More Top Picks Best Machinist Vises
player ready...Sure, it has its share of mincing gays and posturing macho men.
But despite the views of some critics, “Kiss Me, Guido” isn’t about milking laughs out of stereotypical characters, says director Tony Vitale.
A Bronx-Manhattan tale about a culture clash between gay men and Italian-American youth, Vitale’s first film is actually a message movie about “building a bridge between two communities,” he says.
“Kiss Me, Guido” is loosely based on Vitale’s disco-dancing days, when he and his Bronx buddies boogied down in Manhattan clubs on weekends alongside gay patrons.
“The Bronx is only a couple of miles away from Manhattan, but mentally it’s a thousand miles,” says Vitale, 33, who grew up in the Italian-American enclave around Arthur Avenue.
“What I learned from making the trek into the city was that here are two very distinct communities that didn’t seem to have a lot in common, but actually did — the way they dress, the haircuts, the kind of music they all loved. They all come from one world.”
In “Guido,” Frankie, an Italian-American pizzamaker from the Bronx, answers an ad seeking a roommate and unknowingly moves in with Warren, a gay actor-choreographer.
The laughs mostly come from the reactions of Frankie’s homophobic pals — think Tony Manero’s cronies in “Saturday Night Fever” — and Warren’s catty, heterophobic friends.
Yet the film’s portrayal of the supporting characters — from both sides of the sexual spectrum — has left some critics carping about its stereotypes.
“The movie is a farce,” Vitale explains. “They’re over the top for a comic bent, but there’s nothing so over the top that isn’t based on reality.
“My first goal is to make people laugh, without having to get into the analytical or political aspects of the film.”