Italo nuttiness meets gay sensibilities

Italian-Canadian playwright Steve Galluccio's Mambo Italiano debuts on the big screen

Comparisons to My Big Fat Greek Wedding are inevitable, but Mambo Italiano is certainly less earnest than Nia Vardalos' surprise sleeper. Based on the Steve Galluccio's hit play, Emile Gaudreault's Mambo Italiano is a Canadian gem that is certain to delight audiences.
Instead of cross-cultural differences, Mambo Italiano tackles the issue of homosexuality in the traditional Italian-Canadian family. Angelo (Luke Kirby) has had a hard time growing up with overbearing parents (Paul Sorvino, Ginette Reno) and neurotic sister (Claudia Ferri). His gay tendencies are suddenly brought into focus when he runs into old boyhood friend Nino (Peter Miller), who soon becomes his lover and eventual "roommate." The proverbial manure hits the fan when Angelo comes out to his parents, thrusting the entire Italo-Montreal neighbourhood into a tailspin.
Tandem talked to playwright Steve Galluccio about Mambo Italiano.

The film dispels the stereotypes of the unforgiving Italian parents. That's really refreshing.
"I'm glad you're saying that, because there are some non-Italians who look at the movie and say, 'Do you think the characters are too exaggerated?' And I'm going, No, no, no, no, That's just the way Italians are, the way we react to things. It's like we are great reactors. Even the whole scene with the gay line thing [Angelo volunteers at a gay hotline]. You have this Italian talking to these people who are in trouble, and the WASP mentality would be to try to be compassionate, and it's not that we're not compassionate, but it's like, 'What do you mean you took the legal hormones? What are you? Crazy? What are you thinking?' And that's the way I would react."

So you were very active in the making of the film?
"Yes. I was even in it. I had a small role. You know when Angelo wrote his TV show? And there was the family on the screen? I play the son."

Did any of the actors have to consult with you or your family in developing their characters?
"Yes, many of them did. They would come up to me on the set, and ask 'What do you think of this, and what if I do that?' especially the non-Italian actors. So I'd tell them, just answer their questions. So yes, I served as a consultant to the actors, and also to the set design and the accessories. They would ask, 'What could we put at the cemetery, or what could Angelo be eating at this point.' It was really cool."

Did you have any concerns at all that this film was going to be compared to My Big Fat Greek Wedding?
"Well, the concern was brought on by the media. I wrote the play before the movie came out in 2000, and we started writing the script around the same time, so Greek Wedding came out when we were shooting. And all of the sudden, it became this huge success, and then all the questions were asked, and comparisons. So I've had every headline from His Big Fat Italian Hit, to My Big Fat Gay Greek Wedding. We're both ethnic comedies, and it's first generation. We're writers and we're starting to tell our stories. It's as simple as that. And so I guess, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was one of the first, and we're right behind them. But when audiences go and see it, they realize that it's two completely different things."

In Canada we've never had a film that plays up so well or humourously the dichotomy of the ethnic family in Canada. What has taken so long?
"I don't know. I just started writing this simple little story, and it was basically about me and my family and friends. I tried to be as honest as I could. I am an honest person and that's how I write. What you see is what you get. So maybe some people are a bit reticent to show what they are really like, and so they want to portray a certain image of themselves. Like last night at the [film festival] party, someone came up and said to me 'You must be so thrilled. You are going to be a big star and everything.' I'm just having a good time, you know? That's all. So, I don't know why it had taken so long. The Italians have been here for a long time, you know, a hundred years. It's always been about the Mafia."

Or a very negative view of family...
"Yes. But I think that if you come from that background, then that's what you're going to write about. But that's not where I come from. I come from the thing like 'Oh my God, you are so driving me crazy' but that's OK, and in the end we always reconcile and it's fine."

Are you working on something now?
"Right now I'm working on a television series called Ciao Bella and it's being filmed in Montreal. It will be broadcast on CBC and Radio Canada. It's a double shoot. It's written in English then translated into French. And then we shoot in English and French at the same time. A totally bilingual cast. And it's about Italians and my Italian universe. So I'm busy finishing up the season. Emile and I co-created the series together, but then he went off to do the movies and all that."

You're from Montreal, English or French?
" I'm both. I grew up in three languages. Mother tongue is Italian, well a dialect, and I went to this wonderful school where we had half a day in French and half a day in English. And I grew up watching French TV. I spoke Italian with my aunts and mother, and with my friends, English."
Have you been to Italy?
"Yes, I have many times. I have cousins there. One just came and visited me and saw the movie. He loved it. I asked him how audiences would like it and he said, 'I think they're going to love it, 'cause they're going to look at it and go look how crazy these Italian-Canadians are. We're not like that.' I think they are, but won't admit to it."

Mambo Italiano is currently playing in local cinemas.

Publication Date: 2003-09-21
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3167