1997
Writer/Director: Tom DiCillo
Cast: John Turturro, Sam Rockwell, Catherine Keener, Lisa Blount, Rica Maartens, Annie Corley.
Festivals: Venice, Sundance, Seattle, Toronto, San Francisco.
US Distribution: Trimark.
Books: Notes From Overboard, film diary and screenplay.
Related Blog Posts: Roll Model, Whacked But Fact 2.
Box of Moonlight TRAILER
Box of Moonlight was supposed to have been my 2nd film. The relative success of Living In Oblivion finally pushed one financier over the edge and one day in 1997 I found myself in Knoxville, Tennessee actually directing the film. It had been a point of the writing to get out of NYC, away from the Lower East Side rubble without a cause that had been the focus of so many films I’d worked on.
I actually spent a lot of time as a kid in small towns all across America. I wrote Box of Moonlight as an attempt to revisit that emotional landscape. There are some elements of my childhood in it (the flashcards), some aspects of my father (the flashcards) and some aspects of my belief that everyone should go through a healthy period of juvenile delinquency at some time in their lives.
I tried to maintain the family of actors and crew who had come together on Living In Oblivion as much as possible. I wrote the part of Floatie, the slightly dented phone-sex operator for Catherine Keener. Dermot Mulroney went pretty deep with the small town bully, Wick. Lisa Blount was new, though I’d been enormously impressed with her work in An Officer and a Gentleman.
The core of the film though is the relationship between Al Fountain (John Turturro) and the Kid (Sam Rockwell). My respect for both actors is tremendous. Both could not have had more different acting styles. Sam had auditioned for me for Johnny Suede and I’d been so impressed with him I kept him in mind for this film. It was Turturro’s performance in Quizz Show that made me really push to get him into the film.
It was a tough shoot. In fact, it blew my mind that shooting scenes of such pastoral beauty could be accompanied by such trauma. The day before we shot a scene of Turturro swimming in an abandoned rock quarry we learned a swimmer had just drowned in it. The rescue diver who’d tried to retrieve the body from the depths was bitten by a water moccasin and also died. I did not tell Turturro this.
The film was accepted by the Venice Film Festival. During the screening the sold-out audience was completely silent. I was convinced it was a disaster. Then the lights came up and the entire audience rose in a lengthy ovation.
But, nothing affects me as much as hearing to this day how deeply this crazy film has touched people. The ones it does, it touches strongly. It got criticized for being a “hippy” film. Even a cursory glimpse of Sam Rockwells’s troubled Kid shows that nothing could be further from the truth.
Mr Dicillo,
My favorite movie of all time is box of moonlight. I have the soundtrack, but the one song I really want is “Cerveza”
I have searched everywhere and can not find it! How can I purchase a copy of that song?
Thanks!
Steve (Very loyal fan!)
Hey Steve,
I’m really pleased you like Box of Moonlight so much. Unfortunately Cerveza is not currently available. I wrote and performed it myself during the editing of the film. We needed some background music and we’d run out of money to license anymore songs. If I remember correctly my editor, Camilla Toniolo sings on it.
I have no idea where the original complete song is. It would take some work, and some money to find it. But, I’ll keep my eyes out. If I make any progress I’ll let you know.
Thanks for writing. No need to call me Mr. DiCillo. The only people who ever called me that were annoyed highschool teachers and policemen.
best,
Tom
Love this movie. I grew up and still live where it was filmed swam in that same quarry, shopped in the same stores,and ate at the diners .knoxville is a beautiful home and this movie takes me back to 97.thanks
Hey Chuck,
Great to hear from you. I feel the same way you do about that part of Tennessee. Shooting in Knoxville was kind of a happy accident, but also one had some forethought. I needed a location that gave me flexibility in terms of weather–if the financing got delayed for a few months at least I could still shoot there and have it seem like summer.
But, from the moment I got down there and started driving around I felt something very strong. The surrounding countryside is almost mythically lush and beautiful. And that quarry. Man, some stories there for you. Turturro could not swim. I’d promised him he’d never have to be in water that was over his head. When I chose the quarry as a location I reported back to him and in response to his question about how deep it was I replied, “20 feet, in some places.”
Of course in most places the quarry was over 300 feet deep. And the week before we shot there a swimmer died after being bitten by a water mocassin. And the rescue worker who went down to retrieve the body died as well.
But, I have great memories of the shoot, especially from the amazing people who welcomed us so completely and so openly.
best,
Tom