Abel Ferrara’s latest film, “Siberia,” finds his constant muse, Willem Dafoe, in an icy, isolated wasteland not explicitly meant to be the Russian tundra but rather an abstract plane of solitude. His character Clint, an English-speaking bartender out of place in this far-off land populated by indigenous peoples, follows the ambient energy of the area on a metaphysical journey through his own past.
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Haunted by the apparitions of his father, brother, ex-wife, and son, he reflects on his mistakes and regrets in a last-ditch effort to find some salvation of the soul. It’s a position not so unfamiliar to Ferrara himself, now living in a comfortable, self-imposed exile from his home of New York in Italy, where the former addict and all-around hedonist has recast himself as a dutiful spouse and parent. With nearly a decade of sobriety under his belt, he’s entered a contemplative yet feral-as-ever period of his illustrious career, and his latest film may be its high point. “Nowadays, I’m more focused on having material I can shoot come fuckin’ hell or high water,” he says.
In a far-reaching, hour-long conversation with The Playlist from his home in Rome, Ferrara went on his own odyssey of memory through his works and the stories he amassed while making them. From his early days consorting with mobsters on the porn circuit to encounters with Dino De Laurentiis and Dennis Hopper, from the degeneracy “how-to guide” of “Bad Lieutenant” to his plans for the upcoming war picture “Zeros and Ones,” starring Ethan Hawke, he’s seen it all over four-plus decades in independent filmmaking. “I’m your typical fuckin’ Hollywood dreamer,” he says. “I think any movie I make when they do come out, the whole world is gonna see them. That’s how I kid myself. That kind of bullshit.”
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There’s also a great little bit about Quentin Tarantino, and “The King of New York,” and suffice to say, Ferrara remains unphased. Check out the full, career-spanning conversation below.
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