I have a brother who is similar to the film's central character."
That central character is Peejoe (Lukas Black), a Southern adolescent who, in the midst of the troubled sixties, discovers the world of racism and brutality when a Black teenager is killed during a demonstration. His life of growth is paralleled with that of his wild aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith) who had murdered her husband after he ridiculed her dreams of going to Hollywood. "When I read this script for the first time, I probably saw in Peejoe a guy that I would have liked to be and I wasn't - courageous and standing up for what he thinks is right. I was a lot less courageous than him and far more laid back." So Banderas sees Crazy in Alabama as a film "which certainly reflects those ideas that are important tom me, such as freedom. It's also, in some ways, a film about justice in a naïve context." Naïve, he adds, because "from the outset I saw it more as a fairy tale, and that's the way that I took it. It's not at all a conventional film."
What it is, however, is very American in terms of setting and even the issues that it raises. That posed no problem for this very European filmmaker but Banderas has difficulty examining his own 'foreign' perspective. "I don't think I'm able to examine that; that will come out as the movie is screened around America. American audiences will be best able to judge how somebody from outside is able to examine a very American problem. On the one side, the film's social and political issues were important, and they're the parochial issues, I guess. But there are two aspects of the film, and the fact there were these two storylines taking place concurrently, was interesting for me, and the two complemented each other. I found a bunch of different elements in the story that I liked" and further sums the film up as being "a sharp comedy with a lot of edges."
For Banderas, his movie is very eclectic, "because, as a director, I've been raised on film sets watching so many directors working in over 50 films, so in many ways, I've learnt something from each one of them, though by no means consciously." The Spanish heartthrob, who was once compared to Valentino, was born in Málaga, Spain, during the height of the oppressive regime of tyrannical leader Francisco Franco. He once described himself "as a lively child with a healthy desire to both please others and achieve greatness." After his early ambition to become a professional soccer player was snuffed out due to a foot injury, Banderas discovered his true calling when he saw Milos Forman's hit 1979 cult movie Hair. Living in a small town where theater was a venerated, structured enterprise, Banderas was thrilled to discover that acting could be spontaneous and fun. The youngster enrolled in drama classes against his parents' wishes and soon scraped together a group of other young Thespians to form his own troupe, which subsequently traveled all over Spain, performing on the streets in little towns.
Banderas was hungry and itinerant, and loving every minute of it. After moving to Madrid in 1981, he auditioned for and won a place as an ensemble member of the esteemed National Theatre of Spain; to keep himself fed, clothed, and sheltered, he waited tables and took small modeling jobs. After one fateful performance at the theater, Banderas was introduced to radical young film director Pedro Almodovar. The repressive Franco regime having recently toppled, artists and intellectuals all over Spain were churning out valuable and exciting work in the newly liberated atmosphere of the country, and Almodovar was one of the most outrageous and talented of an emerging breed of cinematic pioneers. He wanted Banderas to help him forge a new film industry, and together they set about making a handful of respectable, if controversial, movies, the first of which was 1982's Labyrinth of Passion. It was Almodovar's 1988 hit Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown that would first bring Banderas to the fascinated attention of an international audience. Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down!, the actor's final collaboration with the maverick filmmaker before heading to America, featured Banderas as a charismatic mental patient who kidnaps a drug-addicted porn star and keeps her tied to a bed until she falls for him. Banderas, with minimal English, made his US film debut as one-half of the mambo-playing brother duo in the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love. Next came Jonathan Demme's deeply affecting Philadelphia. Banderas went on to appear in a string of movies that further tapped his talents for bringing complex personalities alive on screen, including The House of the Spirits (1993), Interview With the Vampire (1994), Desperado (1995), and the shoot-'em-up Stallone actioner Assassins (1995).
In early 1995, the actor's steamy, sexy ways caught the attention of Melanie Griffith while the two actors filmed the screwball comedy Two Much, words, coincidentally, that echoed throughout Hollywood in reaction to their very public displays of affection. Banderas divorced his love-at-first-sight actress wife of eight years, Ana Leza, and he and Griffith subsequently braved the shocked reactions of fans (not to mention those of Banderas' staid parents) and married in May 1996. The couple welcomed their first child together, Stella del Carmen, the following September.
On
the career front, Banderas starred opposite Madonna in the 1997 musical
Evita; and 1998 struck gold with
the highly entertaining swashbuckler The
Mask of Zorro, for which he was paid a healthy $5m. That film
catapulted Banderas to superstardom, despite its many dangers. But Banderas
loves a challenge and physical danger in films doesn't faze him. "I love
to do my own stunts", he admits smilingly. "I did them in Desperado,
but I was pretty cheap at the time," he laughs. "Now that I'm more expensive,
they don't allow me to do as much as I want." The other danger he faced
shooting Zorro was from his wife, who may have found his love scenes
with costar Catherine Zeta-Jones a tad uncomfortable. "It may be tough
sometimes, but we overcome it. For me, I don't care," he says of watching
his wife get hot 'n' bothered with another guy onscreen. "We're not kids.
We can't think of those things, we'll only drive ourselves crazy. There
are a lot of other worries in life-forget it."
The couple surprised the cynics and their marriage is one of the healthiest in Hollywood. It was not difficult, recalls Banderas, to cast his wife as the idealistic Southerner who takes Hollywood by storm, in Crazy in Alabama. "I already admired Melanie a lot before in Working Girl and Something Wild," he says, "and that helped our working together again this time. We have the same direction." Even Griffith's own reputation as an actress didn't concern the actor/director. "I know she can be very demanding of her directors. She is a real perfectionist. I admired that in her from the first day." And that admiration was prevalent in their personal relationship. "It was that admiration that led to my falling in love with her. For us, it wasn't love at first sight. It happened little by little and through a lot of phone calls." The international press covered every aspect of that love affair, from Banderas' divorce from his wife Ana Leza, marriage to Griffith, to the birth of their daughter Stella. "The paparazzi in Spain and Britain were the worst. We've had to strike a deal with them. We give them photo opportunities and they basically let us have some privacy. "It was definitely a storm at first, but it's pretty calm now." Banderas and Griffith are raising their daughter to be bilingual and they have different parenting roles. "Melanie speaks English to Stella and is the disciplinarian. I'm too much of a softie to discipline her. I speak to her in Spanish so she will be able to talk to my family who live in Spain."
Banderas'
latest film as an actor is The 13th Warrior, a film based on the
Michael Crichton supernatural thriller about 10th century man-eating monsters,
Eaters of the Dead. "It's a tough movie, very violent but dealing with
themes you don't get to see much in American films." His next movie, as
an actor, will be the new comedy Play it to the Bone, a comedy
about boxing, "though let me tell you there's nothing funny about boxing
with Woody Harrelson." Banderas may speak with a still faltering English
and may be very European in his attitudes, but, as evidenced by Crazy
in Alabama, he retains a genuine affection for America. "I love the
diversity of America. I love the plain, normal sense of humor Americans
have. It is not wicked, like in some countries. And I also love how new
America is. You know, the culture thing in Europe is nice, but sometimes
it doesn't allow the artist to move freely. America is much more free.
The typical American line is, "Let's do it." You always look for a solution
to every problem, and I think that's because your society is very new.
I mean, the Constitution of this country was written 200 years ago. The
house I was living in Madrid is 350 years old! America is still a project,
and the Americans are working on it and bringing new things to it every
day. That is beautiful to watch." They thought Banderas was crazy to marry
Melanie, crazy to direct this film. Banderas actually agrees. "Of course
I'm crazy - that's what's life's all about, don't you think?"
| Films starring Melanie Griffith |
| Films by Antonio Banderas |
|
Copyright © 1999 Paul Fischer. All Rights Reserved.