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He has starred in movie classics from Spike<\/strong> Lee<\/strong> and the Coen<\/strong> brothers, been feted at Cannes and Venice, faced off against Batman and the Decepticons, and delivered Emmy-caliber performances in Severance<\/em>, Monk<\/em>, and The Night Of<\/em>. But for John Turturro<\/strong>, his most personal work is one many of his fans have never seen.<\/p>\n Two decades ago, Romance & Cigarettes<\/em> had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Written and directed by Turturro, the film had a murderer\u2019s row of talent both behind and in front of the camera. His longtime collaborators Joel<\/strong> and Ethan Coen<\/strong> were producers. The cast was led by James Gandolfini<\/strong> and included Oscar winners Susan Sarandon<\/strong>, Kate Winslet<\/strong>, and Christopher Walken<\/strong>, along with Steve Buscemi<\/strong>, Bobby Cannavale<\/strong>, Mandy Moore<\/strong>, Mary-Louise Parker<\/strong>, and Aida Turturro <\/strong>(John\u2019s cousin and a star of The Sopranos<\/em>). Channeling some of that off-kilter Coen sensibility, Romance & Cigarettes<\/em> was a comedic rock opera about a fractured relationship and its impact on friends and family, told via elaborate music numbers soundtracked by Bruce Springsteen<\/strong>, James Brown<\/strong>, Elvis Presley<\/strong>, Cyndi Lauper<\/strong>, Tom Jones<\/strong>, and Janis Jopin<\/strong>, with additional tunes performed by the cast, including Gandolfini and Sarandon.<\/p>\n More from Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n The film was embraced by the Venice jury and shortlisted for the Golden Lion; a week later it had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, a traditional springboard for Oscar runs. But then Romance & Cigarettes<\/em> disappeared.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a heartbreak for me, because we had a wonderful studio, United Artists, and we had a big release planned,\u201d Turturro tells Gold Derby. \u201cEveryone loved the movie. I got all that music. It took me two years to clear it all. And I’m making a movie that was twice the size for half the budget. And then we got caught in a giant merger, and they didn’t know what to do with that film.\u201d<\/p>\n United Artists, the storied studio founded by Charlie Chaplin<\/strong>, Mary Pickford<\/strong>, Douglas Fairbanks<\/strong>, and D.W. Griffith<\/strong>, was swallowed up by MGM, scrambling the UA slate and leaving many films, like Romance & Cigarettes<\/em>, in limbo.<\/p>\n Turturro and the Coens fought for the film, and it eventually had an art-house run months later \u2014 Roger Ebert<\/strong> was a fan, titling his four-star review<\/a> \u201cUnfiltered Joy\u201d \u2014 yet Romance & Cigarettes<\/em> remained largely unseen.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were able to get a small release, and it did very well,\u201d Turturro says, \u201cit got a lot of critical acclaim, but I never felt like it had its full hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n Loosely based on his parents’ relationship, the idea for the film had been kicking around his head for some time. He began the script while shooting one of his Coen films, Barton Fink<\/em>, in which he played a screenwriter and frequently found himself in front of a typewriter. \u201cThe first scene in that movie I wrote on camera when I was doing Barton Fink<\/em>,\u201d Turturro recounts. \u201cI was really writing things while they were filming.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of his star power, Turturro was able to recruit an A-list ensemble, beginning with Gandolfini, in the midst of his star-making, Emmy-winning stint on The Sopranos<\/em>. \u201cJimmy Gandolfini is great in that role,\u201d Turturro says. \u201cJimmy was a guy who loved music. He loved singing along. He was shy, but he’s a beautiful guy, beautiful actor.<\/p>\n