Illuminata

This is something to watch! A beautiful soundtrack, an excellent cast, and untouchable screen writing! Comedy and drama are woven inextricably well together in it--though I'm of a mind to throw it into the comedy category as it is quite... Full review

Brilliantly directed and acted, although not very popular movie. For those who don't now how it's like to work and live in the theatre this movie explains it all. It's charming and bewitching, incredibly funny and romantic and above all... Full review

Great bawdy fun! This has a lot to enjoy and we did. If you like delightful actors letting out all the stops as they clearly enjoy going over the top, or good, often excellent wit and writing, see this movie.... Full review

What a wonderful story for theatre geeks! Susan Sarandon, Rufus Suwell, and Christopher Walken are AMAZING as their own respectable characters. John (I won't even attemp his last name) did a great job directing and starring. Oh--and the one scene where... Full review

Illuminata is a lovely existential commentary on the relationship between art and reality. There is a stream of Buddhist thought throughout the film that was wonderful to behold. The sets and lighting are beautiful and nearly every shot could have... Full review

Superficially about love (isn't everything?) this effort really concerns itself with a recurring question in theater: how important are the actors?In recent years, there have been a dozen or so movies by actors that deal with this and insist they... Full review

I don't know how this ended up with such a middling rating. It stands out as one of the wittiest, strangest and well-constructed films I've seen in years. Well photographed, with many characters wonderfully and unexpectedly acted. Appropriate for almost... Full review

John Turturro has created an intelligent, witty (and funny!), movie. Christopher Walken's Bevalaqua will become a classic role in film. There's so much going on - nods to literature, other films, music and theater. We found ourselves talking about it... Full review

This film shines from the loving direction that Tuturro lavishes upon Brandon Cole's screenplay. The entire cast is delightful, with Katherine Borowitz's loving and tormented Rachel and Christopher Walken's sexually aggressive Bevalaqua truly standing out. It was great to see... Full review

This is the best film I've seen this year. I'll go further than that: it's better than all but a few films I've seen in the last two years, including "Shakespeare in Love." Does this mean that I am giving... Full review

It is almost inevitable that Illuminata will be compared unfavorably to the enormously popular Shakespeare in Love, but Turturro's film is not nearly as wry or slick, and purposefully eschews such conventions The gushing poetry of Illuminata is further served by the lustrous cinematography of Harris Savides (The Game), who steeps every shot with a sensuous, almost indulgent, palette. ... Full Review

Too bad the rest of the film doesn't quite gel.....Strangely, Turturro severely underplays his role, in stark contracts to nearly everyone else in the cast, except for Borowitz, his wife..... ... Full Review

Egotistical playwright Tuccio (Turturro) has written a new play, Illuminata, for the troupe's actress-manager Rachel (Katherine Borowitz), daughter of aging actor Flavio (Ben Gazzara), who's lost his memory. Unfortunately, foppish critic Bevalaqua (Christopher Walken) is unimpressed and issues a vicious attack on the production -- while also making unsubtle overtures to company clown Marco (Bill Irwin). ... Full Review

When "Illuminata," a play about infidelity and forgiveness espousing the value of imperfect love as all....Completing the picture is William Bolcom's irresistibly romantic yet never overdone score.....Turturro and his formidable cast carry off all these tempestuous shenanigans with admirable aplomb.....headed by the incandescent Rachel (Katherine Borowitz), a Pre-Raphaelite beauty and consummate actress..... ... Full Review

Summing up his approach to the casting process-and perhaps the rare opportunity Illuminata gave him to try on a number of hats and a new kind of film role-Turturro notes, "It's nice to see people get a chance. As Tuccio in Illuminata , though, he gets to play a sexy, creative type who sports a Mephistophelean beard and rides a horse. ... Full Review

Traffic/commute Local news Nation/World Sports Business Politics/Elections Reports & data Deaths Opinions Blogs Columnists Entertainment Travel Living Lighter side Video/photos Shopping News tools Contact us About us John Turturro 's "Illuminata," a rhapsodic celebration of love and life in the... ... Full Article

Actor John Turturro , who made his directorial debut with the Cannes Camera d'Or winner Mac (1992), returned to directing with this period farce about a struggling, turn-of-the-century New York repertory company owned by Astergourd ( Beverly D'Angelo ) and... ... Full Article

After Mac and the little-seen Illuminata, John Turturro's third outing as a director is high on inspiration but low on cohesion. Apparently written while Turturro was clacking the typewriter in the title role of the Coen brothers' Barton Fink -... ... Full Article