August 21, 2025 • 15 mins
Acclaimed actor, writer, and director John Turturro will be a featured guest on The Sounds of Film this week to discuss the 20th anniversary screening of his musical dramedy “Romance & Cigarettes.” The special event takes place on Thursday, August 21 at 6:30pm at the Southampton Playhouse, marking the theater’s first-ever 35mm screening.
Turturro has long been recognized as one of the most versatile artists in American film. He has delivered unforgettable performances in films such as “Do the Right Thing,” “Barton Fink,” and “The Big Lebowski,” while also making his mark behind the camera with projects like “Mac,” “Fading Gigolo,” and “The Jesus Rolls.” On television, he earned an Emmy Award for “Monk” and is currently celebrated for his role as Irving on Apple TV+’s “Severance.”
“Romance & Cigarettes” tells the story of a New York ironworker, played by James Gandolfini, whose affair with a fiery redhead (Kate Winslet) threatens his marriage to Susan Sarandon. With a cast that also includes Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, and Bobby Cannavale, the film is a bold, music-filled love story that showcases Turturro’s distinctive vision as a filmmaker.
The screening at the Southampton Playhouse offers audiences a rare chance to experience the film in 35mm, followed by a candid discussion with one of cinema’s most innovative storytellers.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, this is Tom Needham and you are listening to the sounds of
film and today we are celebrating the 20th anniversary
of the film Romance and Cigarettes with its producer,
writer and director John Turturro.
The film features James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate
Winslet and Christopher Walken and it's a one-of-a-kind musical
that blends humor, raw emotion and unforgettable performances.
(00:23):
It's returning to the big screenon August 21st at the
Southampton Playhouse. It's giving audiences a rare
treat to see this film on the big screen.
John, thank you so much for joining us on the program.
Thank you, thank you. I'm it's always a a a pleasure
to to screen the film for a new audience.
(00:45):
Well, this audience is into filmsoundtracks, and this film has
one of the best soundtracks out of any movie ever.
Let's go back to the beginning. Why did you decide to make this
film in the first place? Well, I was writing things on
camera during during Barton Finkand I decided that I would have
(01:09):
different, you know, projects that I did begin with was
thinking about actually maybe writing someday.
And this was something that I, Ityped, I, I had the title and
like, I typed up the first scene, I think while we were
filming and, and while we weren't filming.
(01:29):
And it was something, it's very personal.
And I had the opening song, but I didn't think it was going to
be a musical. But I had the whole opening
sequence with the cigarette in the toe and stuff.
So I, I, I collected a bunch of scenes and ideas over a period
(01:52):
of 10 years. And then my, my good friend
Brandon Cole typed them all up for me.
And then I took a year off and Ikept thinking about it and I, I
wrote all these, I made sort of a, a Bible.
And then out of that, I, you know, you know, wrote the
script, but I sort of stumbled on to, you know, the, the people
(02:14):
singing to their own private soundtrack.
I, I, I thought I was the first person to do that.
But then of course, everyone wastelling me about Dennis Potter
and I watched a little of the singing detective.
I said, wow, this guy is, he's really on to something.
And I read an interview with himhow we talked about the potency
of, of popular. He used the word cheap music.
(02:35):
But I, I, I wanted my charactersto not lip sync.
I wanted them to sing, you know,with them.
And, you know, it was just a really personal story that I
sort of observed between my parents and everything.
And I thought by putting it in this form, it was sort of
elevated. And I used all different
(02:55):
references, from Charles Bukowski to The Honeymooners to
James Brown to Bruce Springsteen.
And I collected all this music and I had lots of conversations
with my mom, who was a widow by that time about it.
And she was very, very, you know, helpful and influential
actually. So I, I, I feel that it's a
(03:18):
movie. It's really sort of a working
class musical. I've screened it for, you know,
1000 people. And many times people say it's,
it's, it's very realistic. And I think it is because I
think people carry their own private soundtrack, you know,
with them to help them articulate or dream or
(03:41):
fantasize, you know, to, to, to help them frame their feelings.
That's why people, that's the, the, the potency of popular
music, whatever it is, whether it be jazz, you know,
rock'n'roll, you know, heavy metal, whatever it is.
I understand that this film was a real labor of love for you.
(04:02):
Why was that the case? Well, when it's something that
you feel like strong about, I mean, Bingham Ray gave us the,
the green light. And so we were, we were
scheduled to have a kind of pretty big release of the film.
And then they got bought, you know, and we got stuck in sort
of, you know, a purgatory, you know, in a, in a way that there
(04:27):
was like we were in litigation, you know, like, are we going to
come out? Are we not?
But I, I, I thought that there was, there was something about
the film that was very popular and at the same time very raw.
And that's why I go to the movies.
You know, I, I like to see original things.
And I think if anyone wanted, you know, to know something
(04:48):
about me, if they watched a couple of the films that that
I've directed their, their, theywould, you know, because you're
in all the characters when you write something and you directed
and you know, it's you have an urge, you know, to share that
with people and that's why you do it.
(05:09):
I heard you say at one point that there's more of you in this
film than anything else that you've ever done.
Is is. That true?
Yeah. I mean, I would say there's a a
huge portion of my of my of how I look at the world, you know
what I mean? And you know, it's, I mean, Mac,
there's a lot of my dad and his experience and Illuminati.
(05:30):
It was all about the theater. There's a lot of that and about
my relationship with maybe with my wife, But this, I think
sensibility wise, was sort of the the next step, you know, for
me and I I don't like things that are so prescribed.
I like things that are that explode, you know, and I love
(05:53):
music and I like poetry and I like, you know, things that are,
are challenging and there's a lot of profanity in this, but
there's kind of the the the pulppoetry of that, you know, in it.
And I kind of grew up around a lot of that.
(06:14):
So I thought this is something to, you know, explore and you
don't normally see it. You see the same genre, you
know, the the bad guy, the detective, the this, the that.
You don't see the working class,but you don't see their
imaginative life. Usually, can you tell me about
(06:35):
the music? Are these songs that were
personally songs that were also meaningful to you?
And then also, can you just expand a little bit about how
you worked with this amazing cast to get them to do a
musical? The artists were certainly
people that I, you know, I had an affinity towards, but I had
(06:56):
to choose songs that were best for, you know, I had way more
songs than this that were best for the story.
But I always knew I wanted to start with kind of a big
orchestral score. And so to end a cappella, you
know what I mean? That I, I always knew, you know,
and getting people were really attracted to it because they
(07:17):
were like, Oh my God, if you know, this is funny and filthy
and moving and, and they were, they, they were, they were
frightened of it. So we had a long rehearsal
period and made them do all kinds of acting exercises,
which, you know, a lot of peopledidn't want to do.
But I, I, I, I felt like this isa, a bedroom musical.
(07:39):
This is what you do in the privacy of your own home in your
underwear. And I'm thinking to get people
to do that is not easy. They can make believe they're
doing it, but it's not easy for them to be unconscious.
And that was my goal was to get them to that place.
And I think overall I was able to, you know, by by by because I
(08:04):
know a lot of things that will unlock people.
And we had some people who were fearless who went up there in
front of everyone, in front of agroup of accomplished actors and
did like theater games, which you don't, you know, sometimes
people don't want to do that. You're known as a great actor
and I'm sure you know what you like and don't like in terms of
(08:28):
what directors give you. As a director in this film
yourself, what are some of the tricks that you used in order to
make the actors feel comfortableand to get a good performance
from them? Every actor is different.
You can't have one approach. Some actors like to discuss
things like the try things. Other actors don't want to talk
(08:48):
too much. You know, some people need to be
pushed. Some people need to be held back
a little bit or to be grounded. So you were trying to create a
world that they all fit into, you know, and it wasn't easy.
It wasn't easy, that's for sure.You know, it was it it then you
have to kind of make everyone get on the same page.
(09:11):
But you know, I knew having James Gandolfini, I knew he
would be really grounded, you know what I mean?
And I knew I had a big anchor him, you know, and he also has a
great capacity to work, you know, with women.
Well, he's one of those guys that he has chemistry with, with
(09:33):
every woman in the film. And I, he grew up with two
sisters and he just was great acting with women.
You know, he was, I mean, with guys too.
But I think it was he always hadan interesting chemistry with
every different actress in the film.
And did he enjoy the musical aspect of it?
Loved it. He loved it.
He was, you know, a closet that you know, performer.
(09:58):
He loved it because he was very musical and he actually has a
very nice voice. He was nervous, but anyone would
be nervous who's not a trained, you know, doesn't do musicals
and stuff and that's why I wanted him.
It's. It's, it's really remarkable
when you look back at the numberof important people that
participated in this film, as well as the the list of music,
(10:23):
you know, songs. Took me two years to clear this
music. I can't even imagine.
Chris Robertson two years beforeI did the movie because it would
have been astronomical. And I got them to all, you know,
agree to a, you know, a, a modest, you know, price, you
know, or a moderate price, you know what I mean?
Because this is like, you name someone, you know, I got Janis
(10:45):
Joplin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, James Brown, you know,
you know Springsteen, you know, it's, it goes on.
When you look back at it, I meanthis, this film really
represents, I mean, when you have people like Steve Buscemi
in there and, and, and everyone else that I mentioned earlier,
it's like a who's who of like rising independent film and
(11:08):
eventually television. It's quite a snapshot of a time
period. Like what What's?
What's your memory at that time of all these?
People it was a it was an you know, it was we had so much
energy on the set. It was you know, it was really
hard. It was really trying, but it was
really joyful and we had a lot of fun and, and sometimes it was
(11:32):
really difficult, you know, and,but I, I, you know, just to have
the opportunity to make it. I had the Coen brothers.
They were, they had final cut, you know, they were my executive
producers. They were so, you know, much
behind it and stuff, you know, they, they were really helpful
to me and it was, it was a joy, you know, to get to do something
(11:53):
like this. I mean, the release wasn't
because the the company got bought and stuff.
So but you know, to making it, yes, yeah, you know, it was, it
was the editing was, you know, we had trial and error and stuff
with that within that. But even that was always, you
know, exciting. I think anyone who has seen that
(12:15):
the Coen Brothers films would absolutely love this film if
they haven't seen it. What did they teach you?
And I mean, you've done so many films with them, but
particularly working on this film.
Well, to be yourself and to not be afraid and to be very
prepared and to be judicious andscrupulous, you know, and
(12:36):
disciplined in it, you know, andhow everything counts, how every
sound counts, how every shot counts.
So when I would, you know, edit something and they like the way
I did it, they would be really, you know, complimentary.
They would say you, you took outthe middle of that and you
didn't need the middle of it. You know, you just, you went
(12:56):
from here to there and you get the idea.
And they were always helpful andI always tried their suggestions
in the editing room, but they were very, they, they knew I, I,
I kind of understood what I was doing.
They were saying, well, you're really good at this.
So, you know, don't, don't be, you know, afraid to go all the
(13:20):
way with it. And, and they just, you know,
they love the, the, the free sort of sexuality that's, you
know, in the film, You know, they, they, they, they thought
that was, you know, liberating and hilarious at times.
I agree. As you look back, what is your
fondest memory? What are you most proud of too
(13:41):
with this film? That I was able to, you know,
bring it off, you know what I mean?
And, you know, and, and survive,you know what I mean?
But I feel like there's a lot ofmy subconscious, you know, in
the film and there are people like, you know, Susan and Kate
(14:02):
and Chris and Steve and James, you know, they and Aida, you
know, they were able to tap intothat and bring their
subconscious to it and to be free.
Yeah. I mean, you don't see people
that free in movies sometimes. And there's there's there's some
performances that are quite freein this movie, you know what I
(14:25):
mean? And they're exposing certain,
you know, aspects of themselves.But but it's, it's also really
fun that way and liberating. So, you know, I just feel like
the the thing I'm most proud of is the audacity to try to do it,
(14:46):
you know, to do it. Yeah, well, you didn't just try,
you pulled it off. I mean, this film is one of
those movies that it's, it's going to have legs, you know, 20
years from now because there's so many great performances and
the music is fantastic. And you did a fantastic job
directing. Thank you very much.
That really means a hell of a lot to me.
(15:06):
It really does. Yeah, well, I I'm hoping that
there's going to be more opportunities in the future for
people to see it on the big screen.
But John, I want to thank you somuch for coming on the sounds of
Film and congratulations on the 20th anniversary.
Thank you very much and that means a lot to me.
So thank you. Much appreciated.
Take care doc.
Hi, this is Tom Needham and you are listening to the sounds of
film and today we are celebrating the 20th anniversary
of the film Romance and Cigarettes with its producer,
writer and director John Turturro.
The film features James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate
Winslet and Christopher Walken and it's a one-of-a-kind musical
that blends humor, raw emotion and unforgettable performances.
(00:23):
It's returning to the big screenon August 21st at the
Southampton Playhouse. It's giving audiences a rare
treat to see this film on the big screen.
John, thank you so much for joining us on the program.
Thank you, thank you. I'm it's always a a a pleasure
to to screen the film for a new audience.
(00:45):
Well, this audience is into filmsoundtracks, and this film has
one of the best soundtracks out of any movie ever.
Let's go back to the beginning. Why did you decide to make this
film in the first place? Well, I was writing things on
camera during during Barton Finkand I decided that I would have
(01:09):
different, you know, projects that I did begin with was
thinking about actually maybe writing someday.
And this was something that I, Ityped, I, I had the title and
like, I typed up the first scene, I think while we were
filming and, and while we weren't filming.
(01:29):
And it was something, it's very personal.
And I had the opening song, but I didn't think it was going to
be a musical. But I had the whole opening
sequence with the cigarette in the toe and stuff.
So I, I, I collected a bunch of scenes and ideas over a period
(01:52):
of 10 years. And then my, my good friend
Brandon Cole typed them all up for me.
And then I took a year off and Ikept thinking about it and I, I
wrote all these, I made sort of a, a Bible.
And then out of that, I, you know, you know, wrote the
script, but I sort of stumbled on to, you know, the, the people
(02:14):
singing to their own private soundtrack.
I, I, I thought I was the first person to do that.
But then of course, everyone wastelling me about Dennis Potter
and I watched a little of the singing detective.
I said, wow, this guy is, he's really on to something.
And I read an interview with himhow we talked about the potency
of, of popular. He used the word cheap music.
(02:35):
But I, I, I wanted my charactersto not lip sync.
I wanted them to sing, you know,with them.
And, you know, it was just a really personal story that I
sort of observed between my parents and everything.
And I thought by putting it in this form, it was sort of
elevated. And I used all different
(02:55):
references, from Charles Bukowski to The Honeymooners to
James Brown to Bruce Springsteen.
And I collected all this music and I had lots of conversations
with my mom, who was a widow by that time about it.
And she was very, very, you know, helpful and influential
actually. So I, I, I feel that it's a
(03:18):
movie. It's really sort of a working
class musical. I've screened it for, you know,
1000 people. And many times people say it's,
it's, it's very realistic. And I think it is because I
think people carry their own private soundtrack, you know,
with them to help them articulate or dream or
(03:41):
fantasize, you know, to, to, to help them frame their feelings.
That's why people, that's the, the, the potency of popular
music, whatever it is, whether it be jazz, you know,
rock'n'roll, you know, heavy metal, whatever it is.
I understand that this film was a real labor of love for you.
(04:02):
Why was that the case? Well, when it's something that
you feel like strong about, I mean, Bingham Ray gave us the,
the green light. And so we were, we were
scheduled to have a kind of pretty big release of the film.
And then they got bought, you know, and we got stuck in sort
of, you know, a purgatory, you know, in a, in a way that there
(04:27):
was like we were in litigation, you know, like, are we going to
come out? Are we not?
But I, I, I thought that there was, there was something about
the film that was very popular and at the same time very raw.
And that's why I go to the movies.
You know, I, I like to see original things.
And I think if anyone wanted, you know, to know something
(04:48):
about me, if they watched a couple of the films that that
I've directed their, their, theywould, you know, because you're
in all the characters when you write something and you directed
and you know, it's you have an urge, you know, to share that
with people and that's why you do it.
(05:09):
I heard you say at one point that there's more of you in this
film than anything else that you've ever done.
Is is. That true?
Yeah. I mean, I would say there's a a
huge portion of my of my of how I look at the world, you know
what I mean? And you know, it's, I mean, Mac,
there's a lot of my dad and his experience and Illuminati.
(05:30):
It was all about the theater. There's a lot of that and about
my relationship with maybe with my wife, But this, I think
sensibility wise, was sort of the the next step, you know, for
me and I I don't like things that are so prescribed.
I like things that are that explode, you know, and I love
(05:53):
music and I like poetry and I like, you know, things that are,
are challenging and there's a lot of profanity in this, but
there's kind of the the the pulppoetry of that, you know, in it.
And I kind of grew up around a lot of that.
(06:14):
So I thought this is something to, you know, explore and you
don't normally see it. You see the same genre, you
know, the the bad guy, the detective, the this, the that.
You don't see the working class,but you don't see their
imaginative life. Usually, can you tell me about
(06:35):
the music? Are these songs that were
personally songs that were also meaningful to you?
And then also, can you just expand a little bit about how
you worked with this amazing cast to get them to do a
musical? The artists were certainly
people that I, you know, I had an affinity towards, but I had
(06:56):
to choose songs that were best for, you know, I had way more
songs than this that were best for the story.
But I always knew I wanted to start with kind of a big
orchestral score. And so to end a cappella, you
know what I mean? That I, I always knew, you know,
and getting people were really attracted to it because they
(07:17):
were like, Oh my God, if you know, this is funny and filthy
and moving and, and they were, they, they were, they were
frightened of it. So we had a long rehearsal
period and made them do all kinds of acting exercises,
which, you know, a lot of peopledidn't want to do.
But I, I, I, I felt like this isa, a bedroom musical.
(07:39):
This is what you do in the privacy of your own home in your
underwear. And I'm thinking to get people
to do that is not easy. They can make believe they're
doing it, but it's not easy for them to be unconscious.
And that was my goal was to get them to that place.
And I think overall I was able to, you know, by by by because I
(08:04):
know a lot of things that will unlock people.
And we had some people who were fearless who went up there in
front of everyone, in front of agroup of accomplished actors and
did like theater games, which you don't, you know, sometimes
people don't want to do that. You're known as a great actor
and I'm sure you know what you like and don't like in terms of
(08:28):
what directors give you. As a director in this film
yourself, what are some of the tricks that you used in order to
make the actors feel comfortableand to get a good performance
from them? Every actor is different.
You can't have one approach. Some actors like to discuss
things like the try things. Other actors don't want to talk
(08:48):
too much. You know, some people need to be
pushed. Some people need to be held back
a little bit or to be grounded. So you were trying to create a
world that they all fit into, you know, and it wasn't easy.
It wasn't easy, that's for sure.You know, it was it it then you
have to kind of make everyone get on the same page.
(09:11):
But you know, I knew having James Gandolfini, I knew he
would be really grounded, you know what I mean?
And I knew I had a big anchor him, you know, and he also has a
great capacity to work, you know, with women.
Well, he's one of those guys that he has chemistry with, with
(09:33):
every woman in the film. And I, he grew up with two
sisters and he just was great acting with women.
You know, he was, I mean, with guys too.
But I think it was he always hadan interesting chemistry with
every different actress in the film.
And did he enjoy the musical aspect of it?
Loved it. He loved it.
He was, you know, a closet that you know, performer.
(09:58):
He loved it because he was very musical and he actually has a
very nice voice. He was nervous, but anyone would
be nervous who's not a trained, you know, doesn't do musicals
and stuff and that's why I wanted him.
It's. It's, it's really remarkable
when you look back at the numberof important people that
participated in this film, as well as the the list of music,
(10:23):
you know, songs. Took me two years to clear this
music. I can't even imagine.
Chris Robertson two years beforeI did the movie because it would
have been astronomical. And I got them to all, you know,
agree to a, you know, a, a modest, you know, price, you
know, or a moderate price, you know what I mean?
Because this is like, you name someone, you know, I got Janis
(10:45):
Joplin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, James Brown, you know,
you know Springsteen, you know, it's, it goes on.
When you look back at it, I meanthis, this film really
represents, I mean, when you have people like Steve Buscemi
in there and, and, and everyone else that I mentioned earlier,
it's like a who's who of like rising independent film and
(11:08):
eventually television. It's quite a snapshot of a time
period. Like what What's?
What's your memory at that time of all these?
People it was a it was an you know, it was we had so much
energy on the set. It was you know, it was really
hard. It was really trying, but it was
really joyful and we had a lot of fun and, and sometimes it was
(11:32):
really difficult, you know, and,but I, I, you know, just to have
the opportunity to make it. I had the Coen brothers.
They were, they had final cut, you know, they were my executive
producers. They were so, you know, much
behind it and stuff, you know, they, they were really helpful
to me and it was, it was a joy, you know, to get to do something
(11:53):
like this. I mean, the release wasn't
because the the company got bought and stuff.
So but you know, to making it, yes, yeah, you know, it was, it
was the editing was, you know, we had trial and error and stuff
with that within that. But even that was always, you
know, exciting. I think anyone who has seen that
(12:15):
the Coen Brothers films would absolutely love this film if
they haven't seen it. What did they teach you?
And I mean, you've done so many films with them, but
particularly working on this film.
Well, to be yourself and to not be afraid and to be very
prepared and to be judicious andscrupulous, you know, and
(12:36):
disciplined in it, you know, andhow everything counts, how every
sound counts, how every shot counts.
So when I would, you know, edit something and they like the way
I did it, they would be really, you know, complimentary.
They would say you, you took outthe middle of that and you
didn't need the middle of it. You know, you just, you went
(12:56):
from here to there and you get the idea.
And they were always helpful andI always tried their suggestions
in the editing room, but they were very, they, they knew I, I,
I kind of understood what I was doing.
They were saying, well, you're really good at this.
So, you know, don't, don't be, you know, afraid to go all the
(13:20):
way with it. And, and they just, you know,
they love the, the, the free sort of sexuality that's, you
know, in the film, You know, they, they, they, they thought
that was, you know, liberating and hilarious at times.
I agree. As you look back, what is your
fondest memory? What are you most proud of too
(13:41):
with this film? That I was able to, you know,
bring it off, you know what I mean?
And, you know, and, and survive,you know what I mean?
But I feel like there's a lot ofmy subconscious, you know, in
the film and there are people like, you know, Susan and Kate
(14:02):
and Chris and Steve and James, you know, they and Aida, you
know, they were able to tap intothat and bring their
subconscious to it and to be free.
Yeah. I mean, you don't see people
that free in movies sometimes. And there's there's there's some
performances that are quite freein this movie, you know what I
(14:25):
mean? And they're exposing certain,
you know, aspects of themselves.But but it's, it's also really
fun that way and liberating. So, you know, I just feel like
the the thing I'm most proud of is the audacity to try to do it,
(14:46):
you know, to do it. Yeah, well, you didn't just try,
you pulled it off. I mean, this film is one of
those movies that it's, it's going to have legs, you know, 20
years from now because there's so many great performances and
the music is fantastic. And you did a fantastic job
directing. Thank you very much.
That really means a hell of a lot to me.
(15:06):
It really does. Yeah, well, I I'm hoping that
there's going to be more opportunities in the future for
people to see it on the big screen.
But John, I want to thank you somuch for coming on the sounds of
Film and congratulations on the 20th anniversary.
Thank you very much and that means a lot to me.
So thank you. Much appreciated.
Take care doc.
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