441 - The Star Maker, Italy, 1995. Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore.

Saturday, March 17, 2018

441 - The Star Maker, Italy, 1995.  Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore.

Joe Morelli is not a filmmaker.

He is not a studio executive, producer, director, or writer.

He does not work for Universalia (Universal) Studios in Rome.  In fact, they have never heard of him.

But he has a truck and a camera.

And that is all he needs to sell false hope to unsuspecting Sicilians.

Joe has plastered his truck with posters. Gilda on the back door.  Of course.

He arrives in town and parks in the town square.  He sets up his microphone and speaker.  He announces that he is a Talent Scout.  With Universalia Studios.  Looking for fresh faces.  Looking for the next big Star.

Do you know how much money actors make?

One million lira!

At that everyone stops and turns to him.  They come running from all directions.  He hands out flyers with lines on them taken from Gone With the Wind.  Pink for the ladies.  Blue for the gentlemen.

He throws the flyers into the air.  People rush to pick them up.

They walk the square memorizing their lines.

To seize an opportunity to get out of this town for good.  To make a new life.  To live their dreams.

After all, tomorrow is another day.

Only 1,500 lira for a Screen Test.

He sets up a tent.  Why be alone in the tent?  Because we need privacy to focus.  To concentrate.

No, he does not do naughty things with them in the tent.  Well, except for filming phony Screen Tests.  He does do that.  And that is naughty.

The other will come later in the back of the truck.

He sets each person in a chair.  In front of a microphone.  He aims the camera at him.  Films.  Records sound.  Asks each person for profiles.

Left profile.  Right profile.  Center profile.

Center profile?  That right there is funny.

If you turn your face to the left, you show your right profile.  And vice versa.  So no one is quite sure which way to turn for a left profile.  One man thinks it through and turns his head the opposite way to give the correct profile.  Most turn their heads in the direction stated.  Joe does not care.  Just turn your head.  What difference does it make?  That is also funny.

People do their screen tests.

Some say their lines with tremendous emotion.  Some are stiff as a pirate's plank.  A boy tells a dirty joke.  A girl complains about the village gossipers.  People philosophize.  They reveal their secrets.  Not only their hopes and dreams but also their fears and their sins.  They treat him like a priest.  A shrink.  A confessor.

One man is so nervous he wets his pants.  A mother is so desperate she gives herself to him.  Just take my daughter with you.  Get her out of this town.

A mute man is suddenly able to speak again.

Well, there is that.  Joe has done some good, right?

The power of hope is so great it brings healing even when based on false claims.

In one village a great man has passed away.  The family invites Joe to enter the room and film the body.  The man never allowed a photo to be taken of him during his life.  This will be their only memory.  Only you can give us what we need.  They clear the room.  Joe films.  They give him money.  Lots of money.  He takes it.

They invite him to stay and gamble.  He wins.  He wins everything.  He takes that too.

A police officer stops him as he is driving out of town.  Joe is about to be busted.  Nope.  Joe gives the police officer a Screen Test.

Three men ambush Joe on the side of the road.  Take him into a large cave.  Pull out knives.  Demand his money.  Threaten to kill him.  Nope.  Joe gives the three men a Screen Test.

With a camera and a promise Joe can do anything.

Over time Joe grows weary with the people's burdens.  They expect so much of him.  Place him on a pedestal.  Treat him like a saint.  Give him their confidence, their aspirations, their longings, their fears.  Load him with the onus of transforming their lives.

When all he wanted was a quick buck.

The burden might be too much for him after all.

He has told each of them that they have beautiful faces.  Great talent behind those faces.  He has promised him that he will take their "Screen Tests" to Rome.  Turn them over to Universalia.  And if the directors select them, they will hear back within a month.

Privately he removes the film from the camera and trashes it.  The film has expired anyway.

Joe never counted on the girl.  Beata.  The innocent one.  The one who is kept by the convent.  Who scrubs floors and bathes the elderly.  Who shows her body to make money.

She believes in him.

And more than that, she loves him.

He does not know what to do.  He tries to do right by her.  He refuses to take her money.  She stows away in his truck.  He tries to take her back to the village.  She keeps coming back.  She has decided to go to Rome.  To help him.  To stand by his side.  To be his partner.

Now what?

Joe also never counted on the fact that there are other hustlers out there who are smarter than him.  Who can outsmart him.  Out hustle him.  And take everything he owns.

Maybe Beata is good for him after all.

When he is finally caught and put in jail, she lives in his truck.  Takes care of it.  Waits for him.  Tells others they are going to Rome.  Faithful and loyal to the end.

He has never known love in his life.

And now he does.

And it transforms him.

If only it is not too late. . . .



Are you glad that we do not have to deal with charlatans like that today?  We are so much smarter and more sophisticated and urbane.  And the laws protect us now.  What a relief.

Wait a second.

Look around your town right now.

This year some organization may have put up a billboard.  Ads on the radio.  A kiosk in the mall.  They are coming to your city right now.  Holding "auditions" at the local hotel.  Name dropping studios with which they have no affiliation.  Taking you into a private space.  Telling you that your child is one of the most talented people they have ever seen.  Charging you $1000.  $2,000.  $4,000.  $6,000.  To go to a convention in Miami.  Or Las Vegas.  To do a monologue in front of some agents.  Sometimes they put the name of Christ in their name.  Just to get you to trust them.  They make millions a year.  This year.  In your city.  A sucker is born every minute.  Are you the next one?