The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of John Turturro

Attribution: Amy27102011, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

By Geoff Carter

John Turturro is one the most recognizable—and most inscrutable—actors working in movies today, cultivating a screen presence that is simultaneously physically dominating and emotionally complex. He has worked multiple times with noted filmmakers Spike Lee and the Coen Brothers, and has also appeared in films by Robert Redford, Tom DiCillo, and Pedro Almodovar. While his narrow face, bulging eyes, grit teeth, and high raspy voice seem to predispose him to playing heavies or misanthropes (which he also pulls off quite well), but his range goes far beyond that. His ability to porttray sensitive and caring men (Jungle Fever), weaselly manipulators (Miller’s Crossing), angry sociopaths (Do the Right Thing), or elegant egomaniacal bowlers (The Big Lebowski) makes him one of the greatest character actors working today.

His style is epitomized by strong physicality and a stalwart fearlessness to dive deep into a character. His intense expressiveness can veer from an unbridled fury into a malignant sneer or melt into an innocent boyish longing. In interviews, Turturro has stated he is less concerned with polished appearance than with connecting with the character’s humanity and conveying that to the audience.

His Pino in Do the Right Thing is a wound coil of rage just waiting to burst. His portrayal of the hillbilly jailbird Pete in Oh Brother, Where art Thou? balances on the thin line between comic stereotype and empathic realization of the character. The complex insecurities and arrogance of his portrayal of the titular character in Barton Fink reveals Turturro’s deep understanding of Fink’s flawed sensibilities about the inner life of the artist, (in comparison to John Goodman’s “life of the mind”) in the same film.

In Jungle Fever, he plays Paulie Carbone, a man who is constantly bullied and taunted by the brothers of his fiancée, the customers in his candy store, and his own father. Although he is a sensitive and kind man, when he is beaten down for acting on his conscience, he shows the courage to finally rise up against his tormentors. This is one of Turturro’s most subtle portrayals. Torn between his duty toward his father, the racist neighborhood guys in his shop, his unfaithful fiancée, and his attraction to an African American woman, he is the epitome of a good man conflicted, but not corrupted—or defeated, by an insipid and hateful world.

John Turturro is a gifted and versatile actor. While he is always unmistakably John Turturro, his characters embody a vast swath of the human experience: rage, ambition, discovery, guile, fear, and violence. He is as good as they come.

The Ten Best Films of John Turturro

Do the Right Thing: The 1989 classic that made Spike Lee a household name. The film follows the occupants of a poor block in Brooklyn as they try to endure the hottest day of the year. Tempers flare between the mostly Black population and the Italian American owners of a pizzeria and come to a boiling point when Sal, the owner, refuses to hang pictures of African Americans on his Italian American wall of fame. As Sal’s angry son Pino, Turturro embodies an incoherent racist fury that seems to emanate from his every pore. In a lesser actor’s hand, Pino could have easily lapsed into a stereotype, but Turturro manages to somehow humanize the rage.. Also notable for a great ensemble performance, including contributions from newcomers Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, Richard Edson, John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bill Nunn

Barton Fink: In this black comedy, Barton Fink (Jon Turturro) the author of a hit Broadway play, travels to Hollywood to try his hand at writing for the Hollywood studios, which he soon discovers is a far cry from the artistic ideals he thinks he lives by. Fink stays in a second-rate hotel to soak up some working man ambience and becomes friends with Charlie Meadows, who Barton soon discovers is much more than he seems. Turturro’s take on Fink’s idealistic but misguided intensity is absolutely birlliant. The film is also a wonderful send-up of the absurd machismo of the corporate world. Notable for a great performance by Goodman as the pleasantly surprising Charlie Meadows.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?: Loosely based on classic tale of the Odyssey, this film follows three escaped convicts as they wend their way through the Depression-era South in search of a buried fortune known only to their leader, Ulysses McGill (George Clooney) who also has a mysterious hidden agenda. Turturro plays Pete, one of the escapees. Displaying a skewed (and neatly comic) misanthropic criminal, Turturro is the perfect foil for Clooney’s glib plotting and philosophizing. Along the way, the three cons encounter seductive singing Sirens, a megalomaniacal Cyclops (John Goodman) and a radio station owner who persuades them to record a song by singing into a coffee can. A delightfully hilarious romp through an impossibly absurd Southern landscape. Notable for its outstanding soundtrack featuring Alison Krauss.

Box of Moonlight: In this quirky comedy, Al Fountain (John Turturro) is a straightlaced, by the book businessman who has come to a crossroads in his life. After he loses his job, discovers a gray hair, and realizes he is connected to no one, he decides to go to Splatchee Lake, a reservoir of fond childhood memories. Unfortunately, the lake has been ruined by pollution; Fountain doesn’t know where to turn until he meets The Kid (Rockwell) a sort of man-child outcast who has set up his living quarters in a clearing in the woods. The Kid wears a coonskin cap and shows Fountain his box of “moonlight” and encourages him to shoot at things, do the unexpected, and to live his life. When a couple of young women show up, Fountain finds himself rejuvenated. As The Kid, Rockwell is a fountain of exuberance, goodwill, and fancy. His amiable, hippielike, free-spirited Kid is a perfect foil to Tuturro’s tightly wound businessman.

Jungle Fever: Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes) is a successful African American architect who has a beautiful wife and a happy home. He also has a very attractive white assistant named Angie Tucci (Annabella Sciorra). After a couple of late nights at the office, Flipper and Angie find themselves involved. Apart from the difficulties of discovery, separation, and ostracism, Puffy and Angie have to deal with the racist attitudes of their families, co-workers, friends, and society. As Angie’s bashful fiance Paulie, who can’t free himself from family obligations, Turturro embodies a beautiful sensitivity and kindness that somehow manages to survive the prejudices and racism of the neighborhood. Notable for Samuel L. Jackson’s turn as Flipper’s crack-addicted brother Gator.

Quiz Show: In this Robert Redford film based on a true story, Turturro plays Herb Stemple, the reigning champion on the rigged television quiz show “21”. Worried that Stemple’s unattractive appearance might be affecting ratings, they turn to Charlie Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), a dashing son of a prominent literary family, to be their new champion. The show comes under investigation, and with Stemple’s testimony, Van Doren and the producers eventually get their comeuppance. As Herb Stemple, Turturro embodies a bitterly disappointed man who is positive (rightly so) that his demotion is at least partly due to the fact he is Jewish. His intense grasping desperation is pitiful and understandable. Turturro’s physical presence is the perfect embodiment of Stemple’s desperate hope.

The Room Next Door: In this Pedro Almodovar drama, Ingrid (Julianne Moore) encounters Martha (Tilda Swinton), an old workmate. Martha tells Ingrid she has terminal cancer and asks her a huge favor—to stay in the room next door to her so she won’t be alone when shed dies. Ingrid reluctantly agrees to do so. The two rent a beautiful house in the woods where Martha plans to take a euthanasia pill. Complications arise after her death, but with the help of her writer friend Damian (Turturro) who used to be (at different times) both the women’s lover, she manages to cope with the aftermath of her friend’s departure. Even the role of Damian is a tiny one, which Turturro imbues with an odd mixture of compassion, understanding, self-regard, and ego, he manages to dominate every frame in which he appears.

Mo’Better Blues: This Spike Lee drama focuses on the life of the very successful jazz trumpeter Bleek Gillem (Washington), who is trying balance his career demands, his friendships, inter-band rivalries, and his girlfriends. Bleek’s best friend Giant (Spike Lee), who is also the band’s manager, is in constant trouble for his gambling debts. His girlfriend Indigo (Joie Lee) is frustrated because Bleek won’t make a commitment to their relationship. As the center of all these dynamics, Bleek finds himself torn in his loyalties and needs. Although inherently egotistical and selfish, he finally cannot turn his back on those he loves. As Moe Flatbush, the mercenary and avaricious owner of the club booking Bleek, Turturro is appropriately snotty, cocksure, and arrogant. Notable for the face that he manages the club with Josh Flatbush, played by his real-life actor brother Nick Turturro.

Miller’s Crossing: In a film that has been called one of best gangster movies ever, and with a plot as twisted as a piece of salt-water taffy, Tom (Gabriel Byrne), the right-hand man of gangster chief Leo, (Albert Finney) attempts to saving a friend’s life during a turf war by shrewdly playing one side against the other. Discovered, and then beaten up and thrown out by his boss, Leo, Tom goes to his rival, Caspar, who says that to earn his trust, Tom must kill Bernie (John Turturro), the man he originally tried to save. Instead of killing him, Tom fakes his death and lets Bernie go, but is ultimately betrayed. Notable for Turturro’s incredible performance in the attempted assassination scene.

The Big Lebowski: With a comic twist on the neo-noir genre, this film has become a cult classic. Bowling enthusiast and gifted slacker Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who calls himself “the dude” is attacked because of a case of mistaken identity. He visits the other Lebowski—a millionaire—in hopes of getting compensated but is thrown out. Shortly afterward, the dude is summoned back by Lebowski to help pay ransom for his kidnapped trophy wife. With his buddy Walter (John Goodman), a Vietnam veteran, Dude finds himself drawn into a web of greed, deceit, lasciviousness, idiocy, and ludicrousness. As his bowling rival, the flamboyantly rambunctiosu Jesus Quintana, Turturro is absolutely hilarious Notable for Bridges’ iconic performance as a man trying to get through with as little effort as possible.