Review: ‘Tommaso’ is a Brutally Honest Portrait of an Artist
Abel Ferrara’s semi-autobiographical drama studies sobriety, art and fidelity
Abel Ferrara is one of the most unfairly overlooked directors currently working in cinema. He is a true artist, somebody who cannot help but intertwine their art with reality.
After a string of cult releases in America in the 1990s, including some fantastic films like Bad Lieutenant, Body Snatchers and Dangerous Game, Ferrara’s drug habits were extreme. The experimentation in his work was intense, especially his interest in digital cinema (he was one of the pioneers of digital in feature length, narrative films), but this great work was contrasted by a personal life ruled by drug problems and other difficulties.
Eventually, Ferrara left the United States and went to Rome, searching for a quieter life where he could focus on sobriety and his family while continuing to make films. Tommaso is a film about that transition and the difficulties which Ferrara faced (and still faces) in that process of trying to become sober, trying to dedicate himself to his wife and his daughter fully while trying to push himself artistically towards exciting ideas.
In the film, the titular Tommaso (who represents Ferrara) is played by one of America’s greatest…
